Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)
| Something Wicked This Way Comes | |
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 Original release movie poster by David Grove |
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| Directed by | Jack Clayton |
| Produced by | Peter Douglas |
| Written by | Ray Bradbury, John Mortimer (uncredited) |
| Narrated by | Arthur Hill |
| Starring | Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Stephen H. Burum |
| Editing by | Barry Mark Gordon Art J. Nelson |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution Co. Inc. |
| Release date(s) | April 29, 1983 |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19,000,000 (estimated) |
Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1983 film based on the Ray Bradbury novel of the same name, starring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. Directed by Jack Clayton from a screenplay written by Bradbury himself, the movie suffered from offscreen conflicts of vision. It was shot in Vermont and at the Walt Disney Studios.
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[edit] Premise
In a small town, two young boys named Will and Jim encounter a sinister carnival whose proprietor, Mr. Dark, lures the townsfolk to their doom by promising to fulfill their childhood desires. As Will, Jim, and Will's father, Charles Halloway, are about to find out, these wishes come at a horrific price. Will they survive?
[edit] Cast
- Jason Robards as Charles Halloway
- Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark
- Vidal Peterson as Will Halloway
- Shawn Carson as Jim Nightshade
- Diane Ladd as Mrs. Nightshade
- Royal Dano as Tom Fury
- Pam Grier as the Dust Witch
- Mary Grace Canfield as Miss Foley
- Bruce Fischer as Mr. Cooger
- Arthur Hill as The Narrator
[edit] Production history
In 1977, Bradbury sold the film rights to Something Wicked This Way Comes to Paramount. He and director Jack Clayton, whom Bradbury had previously worked with on Moby Dick, produced a completed script. However, production never began and the film was eventually put into turnaround.
At this time Walt Disney Pictures was concentrating on films with more mature themes in an attempt to break free from their stereotype as an animation and family film studio. After the success of family-oriented fantasy pictures by competing studios, such as Time Bandits and The Dark Crystal, Disney decided to purchase the adaptation's rights and hired Bradbury to produce a new script from scratch.
The studio sought Bradbury's input on selecting a cast and director, and he suggested Clayton feeling they had worked well together at Paramount. In a 1981 issue of Cinefantastique, Bradbury stated that his top choices to play Mr. Dark were Peter O'Toole and Christopher Lee. However, Disney decided to go with a relatively unknown actor instead in order to keep the budget down. As the film progressed, two differing visions emerged for the film, with Bradbury wishing to stay as faithful to the novel as possible, and Clayton wanting to make a more accessible and family friendly film. The two became estranged when Clayton hired writer John Mortimer to do an uncredited revision of Bradbury's screenplay at the studio's behest.[1]
Initial test screenings did not fare well with audiences, and Disney re-commissioned Bradbury to write an opening narration sequence and new ending. Disney also spent an additional US$5 million on refilming, re-editing, and rescoring the picture. Bradbury referred to the film's final cut as "not a great film, no, but a decently nice one."[2]
[edit] Awards and reception
The film has received middling reviews. Something Wicked This Way Comes holds a 57% "Rotten" rating at the film aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave the film a three and a half star review, calling it "a horror movie with elegance".[3] The film was a financial loss, only making $8.4 million at the domestic box office.
It won the 1984 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and was nominated for five others including best music for James Horner and best supporting actor for Jonathan Pryce. The film was also nominated for Best Picture at the Hugo Awards and Grand Jury Prize at the Avoriaz Film Festival.
[edit] References in popular culture
The title itself is a reference to Shakespeare's Macbeth.
In the original version of Epcot's Journey Into Imagination with Figment ride, the words Something Wicked are printed on the spine of one of the colossal books in the Literature scene. This is both a reference to the Disney film and an ode to Bradbury, who helped design the theme park.[4]
The film was spoofed in an episode of the animated series Tiny Toons Adventures entitled "Something Stupid This Way Comes". Plucky Duck plays the fool and Buster and Babs Bunny have to rescue him from the evil ringmaster.
[edit] References
- ^ Weller, Sam (2005). The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury. New York: William Morrow. pp. 306–309. ISBN 0-06-054581-X.
- ^ Bradbury, Ray (2005). Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars. New York: William Morrow. p. 10. ISBN 0-06-058568-4.
- ^ Something Wicked This Way Comes review at rogerebert.com
- ^ Journey Into Imagination Fact Sheet
[edit] External links
- Something Wicked This Way Comes at the Internet Movie Database
- Something Wicked This Way Comes at AllRovi
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