Dolittle (film)

Dolittle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stephen Gaghan
Screenplay by	Stephen Gaghan Dan Gregor Doug Mand Chris McKay
Story by	Thomas Shepherd
Produced by	Joe Roth Jeff Kirschenbaum Susan Downey
Starring	Robert Downey Jr. Antonio Banderas Michael Sheen Emma Thompson Rami Malek John Cena Kumail Nanjiani Octavia Spencer Tom Holland Craig Robinson Ralph Fiennes Selena Gomez Marion Cotillard
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Edited by	Craig Alpert Nick Moore
Music by	Danny Elfman
Production companies	Team Downey Perfect World Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	January 17, 2020 (2020-01-17) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$175 million
Box office	$57.3 million

Dolittle is a 2020 American fantasy adventure film directed by Stephen Gaghan, from a screenplay by Gaghan, Dan Gregor, Doug Mand and Chris McKay and a story by Thomas Shepherd. A reboot of the Doctor Dolittle films, the film is based on the titular character created by Hugh Lofting, and primarily inspired by The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. Robert Downey Jr. stars as the title character, alongside Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen in live-action roles; the voice cast includes Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, and Marion Cotillard.

The project was announced in March 2017 with Downey Jr. set to star, and the rest of the cast joined over the following year. Filming began in March 2018 and lasted through June, taking place around the United Kingdom. The film underwent three weeks of reshoots in the spring of 2019, under the supervision of Jonathan Liebesman and Chris McKay, after initial test screenings yielded poor results.

Dolittle was theatrically released in the United States on January 17, 2020, by Universal Pictures. The film received negative reviews from critics, who called it "too long and lifeless".

Plot

Several years after his wife’s death, the eccentric John Dolittle (Downey), famed doctor and veterinarian in Victorian England, becomes a hermit, hiding himself away behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor, with only his menagerie of animals for company. But when Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure, regaining his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and encounters wondrous creatures. He saves the day by pulling items out of a dragon's bottom. In the mid Credits it is revealed that Müdfly tries to communicate with the bats living in the cave asking for an escape route and the bats attack him.

Cast

See also: List of Doctor Dolittle characters

• Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. John Dolittle, a veterinarian who has the ability to speak to animals.
• Harry Collett as Tommy Stubbins, Dolittle's self-appointed apprentice.
• Antonio Banderas as Rassouli, the king of pirates who was Lily's father.
• Michael Sheen as Dr. Blair Müdfly, an old schoolmate and rival of Dolittle.
• Jim Broadbent as Lord Thomas Badgley, one of the Queen's chair.
• Jessie Buckley as Queen Victoria, the Queen of England.
• Carmel Laniado as Lady Rose, a princess and Tommy's friend.
• Ralph Ineson as Arnall Stubbins, Tommy's uncle and Dolittle's favorite shoemaker.
• Joanna Page as Bethan Stubbins, Tommy's aunt.
• Sonny Ashbourne Serkis as Arnall Stubbins Jr., Tommy's younger brother.
• Kasia Smutniak as Lily Dolittle, Dolittle's deceased wife.

Voices

• Emma Thompson as Polynesia, a wise and headstrong macaw and Dolittle’s most trusted advisor.
• Rami Malek as Chee-Chee, an anxious but noble gorilla.
• John Cena as Yoshi, an upbeat polar bear who wears a bashlyk and bickers with Plimpton.
• Kumail Nanjiani as Plimpton, a cynical and fussy but well-meaning ostrich who wears stockings and quarrels with Yoshi.
• Octavia Spencer as Dab-Dab, an enthusiastic and crazy duck with a metal leg.
• Tom Holland as Jip, a loyal dog who wears glasses.
• Craig Robinson as Kevin, a squirrel with attitude.
• Ralph Fiennes as Barry, a ferocious tiger with gold-tipped fangs who has a past with Dolittle.
• Selena Gomez as Betsy, a friendly giraffe.
• Marion Cotillard as Tutu, a French fox who is friends with Betsy.
• Jason Mantzoukas as James, a wisecracking dragonfly who meets Dolittle in a prison cell and helps him escape.
• Frances de la Tour as Ginko-Who-Soars, a fire-breathing dragon who guards a magical fruit.

Production

On March 20, 2017, it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. would star in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, a feature adaptation of The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. In December 2017, Harry Collett and Jim Broadbent were cast. In February 2018, Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen were cast in live-action roles, while Tom Holland, Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes, and Selena Gomez were cast to voice animals, including a tiger, bear, and a lioness. In March 2018, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, John Cena, Rami Malek, Craig Robinson, Marion Cotillard, Frances de la Tour and Carmen Ejogo joined the voice cast. The character of Regine, a lioness voiced by Ejogo, was cut from the finished film.

Principal production commenced mid-February in 2018. Live-action scenes began filming in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria in May 2018, with further location filming at South Forest, Windsor Great Park and on the Menai Suspension Bridge in North West Wales, in June 2018.

In April 2019, it was reported the film had undergone 21 days of re-shoots following poor test screenings. Director Jonathan Liebesman helped to oversee the filming alongside Gaghan, while Chris McKay helped write new material after it became clear from first cuts that the comedy elements of the film were not coming together as well as the producers had hoped. In August 2019, it was reported that the film's title had been changed from The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle to simply Dolittle.

In January 2020, Robert Downey Jr discussed on Joe Rogan's podcast (The Joe Rogan Experience) that the premise of the Dr. Dolittle character in his film stemmed from a Welsh neo-pagan physician called William Price. In the podcast he said: "Same way I did with Iron Man.. alright there's something here and then before I signed on, I was just googling 'weirdest Welsh doctor', I just wanted to think of, I don't want to just do another English accent.. so there was this guy called William Price, who's a nutty Welsh doctor, he was a neo-druidist, he believed that he could communicate with all nature and all that stuff, so I sent a picture of this wild looking guy wearing this kind of suit with stars on it and like a staff in his hand, so I sent that to Gaghan and he goes; "That looks good to me" and I was like "great let's do this movie"".

Music artist Sia performed a new song of hers called "Original" for the end credits, while Danny Elfman composed the film's score.

Release

The film was originally going to be released on May 24, 2019, by Universal Pictures but was moved to April 12, 2019, to avoid competition with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (which was later moved to December 20, 2019). It was later pushed back to January 17, 2020.

Reception

Box office

As of January 20, 2020, Dolittle has grossed $30 million in the United States and Canada, and $27.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $57.3 million, against a production budget of $175 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $20–22 million from 4,155 theaters in its opening weekend, and a total of around $27 million over the four-day MLK weekend. It made a $6.3 million on its first day, including $925,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $22.5 million, finishing second behind fellow newcomer Bad Boys for Life.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 18% based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 4.11/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Dolittle may be enough to entertain very young viewers, but they deserve better than this rote adaptation's jumbled story and stale humor." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported an average 3 out of 5 stars.

Courtney Howard of Variety called the film a "frenetic, crass kids' flick" and wrote: "What should have been an awe-filled adventure quickly curdles into an awful one, thanks to a pedestrian formula and the filmmakers' fixation on fart jokes."

External links

• Official website
• Dolittle at IMDb
• Dolittle at Rotten Tomatoes