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I Am Number Four (film)

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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
Dianna Agron
Timothy Olyphant
Teresa Palmer
Callan McAuliffe
Kevin Durand
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$144,492,830[2]

I Am Number Four is a 2011 American teen action science fiction film, directed by D. J. Caruso, starring Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, 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 Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Marti Noxon.

The film was produced by Michael Bay through Disney; The Hollywood Reporter projected the budget to be between $50 and $60 million. The film was released in both conventional and IMAX theatres 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 others to escape an invading race, the Mogadorians, which destroyed their home planet. He is protected by a Warrior/Guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), and has developed "legacies" due to his extraterrestrial 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 learn about the nine children and come to Earth in search of them. These Loriens can only be killed in a particular 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 conspiracy theorist Sam Goode (Callan McAuliffe), a dog named Bernie Kosar, and falls in love with amateur photographer Sarah Hart (Dianna Agron), whose ex-boyfriend, school athlete Mark James (Jake Abel) is a bully who often torments both John and Sam.

During the spring carnival, Mark and his friends try to capture John and Sarah, whom they believe are in a relationship, and follow them into the woods, where they attempt to beat John up. However, he uses his legacies to fend them off and rescue Sarah. 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 doesn't want to because he's in love with Sarah.

The Mogadorians start searching for John. Another alien from Lorien, Number Six (Teresa Palmer), decided to go after the Mogadorians instead of running away from them after her Guardian was murdered. The Mogadorians eventually locate John and manipulate two conspiracy theorists into capturing Henri. When John and Sam go to rescue him, they are attacked but manage to fend Mogadorians off. However, Henri is mortally wounded and dies after John and Sam escape with some Lorien 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 Sarah at a party, only to discover that the Mogadorians have framed him and Henri for the murders of the conspiracy theorists, as well as being terrorists due to their cutting-edge technology. Mark sees John and calls his father, who corners John and Sarah. He saves her from a fall, revealing his powers in the process, and they escape to their high school.

Meanwhile, 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 Sarah's hideout.

There, John, Sarah, 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 John's "dog," Bernie Kosar, who reveals his true form as a good Chimera, which can shapeshift, and was sent by his parents to protect him. Bernie Kosar eventually shapeshifts back to a beagle with a very wounded paw. John and Number Six, who can teleport and block energy-based attacks, 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 Bernie Kosar,unite their blue rocks and discover the location of the other four surviving Loriens. John decides to let Sam come with them with hopes of finding Sam's father. They set to find the others and rally them together to protect Earth from the Mogadorians, leaving Sarah and a repentant Mark, who has redeemed himself by lying to his father about John's whereabouts and returning to John a box belonging to his father. John, Number Six, and Sam leave Paradise to look for the other Loriens.

The film ends as John narrates that Paradise is the first town he left without Henri, but it's also the first one where he has a reason to come back to.

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 21-year-old English actor would 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 role. She plays Sarah Hart, 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 Goode, 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 a 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.[18][21][25] 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 in the beginning of the film in Big Pine Key, Florida as well as the spanning of the drive over the bridge showcases the keys 7 mile bridge.[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. The film was released in theaters on February 18, 2011, and was also released in the IMAX format.[3][31]

Reception

Box office

The film earned $55,100,437 at the North American box office and an estimated $90,882,360 overseas, for a worldwide total of $145,982,797.[2] It topped the worldwide box office on its second weekend (February 25–27, 2011) with $28,086,805.[34][35]

The film opened at number two in the USA and Canada with a gross of $19,449,893. In its second weekend it dropped 43.4%, earning $11,016,126.[2] The only other market where it has grossed more than $10 million is China. It began in third place with $3.4 million, but had an increase of 91% in its second week, therefore topping the box office with $6.4 million. In its third week, it continued to dominate, experiencing a decrease of just 21% to $5.0 million. As of March 27, 2011, it has grossed $17,328,244.[36]

Critical response

The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 30% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10; its audience, based on 64,079 reviews, gave it 60%. [37]

On Internet Movie Database, ( IMDb.com ) it received 6.2 stars out of 10 from 32,906 votes.

Metacritic gave it 36% "generally unfavorable" rating, based on reviews from 30 critics.[38]

Roger Ebert gave the film one and a half stars and wrote, "I Am Number Four is shameless and unnecessary...Why audiences enjoy watching protracted sequences of senseless action mystifies me" and felt that there were many unanswered questions.[39]

Home media

The film was released on iTunes, Blu-ray, and DVD on May 24, 2011.[40][41] The release was produced in three different packages: a 3-disc Blu-ray, DVD, and "Digital Copy" combo pack, a 1-disc Blu-ray, and a 1-disc DVD.[42][43] The "Digital Copy" included with the 3-disc version is a stand-alone disc that allows users to play the film from any location via iTunes or Windows Media Player. All versions include bloopers and the "Becoming Number 6" feature, while the 1-disc Blu-ray and 3-disc Blu-ray, DVD, and "Digital Copy" combo pack versions additionally include six deleted scenes with an introduction from the director, D.J. Caruso.[42][44] As of July 17, 2011, the standard DVD of 'I am Number Four' has sold 708,664 copies in the United States alone, generating $11,590,294, and thus bringing the total gross to $157,573,091.[45]

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. ^ a b c "I Am Number 4". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  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. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Bartyze, Monika (May 12, 2010). "Sharlto Copley Ditches 'I Am Number Four' Over Lack of Alien Costume?". Cinematical.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  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'". Heat Vision. The Hollywood Reporter. April 29, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010. [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. ^ "Overseas Total Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  35. ^ "I Am Number Four". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  36. ^ "China Box Office Index". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  37. ^ "I Am Number Four Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
  38. ^ "I Am Number Four Reviews". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  39. ^ Ebert, Roger (16 February 2011). "I Am Number Four review". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  40. ^ McCutcheon, David (8 April 2011). "I Am Number Four on DVD, BD". IGN. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  41. ^ "I Am Number Four Aims for Number One on DVD and Blu-ray This May". Movies.com. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  42. ^ a b "New Release: I Am Number Four DVD and Blu-ray pre-order". Disc Dish. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  43. ^ Gallagher, Brian (12 April 2011). "I Am Number Four Blu-ray and DVD Hit on May 24th". MovieWeb. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  44. ^ Moore, Jason (11 April 2011). "I Am Number Four Hits DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack In May". SciFi Mafia. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  45. ^ I am Number Four - DVD Sales

External links

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