Another Earth
| Another Earth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mike Cahill |
| Written by | Mike Cahill Brit Marling |
| Produced by | Hunter Gray Mike Cahill Brit Marling Nicholas Shumaker |
| Starring | William Mapother Brit Marling |
| Cinematography | Mike Cahill |
Production company | Artists Public Domain |
| Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release dates |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Another Earth is a 2011 American fantasy/science fiction drama film directed by Mike Cahill in his feature film debut. The film stars William Mapother and Brit Marling. It premiered at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and will be distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Synopsis
Rhoda Williams (Marling), an astrophysics student at MIT, is driving when she sees a planet and leans out for a closer look. She hits a minivan and kills a family. She is imprisoned for four years, and upon release seeks out the widower of the family, composer John Burroughs (Mapother). The planet she saw is a mirror planet of Earth, and an essay contest is held where the winner can ride a space shuttle to visit it. Williams considers the possibility of visiting it to find out what kind of life her mirror self would have led.[1] The cataclysmic effects of another planet being so close to our own are not addressed.
Cast
- William Mapother as John Burroughs
- Brit Marling as Rhoda Williams
- Jordan Baker as Kim Williams
- Robin Lord Taylor as Jeff Williams
- Flint Beverage
Production notes
When asked why he agreed to join the cast of Another Earth, given the "notoriously hit or miss" nature of indie movies, William Mapother replied that he was drawn by the film's subject and by the other names involved in it. At Mapother's insistence, he and the production team worked extensively on the scenes of John and Rhoda in order to develop John's character in the film.[2]
Release
Another Earth had its world premiere at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. It was released in dramatic competition. Variety reported, "[It] has been deemed one of the more highly praised pics of the fest as it received a standing ovation after the screening and strong word of mouth from buyers and festgoers." The distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures won distribution rights to the film in a deal worth $1.5 million to $2 million, beating out other distributors including Focus Features and The Weinstein Company.[3] The film subsequently won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize for "focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character".[4]
Fox Searchlight will distribute Another Earth in the United States, Canada, and other English-speaking territories.[3] The film will have a limited release in the United States and Canada on July 22, 2011. It will expand to a wide release in ensuing months.[5]
Reception
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter described Another Earth as "A gripping, intimate story to which science fiction adds a provocative, philosophical context."[6]
See also
- Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, a 1969 science fiction film with a similar premise
- Counter-Earth hypothesis, which posits that a duplicate of Earth exists opposite of its orbit in order to balance the otherwise unstable geocentric orbit of the planets
References
- ^ "U.S. Dramatic Competition" (PDF). sundance.org. Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Exclusive: ANOTHER EARTH's William Mapother Interview". Daemon's Movies. Daemons Media Inc. 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
I'm like a lot of actors. I like to work. This business is so hard that if you were only in it for money or fame you'd have to be a damn fool. So like a lot of actors I'm attracted by material and the other participants.
- ^ a b Stewart, Andrew; Lodderhose, Diana (January 26, 2011). "First on Variety: Searchlight nabs 'Earth'". Variety.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Stewart, Andrew (January 28, 2011). "'Earth' awarded Sundance's Sloan prize". Variety.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Stewart, Andrew (March 10, 2011). "Weinstein Co. dates trio of pics". Variety.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (24 January 2011). "SUNDANCE REVIEW: Another Earth". The Hollywood Reporter. Park City. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
The movie is a bolt from the blue here at Sundance. Its director of programming, John Cooper, admits the festival wasn't even tracking the title and the film arrived here without much heat until its Monday afternoon debut. That's all changed now.