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Henri tells John that too many people are suspicious of them, in addition to John’s random displays of power, caused by his difficulty in controlling them, and that they must leave. However, John tells him he can’t because he’s in love with Sara. When a Lorien falls in love, it only happens once, and the two lovers become connected forever.
Henri tells John that too many people are suspicious of them, in addition to John’s random displays of power, caused by his difficulty in controlling them, and that they must leave. However, John tells him he can’t because he’s in love with Sara. When a Lorien falls in love, it only happens once, and the two lovers become connected forever.


The Mogadorians start searching for John as well as Number Six ([[Teresa Palmer]]), who is a skilled fighter. The Magodorians arrive first, and manipulate two conspiracy theories into capturing Henri. When John and Sam go to rescue him, they are attacked, but manage to fend them off. However, Henri is mortally wounded and dies after John and Sam escape with some Lorian artifacts, including a blue rock that acts as a tracking device to locate other Loriens. Sam’s father, a conspiracy theorist who disappeared while hunting aliens in Mexico, has another. While Sam searches for it, John tries to say goodbye to Sara on a party, only to discover that the Mogadorians have framed him and Henri for the murders of the conspiracy theories, which were actually killed by the Commander, as well as being terrorists due to the their cutting-edge technology. Mark sees John and calls his father, who corners John and Sara. He saves her from a fall, revealing his powers in the process, and they escape to their school. The Commander also arrives at Paradise, blocking the exits with trucks. He is confronted by Mark and his father, and, after injuring the latter, he forces the former to show him where John is hiding, Mark then takes him to the school, which he knows is Sara’s hideout.
The Mogadorians start searching for John as well as Number Six ([[Teresa Palmer]]), who is a skilled fighter. The Magodorians arrive first, and manipulate two conspiracy theorists into capturing Henri. When John and Sam go to rescue him, they are attacked, but manage to fend them off. However, Henri is mortally wounded and dies after John and Sam escape with some Lorian artifacts, including a blue rock that acts as a tracking device to locate other Loriens. Sam’s father, a conspiracy theorist who disappeared while hunting aliens in Mexico, has another. While Sam searches for it, John tries to say goodbye to Sara on a party, only to discover that the Mogadorians have framed him and Henri for the murders of the conspiracy theorists, who were actually killed by the Commander, as well as being terrorists due to the their cutting-edge technology. Mark sees John and calls his father, who corners John and Sara. He saves her from a fall, revealing his powers in the process, and they escape to their school. The Commander also arrives at Paradise, blocking the exits with trucks. He is confronted by Mark and his father, and, after injuring the latter, he forces the former to show him where John is hiding, Mark then takes him to the school, which he knows is Sara’s hideout.


There, John, Sara and Sam are attacked by the Commander and his soldiers, who have brought two giant monsters to hunt the trio. They are saved by Number Six and a Chimera sent by John’s parents to protect him, which can shapeshift and was disguised as his dog. John and Number Six, who has superspeed, can block energy-based attacks, and the same basic abilities as John, fight the Mogadorians. They eventually defeat them all, including the Commander, whose energy grenades are overheated by John and explode, destroying his body.
There, John, Sara and Sam are attacked by the Commander and his soldiers, who have brought two giant monsters to hunt the trio. They are saved by Number Six and a Chimera sent by John’s parents to protect him, which can shapeshift and was disguised as his dog. John and Number Six, who has superspeed, can block energy-based attacks, and the same basic abilities as John, fight the Mogadorians. They eventually defeat them all, including the Commander, whose energy grenades are overheated by John and explode, destroying his body.

Revision as of 10:24, 22 February 2011

I Am Number Four
Theatrical release poster
Directed byD. J. Caruso
Screenplay byAlfred Gough
Miles Millar
Marti Noxon
Produced byMichael Bay
Chris Bender
J.C. Spink
David Valdes
StarringAlex Pettyfer
Timothy Olyphant
Dianna Agron
Kevin Durand
Teresa Palmer
Callan McAuliffe
Jake Abel
CinematographyGuillermo Navarro
Edited byVince Filippone
Jim Page
Music byTrevor Rabin
Production
companies
Distributed byTouchstone Pictures
Release date
  • February 18, 2011 (2011-02-18)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million[1]
Box office$25,900,000[2]

I Am Number Four is an American teen science fiction film, directed by D. J. Caruso, starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Kevin Durand, and Callan McAuliffe. The film is based on the novel I Am Number Four, written by Jobie Hughes and James Frey, with an adapted screenplay by Al Gough, Miles Millar, and Marti Noxon.

The film is produced by Michael Bay through DreamWorks; The Hollywood Reporter projected the budget to be between $50 and $60 million. The film was released on February 18, 2011.[3]

Plot

John Smith (Alex Pettyfer) is an alien from planet Lorien who was sent to Earth as a child alongside eight other toddlers to escape an invading race, the Mogadorians, which destroyed their home planet. He is protected by a Guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), and has developed superpowers due to his alien nature, such as enhanced strength, speed and agility, telekinesis, resistance to fire and heat and the power to generate light from his hands.

The Mogadorians, led by the Commander (Kevin Durand) eventually find out about the nine toddlers and come to Earth in search of them. They can only be killed in sequence, with three of them having already been slain. John is Number Four. Knowing this, he and Henri move from Florida to Paradise, Ohio, where John befriends Sam Goode (Callan McAuliffe), who is devoted to conspiracy theories and believes in aliens; and falls in love with amateur photographer Sara Hart (Dianna Agron), whose ex-boyfriend, Mark James (Jake Abel) is a bully who often torments both John and Sam.

During the spring carnival, Mark and his friends capture John and Sara, whom they believe are in a relationship, and drag them to a cave, where they attempt to beat John up. However, he uses his powers to fend them off and rescue Sara. However, Sam witnesses the events and John tells him his true origin. Shortly thereafter, Mark’s father, the local sheriff, interrogates Henri on John’s whereabouts when his son and his friends were attacked, and notices that he has a high-tech surveillance system.

Henri tells John that too many people are suspicious of them, in addition to John’s random displays of power, caused by his difficulty in controlling them, and that they must leave. However, John tells him he can’t because he’s in love with Sara. When a Lorien falls in love, it only happens once, and the two lovers become connected forever.

The Mogadorians start searching for John as well as Number Six (Teresa Palmer), who is a skilled fighter. The Magodorians arrive first, and manipulate two conspiracy theorists into capturing Henri. When John and Sam go to rescue him, they are attacked, but manage to fend them off. However, Henri is mortally wounded and dies after John and Sam escape with some Lorian artifacts, including a blue rock that acts as a tracking device to locate other Loriens. Sam’s father, a conspiracy theorist who disappeared while hunting aliens in Mexico, has another. While Sam searches for it, John tries to say goodbye to Sara on a party, only to discover that the Mogadorians have framed him and Henri for the murders of the conspiracy theorists, who were actually killed by the Commander, as well as being terrorists due to the their cutting-edge technology. Mark sees John and calls his father, who corners John and Sara. He saves her from a fall, revealing his powers in the process, and they escape to their school. The Commander also arrives at Paradise, blocking the exits with trucks. He is confronted by Mark and his father, and, after injuring the latter, he forces the former to show him where John is hiding, Mark then takes him to the school, which he knows is Sara’s hideout.

There, John, Sara and Sam are attacked by the Commander and his soldiers, who have brought two giant monsters to hunt the trio. They are saved by Number Six and a Chimera sent by John’s parents to protect him, which can shapeshift and was disguised as his dog. John and Number Six, who has superspeed, can block energy-based attacks, and the same basic abilities as John, fight the Mogadorians. They eventually defeat them all, including the Commander, whose energy grenades are overheated by John and explode, destroying his body.

On the following day, John, Number Six, Sam and the Chimera unite their blue rocks and discover the location of the other four surviving Lorians. They set to find them and rally them together to protect Earth from the Mogadorians, leaving Sara and a repentant Mark, who has redeemed himself by lying to his father about John’s whereabouts and returning John a box belonging to his father, that they’ll return one day to be with them.

Cast

In March 2010, Alex Pettyfer was in talks to play the title character in the film, Number Four.[4] It was later confirmed that the 20-year-old English actor will play the lead.[5] Sharlto Copley was going to star as Henri, Number Four's guardian and mentor, but had to drop out due to press obligations with his film The A-Team. Copley was replaced by Timothy Olyphant.[6] Kevin Durand plays the villain of the film, Commander, an alien who leads the hunt of the escaped aliens on Earth.[7]

DreamWorks went through multiple rounds of tests to find the right actress for the female romantic lead. Dianna Agron, a star in the Fox television series Glee, won the highly sought-after role. She plays Sarah, a girl who used to date a high school football player, but falls for Number Four and keeps his secret.[8] Jake Abel plays the football player, Mark James, an antagonist in the film who doesn't like someone moving in on his ex-girlfriend.[9] Teresa Palmer plays another alien, Number Six, and 16-year-old Australian actor Callan McAuliffe plays Sam, Number Four's best friend.[10]

Production

Development

Film producer and director Michael Bay brought the manuscript of the teen book, I Am Number Four, to Stacey Snider and Steven Spielberg at DreamWorks. A bidding war developed for the film rights between DreamWorks and J.J. Abrams, with DreamWorks winning the rights in June 2009, with the intention of having Bay produce and possibly direct the project.[11][12] The rights were purchased with the hope of attracting teenage fans of the Twilight saga films,[13] and the potential of establishing a film franchise, with at least six more installments planned by the book's publisher.[14]

James Frey is the co-author of the book, along with Jobie Hughes, a graduate of Columbia University's creative writing program.[15] Al Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of the television series Smallville, were hired to write the screenplay in August 2009.[16] Marti Noxon, writer and producer for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, also contributed to the screenplay. D. J. Caruso was brought on to direct in early 2010, after Bay opted to focus on directing the third film of the Transformers series. Caruso had been selected by Spielberg to direct Disturbia and Eagle Eye for DreamWorks, and had success with both films.[17] Caruso had less than a year to prepare, shoot and edit the film, due to a worldwide release date set for Presidents Day weekend.[14]

Chris Bender, J.C. Spink and David Valdes are executive producing the film.[18] Steven Spielberg contributed to the film's characters, but is not expected to take a credit on the film.[17] It was the first DreamWorks film to be released by Disney's Touchstone film label, as part of the new 30-picture distribution deal between DreamWorks and the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group.[19] The film is also the first release for DreamWorks after the studio's financial restructuring in 2008.[17]

Filming

Filming began on May 17, 2010, using 20 locations all within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.[20][21] DreamWorks selected the area primarily due to tax incentives from the Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit.[18] The film studio also had a positive experience shooting She's Out of My League in Pittsburgh in 2008. The production was scheduled to last 12 to 13 weeks.[22]

Buttermilk Falls near Homewood, Pennsylvania

Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro shot the film on 35 mm, using a format known as Super 1:85.[23] Beaver, the former Conley Inn in Homewood, and nearby Buttermilk Falls were used as locations in the film; interior and exterior scenes were shot near a boat launch in Monaca.[24] A spring fair scene was filmed in Deer Lakes Park in West Deer; Port Vue, North Park, New Kensington and Hyde Park were also used as locations.[21][25][18] The setting of the film's fictional town of Paradise, Ohio is Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, where filming took place from June to July 2010.[26] Producers chose Vandergrift as the "hero town" of the film because of its unique look and curved streets, laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York City's Central Park.[21]

Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville was chosen over 50 other schools in the area, due to its proximity to nearby woods, a part of the film's plot, and its surrounding hills. The school was also selected for its one floor layout, wide hallways, and its football stadium in front.[18][27] Teachers and recent graduates appear in the film, and a set that replicates the school was built in a studio in Monroeville for filming explosion scenes.[28] In the last few weeks of production, scenes were filmed at the 200-year-old St. John's Lutheran Stone Church in Lancaster Township.[29] Additional filming took place in the Florida Keys.[30]

Post-production

I Am Number Four was edited by Jim Page, with Industrial Light & Magic developing the visual effects for the alien creatures.[31] It was director D. J. Caruso's first extensive use of computer-enhanced special effects.[14] The film was scored by former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin.[32]

Release

A teaser trailer for the film was issued in late September 2010,[33] and a full length trailer premiered on December 8.[31] Advertisements ran in Seventeen and Teen Vogue magazines, and Disney released a promotional iPhone app in January 2011.[12] Disney has also developed a lot of Internet content to target a teen audience with their marketing campaign.[14] A cast tour, in association with American retailer Hot Topic, and cast media appearances were scheduled to lead up to the release of the film.[12]

I Am Number Four premiered at the Village Theatre in Los Angeles on February 9, 2011.[34] The film was released in theaters on February 18, 2011, and was also released in the IMAX format.[3][31]

References

  1. ^ Fritz, Ben; Kaufman, Amy (February 17, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'I Am Number Four' to be No. 1 at holiday weekend box office [Updated]". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  2. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=iamnumberfour.htm
  3. ^ a b Schooley, Tim (April 7, 2010). "DreamWorks production of "I Am Number Four" to shoot in Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Business Times. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  4. ^ McNary, Dave; McClintock, Pamela (March 31, 2010). "Alex Pettyfer circles DreamWorks' 'Number Four'". Variety. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  5. ^ "Alex Pettyfer Says I Am Number Four". Empireonline.com. April 1, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  6. ^ Bartyze, Monika (May 12, 2010). "Sharlto Copley Ditches 'I Am Number Four' Over Lack of Alien Costume?". Cinematical. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  7. ^ Kit, Borys (May 7, 2010). ""Lost" Baddie Kevin Durand Books Two Sci-Fi Movies". ABC News. Retrieved June 8, 2010. [dead link]
  8. ^ "'Glee' star Dianna Agron to join sci-fi movie 'I Am Number Four' (exclusive)". Heat Vision. Hollywood Reporter. April 29, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) [dead link]
  9. ^ "MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet Interviews with Jake Abel (I AM NUMBER FOUR) and Nicola Peltz (THE LAST AIRBENDER)". collider.com. June 7, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  10. ^ "Callan McAuliffe cast in U.S. action flick". UPI.com. May 21, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  11. ^ Fernandez, Jay A. (June 26, 2009). "Michael Bay in 'I Am Number Four' deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 9, 2010. [dead link]
  12. ^ a b c Sellers, John A. (January 6, 2011). "Movie Alert: 'I Am Number Four'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  13. ^ "Is 'I Am No. 4' the Next 'Twilight'?". Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  14. ^ a b c d Alter, Ethan (January 26, 2011). "The alien next door: D.J. Caruso makes sci-fi debut with 'I Am Number Four'". Film Journal International. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  15. ^ "Star happy to dance to mark TV milestone". The Journal Gazette. July 3, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  16. ^ Reynolds, Simon (August 27, 2009). "'Smallville' duo to write Bay's 'Number Four'". Digital Spy. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  17. ^ a b c Cieply, Michael; Barnes, Brooke (October 31, 2010). "Spielberg and DreamWorks Energize the Magic Machine Anew". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
  18. ^ a b c d Bailey, Laurie (June 24, 2010). "An alien ticket to Paradise: Movie crew invades Franklin Regional". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  19. ^ Variety: Disney signs deal with DreamWorks Company will handle distribution for films, Variety, February 9, 2009
  20. ^ "The East at a glance". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 20, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  21. ^ a b c Yerace, Tom (April 6, 2010). "Vandergrift's architecture lures big-budget film". Valley News Dispatch. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  22. ^ Vancheri, Barabara (April 23, 2010). "DreamWorks film, "I Am Number Four," begins shooting here next month". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  23. ^ Weintraub, Steve (December 8, 2010). "D.J. Caruso Interview I Am Number Four Plus Edit Bay Visit Recap". Collider.com. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  24. ^ Tady, Scott (May 27, 2010). "Movie magic almost as exciting as catfish". Beaver County Times. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  25. ^ Barkousky, Len (June 2, 2010). "Allegheny County Council OKs movie filming in two parks". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  26. ^ Skena, Rossilynne (June 3, 2010). "Vandergrift locations part of week's 'Number Four' film shoot". Valley News Dispatch. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  27. ^ "'I Am Number Four' Movie To Shoot In Murrysville". WTAE-TV. May 5, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  28. ^ Rittmeyer, Brian C. (February 6, 2011). "'I Am Number Four' offers many Western Pennsylvania locations". Valley News Dispatch. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  29. ^ Keener, Craig (July 22, 2010). "Stone Church site of sci-fi film". Butler Eagle.
  30. ^ Fay, Francis X., Jr. (October 1, 2010). "NHSAA Wall of Honor Hollywood director was All-State tennis player". The Hour. Retrieved October 3, 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ a b c "DJ Caruso Talks I Am Number Four". Empire. December 8, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  32. ^ "Edit Bay Visit: I Am Number Four with D.J. Caruso". movieweb.com. December 7, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  33. ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (September 29, 2010). "'I Am Number Four' trailer: Glowing hands and flipping cars". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  34. ^ Magrath, Andrea (February 10, 2011). "Glee good girl Dianna Agron upstaged by vampish co-star Teresa Palmer at I Am Number Four premiere". Daily Mail. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
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