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The Turning (2020 film)

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The Turning
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFloria Sigismondi
Screenplay by
Produced by
  • Scott Bernstein
  • Roy Lee
  • Seth William Meier
Starring
CinematographyDavid Ungaro
Edited by
Music byNathan Barr
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23) (LAFF)
  • January 24, 2020 (2020-01-24) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10–14 million[2]

The Turning is a 2020 American supernatural horror film directed by Floria Sigismondi and written by Carey and Chad Hayes. It is a modern adaptation of the 1898 ghost story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.[3] Steven Spielberg also serves as an executive producer. It stars Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard, Brooklynn Prince, and Joely Richardson, and follows a young governess who is hired to watch over two young children after their parents' deaths.

The film first entered development in March 2016 and was described as a passion project for Steven Spielberg, who wanted to be involved in a horror film again. The film adaptation went through two phases of production: first as Haunted with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo attached as director, then renamed as The Turning with Sigismondi. Filming took place in Ireland from February through April 2018.

The film had its world premiere at Los Angeles Film Festival on January 23, 2020, and was released in the United States on January 24, 2020 by Universal Pictures.

Premise

For more than 100 years, a deeply haunting tale has been passed down to terrify audiences. Next January, DreamWorks Pictures' The Turning takes us to a mysterious estate in the Maine countryside, where newly appointed nanny Kate (Mackenzie Davis) is charged with the care of two disturbed orphans, Flora (Brooklynn Prince) and Miles (Finn Wolfhard). Quickly though, she discovers that both the children and the house are harboring dark secrets and things may not be as they appear.

— Universal Pictures

Cast

Production

Development

The film first entered development in March 2016 and was described as a passion project for Steven Spielberg, who wanted to be involved in a horror film again.[5] The film adaptation went through two phases of production: first as Haunted with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo attached as director, then renamed as The Turning with Floria Sigismondi.[6][7]

Fresnadillo project (2016)

On March 9, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Amblin Entertainment was hiring Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to direct Haunted, which was inspired by Henry James' 1898 gothic ghost story, The Turn of the Screw and would be scripted by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes with Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, John Middleton and Scott Bernstein as the producers.[6] Haunted, which was to shoot under the DreamWorks label, would have been one of the first new projects to move forward since DreamWorks, Amblin and Participant Media formed the new Amblin Partners in late 2015, and DreamWorks, after distributing its films through Disney's Touchstone Pictures since 2008, struck a new distribution deal with Universal.[6]

On August 1, 2016, it was announced that Alfre Woodard had signed on to the project.[8] Later that month, Rose Leslie joined the project as the lead.[9]

On September 21, 2016, five weeks before shooting, Spielberg personally pulled the plug on the project[6] because Scott Z. Burns' 1-page rewrite caused seismic changes in the story's fabric (altering characters, action, even the title) and it no longer resembled the project the studio signed on to make. [6] Spielberg and DreamWorks decided the best course of action was to fire Fresnadillo and Burns and go back to the original Hayes' script and looking to start fresh development with a new director despite $5 million having been spent of the $17 million budget.[6]

Sigismondi project (2017 onward)

On August 24, 2017, Deadline reported that Amblin Entertainment had set Floria Sigismondi to direct Haunted, now renamed as The Turning,[7] which would feature a new draft by Jade Bartlett based on the original script by Chad and Carey W. Hayes. Production was expected to start in early 2018 with Scott Bernstein and Roy Lee still attached as producers.[10] In October 2017, Mackenzie Davis signed on to portray the lead role of the nanny.[11] In December 2017, it was announced that Finn Wolfhard was cast as one of the orphans.[12] In January 2018, Brooklynn Prince joined the cast.[13] In February 2018, the rest of the cast was announced as principal production commenced.[3] The casting of Joely Richardson was announced in January 2019.[14]

Filming

Principal production began in Ireland on February 14, 2018.[3] Filming began with the cast and crew behind strict security at Killruddery House in County Wicklow Filming for Wolfhard and Prince concluded on March 27, 2018.[15][16] Principal photography for the film completed on April 6, 2018.[17]

Music

The film's score is composed by American composer Nathan Barr.[18] The film's soundtrack will feature tracks from names like Pale Waves, Mitski, girl in red, Kali Uchis, Vagabon, Courtney Love, Warpaint, Alice Glass, The Aubreys, Lawrence Rothman and Soccer Mommy.[19]

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released on February 22, 2019, by Universal Pictures.[20] In September 2018, the film was removed from Universal's release schedule, with DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World being released in its place.[21] It is scheduled to be released on January 24, 2020 with Universal releasing the film wide domestically and in select international territories.[22]

Marketing

The first trailer was released on October 9, 2019.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Gentlemen, and is projected to gross $7–9 million from 3,000 theaters in its opening weekend.[23] The film made $425,000 from Thursday night previews.[2]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 14% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Stylish but muddled, this misbegotten adaptation of Henry James' classic novel will send horror-hungry viewers Turning to the source material instead."[24] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[25] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an overall positive score of 34% (including an average 0 out of 5 stars), with 20% of people saying they would definitely recommend it.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Film releases". Variety Insight. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Anthony D'Alessandro (January 24, 2020). "'Bad Boys For Life' & '1917' Shooting Past $100M; 'The Gentlemen' Eyes $10M+ – Midday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "#IrishFilm: Production underway in Wicklow on Spielberg-produced horror The Turning". Scannain. February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  4. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 1, 2019). "Universal Dates Judd Apatow-Pete Davidson Comedy & DreamWorks' 'The Turning' For 2020". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  5. ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (March 9, 2016). "Juan Carlos Fresnadillo To Helm Ghost Tale 'Haunted' For DreamWorks". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Masters, Kim (September 21, 2016). "DreamWorks Shuts Down Ghost Story 'Haunted' Weeks Before Start Date (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Fleming Jr, Mike (August 24, 2017). "Floria Sigismondi To Direct Henry James-Inspired 'The Turning' For Amblin". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  8. ^ Masters, Kim (August 1, 2016). "Alfre Woodard Joins DreamWorks' 'Haunted' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  9. ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (August 11, 2016). "'Game Of Thrones' Rose Leslie To Star In DreamWorks' 'Haunted'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  10. ^ Evry, Max (December 13, 2017). "Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard to Star in Horror Film The Turning". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  11. ^ Sneider, Jeff (October 3, 2017). ""BLADE RUNNER 2049'S" MACKENZIE DAVIS TO STAR IN AMBLIN'S GHOST STORY "THE TURNING" (EXCLUSIVE)". The Hollywood Tracking Board. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  12. ^ Kroll, Justin (December 13, 2017). "'Stranger Things' Actor Finn Wolfhard to Star in Haunted House Film 'The Turning' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  13. ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (January 4, 2018). "'Florida Project's Brooklynn Prince Joins Amblin Haunted House Tale 'The Turning'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  14. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 1, 2019). "Universal Dates Judd Apatow-Pete Davidson Comedy & DreamWorks' 'The Turning' For 2020". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  15. ^ Perkins, Ben (March 27, 2018). "#thatisawrap #theturningmovie #greatjob #floriasigismondi 🎥". Instagram. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  16. ^ Sigismondi, Floria (March 31, 2018). "I can't believe we finished shooting @finnwolfhardofficial and @thebrooklynnkimberly on @theturningmovie it was such a pleasure directing these two young talents!! One week left! #theturningmovie #ireland #femalefilmmakers". Instagram. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  17. ^ Sigismondi, Floria (April 6, 2018). "It's a wrap!! Just finished principle photography on The Turning!!!! #theturningmovie #mackenziedavis @finnwolfhardofficial @thebrooklynnkimberly @dennathomsen @amblin #niallgriegfulton #barbramarten #joelyrichardson #ireland #fff #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers". Instagram. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  18. ^ Sprague, Mike (February 25, 2019). "Nathan Barr to Score Floria Sigismondi's 'The Turning'". filmmusicreporter.com. Retrieved February 26, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ Kreps, Daniel (November 21, 2019). "Muna, girl in red, and Courtney Love have contributed songs to Finn Wolfhard's new film, The Turning". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 22, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 4, 2018). "Universal Dates Trio Of Amblin Pics: 'The Turning', 'A Dog's Journey' & 'Bios'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  21. ^ Hermanns, Grant (September 27, 2018). "How to Train Your Dragon 3 Release Date Moved Up One Week". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  22. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 1, 2019). "Universal Dates Judd Apatow-Pete Davidson Comedy & DreamWorks' 'The Turning' For 2020". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  23. ^ Jeremy Fuster (January 21, 2020). "'The Gentlemen' Won't Dethrone 'Bad Boys for Life' at Box Office – But It Doesn't Need To". TheWrap. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  24. ^ "The Turning (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  25. ^ "The Turning Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
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