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'''''Imaginary''''' is a 2024 American [[supernatural horror film]] directed and produced by [[Jeff Wadlow]] and written by Wadlow, Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland. It is co-produced by [[Jason Blum]] through his [[Blumhouse Productions]] banner and Tower of Babble. The film stars [[DeWanda Wise]], [[Tom Payne (actor)|Tom Payne]], Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Matthew Sato, [[Veronica Falcón]], and [[Betty Buckley]]. A young woman returns to her childhood home only to discover her daughters imaginary friend, Chauncey, is very real and very upset.
'''''Imaginary''''' is a 2024 American [[supernatural horror film]] directed and produced by [[Jeff Wadlow]] and written by Wadlow, Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland. It is co-produced by [[Jason Blum]] through his [[Blumhouse Productions]] banner and Tower of Babble. The film stars [[DeWanda Wise]], [[Tom Payne (actor)|Tom Payne]], Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Matthew Sato, [[Veronica Falcón]], and [[Betty Buckley]]. A young woman returns to her childhood home only to discover her daughter's imaginary friend, Chauncey, is truly existent, and is upset with the woman.


''Imaginary'' was released in the United States by [[Lionsgate Films|Lionsgate]] on March 8, 2024. It received generally negative reviews from critics and has grossed over $28 million.
''Imaginary'' was released in the United States by [[Lionsgate Films|Lionsgate]] on March 8, 2024. It received generally negative reviews from critics and has grossed over $28 million.

Revision as of 07:40, 24 March 2024

Not to be confused with The Imaginary (film).

Imaginary
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJeff Wadlow
Written by
  • Jeff Wadlow
  • Greg Erb
  • Jason Oremland
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJames McMillan
Edited bySean Albertson
Music bySparks & Shadows
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08)
Running time
104 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10–12 million[2][3]
Box office$28.2 million[4][5]

Imaginary is a 2024 American supernatural horror film directed and produced by Jeff Wadlow and written by Wadlow, Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland. It is co-produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner and Tower of Babble. The film stars DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Matthew Sato, Veronica Falcón, and Betty Buckley. A young woman returns to her childhood home only to discover her daughter's imaginary friend, Chauncey, is truly existent, and is upset with the woman.

Imaginary was released in the United States by Lionsgate on March 8, 2024. It received generally negative reviews from critics and has grossed over $28 million.

Plot

Children’s book author Jessica is married to musician Max. Max has two daughters from his first marriage, younger daughter Alice and teenager, Taylor. Alice enjoys Jessica but Taylor keeps her at arms length. Jessica is plagued by nightmares which include her mentally-ill father Ben and a fictional character from her books, Simon the spider. When the family moves into Jessica's childhood home, Alice discovers a teddy bear in the basement named Chauncey and quickly forms a bond with him. An elderly neighbor named Gloria, who babysat Jessica when she was a child, reunites with her. Gloria shares memories of Jessica's childhood, which she cannot remember.

Alice and Taylor's mentally disturbed biological mother Samantha sneaks into the house to see her daughters and attacks Jessica. When the police arrive to arrest Samantha, Taylor confesses to texting her. Jessica then puts Alice and Chauncey to bed, and remarks that she had a similar childhood friend.

Max leaves to embark on tour and Alice becomes hyper-focused on a scavenger hunt she claims was given to her by Chauncey. Chauncey's overwhelming presence in Alice's life begins to disturb Jessica. One day when Jessica leaves to visit Ben, Taylor invites an acquaintance over, Liam. Liam brings a bottle of liquor which he accidentally shatters. He attempts to find a towel before being toyed with by Chauncey, who briefly turns into a monstrous bear. Jessica arrives back home, angering Taylor.

Jessica narrowly stops Alice from slamming her hand down onto a nail prompting her to call a child psychologist named Dr. Soto. Soto observes Alice talk to Chauncey while also speaking on his behalf. Chauncey makes threatening remarks towards Jessica and Alice sobs over their crumbling friendship. Jessica later discovers that only she and Alice can see the stuffed bear. Soto then shows Jessica footage of a past patient who uses the same phrase as Alice: "Never Ever". Alice disappears after speaking to Chauncey which Taylor blames her stepmother for.

Taylor meets Gloria who tells her that Chauncey was also Jessica's childhood imaginary friend. Gloria explains to Taylor that imaginary friends are spirits who tether to the young and can become sinister if abandoned, which Jessica did with Chauncey. At home Jessica goes through her old belongings and finds drawings of Chauncey and of the Never Ever. Taylor and Gloria complete the scavenger hunt, which results in a glowing door leading to the Never Ever realm to appear.

In the Never Ever realm, the group find a door showing Jessica's repressed memories. As a child, Jessica was lured by Chauncey into the Never Ever. Ben had rescued her, but he becomes mad in the process after seeing Chauncey's eyes. Jessica is sent to live with her grandparents and Gloria closes the escape route, becoming obsessed with the realm in the process. As the group searches for Alice, Gloria is mauled by Chauncey when a door suddenly opens and dies. Jessica and Taylor find Alice and attempt to escape causing Chauncey to attack them. Jessica is able to stop Chauncey by stabbing him in the eye.

After reuniting with Ben and Max at Ben’s institution, Jessica realizes she is still stuck in the Never Ever. Chauncey used Alice as bait to get to Jessica and seeks revenge for her abandoning him. Taylor arrives and saves Jessica. Chauncey turns to his true form akin to Simon. The spider tries to turn Jessica insane with his eyes, but Alice sets the creature on fire and seals him behind the door. The family escapes as the house burns to the ground.

The family check into a hotel but are frightened by a child playing with his teddy bear who resembles Chauncey. The three leave for the next hotel just to be safe.

Cast

  • DeWanda Wise as Jessica,[6] Max's wife, Taylor and Alice's stepmother
  • Pyper Braun as Alice,[7] Max's younger daughter, Jessica's younger stepdaughter and Taylor's younger sister
  • Tom Payne as Max,[7] Jessica's husband and Taylor and Alice's father, who is a musician
  • Betty Buckley as Gloria,[7] Jessica's neighbor and former babysitter from her childhood
  • Taegen Burns as Taylor,[7] Max's older daughter, Jessica's older stepdaughter and Alice's older sister
  • Matthew Sato as Liam,[7] Taylor's friend and neighbor
  • Verónica Falcón as Dr. Alana Soto,[7] a therapist
  • Dane DiLiegro as Chauncey Bear,[8] Jessica and Alice's imaginary friend

Production

In February 2023, Deadline Hollywood reported that Lionsgate acquired worldwide rights to the Blumhouse horror film, Imaginary.[9] The film was written and directed by Jeff Wadlow, who co-wrote with Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland.[9] On a production budget of $10–$12 million, principal photography took place in New Orleans from May to late June 2023.[2][3][10]

Release

Universal Pictures has first-look deals on Blumhouse titles but opted not to release Imaginary. Blumhouse shopped the film around where Lionsgate secured a distribution deal.[11] It was released theatrically on March 8, 2024, after being pushed back from its original date of February 2, 2024.[12][13]

Reception

Box office

As of March 22, 2024, Imaginary has grossed $21.6 million in the United States and Canada and $6.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $28.2 million.[5][4]

In the United States and Canada, Imaginary was released alongside Kung Fu Panda 4 and Cabrini, and was projected to gross $10–14 million from 3,118 theaters in its opening weekend.[11][3] The film made $3.6 million on its first day, including $725,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $9.9 million, finishing fifth at the box office.[14] The film made $5.6 million in its second weekend, finishing in fourth.[15]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, 25% of 88 reviews are considered positive, with an average rating of 4.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Imaginary's core concept is solid enough to produce a handful of scares, but too much of its potential is lost in a clichéd story that gets bogged down in world-building."[16] As per Metacritic, the film has received "generally unfavorable reviews", with a weighted average score of 34/100 based on 21 critics' ratings.[17] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 57% overall positive score.[14]

Variety's Owen Gleiberman called it "a watchable mess of a child's-play fright flick, exemplifies the trend of overwrought too-muchness" and also wrote "despite a few creepy moments, [the film] is starved for scenes that make the fear it's showing you relatable".[18] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter praised Wise's and the younger's cast performances, but wrote "Imaginary, which starts out as a relatively low-key suspenser with intriguing psychological depth, eventually succumbs to the inanities plaguing so many recent horror efforts (like the killer pool in the same company's Night Swim)".[19]

Wilson Chapman of IndieWire gave the film a grade of "C", writing "Even at its most entertaining, Imaginary has about as much staying power as the figments of imagination that give it its name. Just like your childhood imaginary friend, you'll probably forget about it pretty quickly".[20] Robert Abele writing for the Los Angeles Times criticized director Wadlow with being "terrible with actors", saying that he "can even make a motionless plush animal seem poorly directed". He wrote, "Imaginary skips the directive to entertain, coming off as stiff, pedestrian and dreary as a March space-filler can get".[21]

References

  1. ^ "Imaginary (15)". BBFC. February 27, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Faughnder, Ryan (March 5, 2024). "From Imaginary to Five Nights at Freddy's. Why Blumhouse loves PG-13 horror". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Rubin, Rebecca (March 5, 2024). "Box Office Preview: Kung Fu Panda 4 Takes on Dune: Part Two, Targets $50 Million Debut". Variety. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Imaginary — Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Imaginary". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  6. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 7, 2023). "DeWanda Wise Starring & Exec Producing Lionsgate & Blumhouse's Original Horror Pic Imaginary". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rubin, Rebecca (November 13, 2023). "Blumhouse Horror Movie Imaginary Rounds Out Cast With Tom Payne, Betty Buckley and More (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  8. ^ Makuch, Eddie (November 16, 2023). "A Nightmare Come To Life, As Little Girl's Teddy Bear Becomes Evil In First Trailer For Imaginary". GameSpot. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Grobar, Matt (February 6, 2023). "Lionsgate Acquiring Blumhouse Thriller Imaginary To Be Directed By Jeff Wadlow – EFM". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  10. ^ "Productions". Film New Orleans. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  11. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 7, 2024). "Kung Fu Panda 4 To Soar At Weekend Box Office With $50M+; 'Dune: Part Two' Crossing $100M Today – Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  12. ^ Squires, John (October 27, 2023). "Blumhouse Horror Movie Imaginary Gets New Release Date; Trailer Playing in Theaters". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  13. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 10, 2023). "Blumhouse's Imaginary Gets 2024 Release Date From Lionsgate". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  14. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 11, 2024). "How Universal Revived DreamWorks Animation's 'Kung Fu Panda 4' To $58M Opening – Monday Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  15. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 17, 2024). "'Kung Fu Panda 4' Second Weekend At $31M+ Expected To Karate Chop Sandworm — Saturday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  16. ^ "Imaginary". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 22, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  17. ^ "Imaginary". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  18. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (March 8, 2024). "Imaginary Review: A Sinister Teddy Bear and Too Much Schlock Metaphysics". Variety. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  19. ^ Scheck, Frank (March 8, 2024). "Imaginary Review: DeWanda Wise Stars in a Blumhouse Horror Flick That Forgets the Scares". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  20. ^ Chapman, Wilson (March 8, 2024). "Imaginary Review: Blumhouse's Teddy Bear Horror Story Lacks Much Imagination of Its Own". IndieWire. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  21. ^ Abele, Robert (March 8, 2024). "Review: Despite starring a possessed stuffed animal, the dull Imaginary is close to unbearable". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
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