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Ouija (2014 film)

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Ouija
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStiles White
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDavid Emmerichs
Edited byKen Blackwell
Music byAnton Sanko
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • October 24, 2014 (2014-10-24)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[2][3]
Box office$102.5 million [3]

Ouija is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by Stiles White in his directorial debut. It was written by Juliet Snowden and White, who previously together wrote The Possession.[4] Starring Olivia Cooke, Daren Kagasoff, Douglas Smith, and Bianca A. Santos, Ouija was released on October 24, 2014.[5] Ouija is the first horror film adaptation of a toy property from Hasbro, which owns the Ouija board commercial trademark. The film was produced by Platinum Dunes, Blumhouse Productions and Hasbro. Despite receiving negative reviews, the film was a box office success, grossing over $102 million on a $5 million budget.

A sequel is set for release on October 21, 2016.[6]

Plot

Young Debbie Galardi and Laine Morris play with a Ouija board in a flashback, where young Debbie tells Laine the rules of the board, the most important being not to play alone.

Years later, Debbie and Laine are now teenagers. Debbie is shown playing with a Ouija board, saying “goodbye” to someone with it, and tossing it in a fire. Laine shows up at Debbie’s house to take her to the school basketball game, but Debbie turns her down. Debbie explains to Laine that she found a Ouija board in her house and played alone, but Laine dismisses Debbie's anxiety and the two laugh it off. Still, Debbie insists that Laine go without her to the game. Laine reluctantly leaves, even though she senses something is wrong. Back inside Debbie’s house, Debbie finds the Ouija board in her room, untouched. She is possessed by an unseen spirit and hangs herself. After hearing of Debbie’s death, Laine is left mourning and filled with questions. Choosing to house-sit Debbie’s house while Debbie’s parents mourn their daughter’s death at a friend’s, Laine finds an antique Ouija board in Debbie’s room. She begins to suspect it may have played a part in Debbie’s death.

Enlisting the help of her boyfriend Trevor, along with her friend Isabelle, the three friends decide to use the Ouija board to contact Debbie and say “goodbye”. Joining them later are Laine’s sister Sarah, and Debbie’s boyfriend Pete. During their first time using the board, the group contacts a spirit named “D”, whom they believe is Debbie. The board spells out “HI FRIEND”. Laine and Pete emotionally say “goodbye” to their friend using the board, and the power goes out. The group of teens splits up in the darkness, and Laine and Trevor find the stovetop burner on by itself in the kitchen, and Pete is pushed into a mirror after he sees the reflection of a woman in it. The friends leave disturbed, but happy they said goodbye.

As days pass by, the five teens begin to find the message “HI FRIEND” written in various places. They conclude that Debbie must want to talk to them. They decide to use the board again. This session, however, turns into a horrific nightmare when the friends realize they were never talking to Debbie through the board, rather they were speaking to “DZ”. DZ, through the board, reveals that it had also made contact with Debbie. Looking through the glass window on the planchette (which, in the film, enables you to see any spirits in the room), Laine is able to see DZ’s spirit, who we see as a young girl with her mouth stitched shut. The board spells out “RUN”, “MOTHER’S COMING”, and Laine sees the entity of a woman with black eyes and a gaping mouth running at her through the planchette. The group decides to stop using the board.

Through a series of video diaries, Laine learns Debbie found the Ouija board in her attic. Debbie also broke the cardinal rule of the board: never play alone. Isabelle is also killed the same night when she is possessed while flossing her teeth. Her mouth is sewn shut by the floss. An unseen spirit lifts her in the air and drops her, causing her to smash her head on the bathroom sink, splitting it open. After Isabelle dies, Laine and Pete investigate Debbie’s house to get answers. They find a box of photos in the attic of a family of three: a mother and two daughters. Through online archives, they learn that a young girl named Doris Zander lived in Debbie’s house in the 50s. When she mysteriously went missing, her mother was a suspect. Later on, Doris’ sister Paulina killed their mother and was put into a mental asylum. Reaching out to Paulina in the asylum, Laine learns that Doris and Paulina’s mom was a medium. Miss Zander used Ouija boards to conduct séances, and as the séances grew more intense, she used Doris as a vessel for the spirits to speak through. Eventually, Miss Zander went insane and murdered Doris, sewing Doris’ mouth shut to keep the spirits from talking through her. As a result of this, Paulina murdered her mother. Paulina reveals that Doris’ body is still in Debbie’s house, locked away in a secret room in the basement. If Laine and her friends can find the body and cut the stitches from Doris’ corpse, they could save themselves.

The four teens go to Debbie’s house to find Doris’ body, but are attacked by Miss Zander’s spirit. Laine is eventually able to cut the stitches from the corpse’s mouth, and Doris’ spirit is able to overcome her mother’s spirit. Laine and her friends are now safe. That is until Pete is possessed and killed by Doris’ spirit that same night. Shocked, Laine approaches Paulina desperate for answers. In a twist of events, Laine learns that Paulina had lied to her. Miss Zander was only trying to stop Laine and her friends from using the board. Miss Zander wasn’t evil, Doris was. And now she has been set entirely free.

Turning to her grandmother Nona for help, Laine is told that she must sever the connection she and her friends have made with Doris by burning Doris’ corpse and the Ouija board. Laine texts Trevor and tells him to meet her and Sarah at Debbie’s house. Trevor arrives at Debbie’s house before Laine and Sarah and is killed by Doris by being drowned in Debbie’s pool. Continuing forward, Laine and Sarah go to the basement and start a fire in the furnace. Before they can get ahold of Doris’ corpse, Doris separates the two, dragging Sarah into the secret room. To get Doris away from her sister, Laine plays the Ouija board alone. Doris appears by Laine, grabbing ahold of her arm on the planchette and twisting it in its socket. She begins to possess Laine. Just before she is fully possessed, Debbie’s spirit appears and places her fingers on the planchette, making Laine’s possession stop. Sarah shows up in the room with Doris’ corpse and throws it in the furnace, and Laine throws the board in after it. Doris’ spirit screams, the screams of all of the spirits trapped inside of her. She is then defeated, bursting into ashes.

At the end of the film, Laine is shocked to find the planchette in her house inside of her room. She holds the planchette up to her eye, but before we can see what she sees, the film ends.

Cast

Production

Development

On May 28, 2008, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Platinum Dunes' Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Bradley Fuller are producing a film based on Hasbro's supernatural board game Ouija, with Universal Studios also attached.[11] On February 2, 2009, Fuller stated that the film would be big like Pirates of the Caribbean.[12]

On November 1, 2009, Universal set Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz to write the script for the film.[13] On October 27, 2010, Deadline reported that three directors were in talks to direct the film: Pierre Morel, Sylvain White, and Scott Stewart.[14] Universal was planning for a 2012 Thanksgiving release with a $80–$100 million budget.[14] On December 18, 2010, two directors, McG and Breck Eisner, were again on board to direct the film.[15] On January 4, 2011, TheWrap confirmed that Universal was in talks with McG to direct the supernatural action-adventure, with a release date set for 2012.[16] On April 19, 2011 Evan Spiliotopoulos was set to rewrite the script already written by Horowitz and Jefferies, while McG was set to direct the film.[17]

On June 16, 2011, screenwriter Simon Kinberg was set to work on the film's script.[18] On August 23, 2011, it was confirmed that Universal had officially dropped the Hasbro board-game adaptation,[19] the reason being the high budget.[20]

On October 17, 2011, a news report confirmed that Hasbro's CEO Brian Goldner told THR that the Ouija script was in good shape and was then being polished, but the film would be made with a lower budget, like Disney did with The Lone Ranger.[21] On November 29, 2011, THR reported that Marti Noxon would be working on the script of the board game adaptation.[22] On March 5, 2012, THR confirmed that Universal and Hasbro were back in business on Ouija, still without director and writer, and were set to release the film in 2013 with Blumhouse Productions' Jason Blum also on board to produce the low-budgeted film.[23] On July 16, 2012, Universal hired Juliet Snowden and Stiles White to rewrite and direct the project for a 2013 release.[4]

Casting

On December 4, 2013, Daren Kagasoff was added to the cast of the film.[9] On December 6, 2013, Douglas Smith and Olivia Cooke joined the cast of the film to play the lead roles.[7] On December 11, 2013, four more joined the cast of the film, Bianca A. Santos, Erin Moriarty (who was not in the finished film), Ana Coto, and Vivis Colombetti, and filming was set to begin in Los Angeles that week.[8] On December 13, 2013, Matthew Settle was added to the cast of the film, playing Anthony Morris, father of Laine Morris (Cooke's character).[10]

Filming

Filming began in mid-December 2013 in Los Angeles and wrapped at the end of January 2014.[8]

Reshoots began early June 2014 for a week long period.

Reshoots

Due to poor test screenings, Ouija was re-shot in June 2014, four months before its release.[24] According to Olivia Cooke, half of the film was re-shot. [25] The story was substantially changed in the process. In the original version of the film, Debbie found the Ouija board in her house and began using it alone, breaking one of the cardinal rules of the board. This led to her contacting DZ, a spirit who resided in her house who took on the appearance of a young girl. After the Ouija sessions grew increasingly hostile, Debbie decided to say "goodbye" to DZ, who lashed out at her and killed her, making it appear as if Debbie had fallen out of a window. From there, many other changes were made to DZ's backstory, including her original physical appearance.[26] Lin Shaye was cast to play a newly written part of Paulina Zander, DZ's sister, who was not in the original film.[27]

Many scenes of alternate footage, or completely deleted scenes, are present in the marketing campaign for the film. No footage has been properly released on Blu-ray or video. The film's original theatrical trailer was screened exclusively before The Fault in Our Stars (film), whereas all further versions of the trailer screened theatrically contained re-shot footage.[28]

Erin Moriarty was cast for a part in the original cut of the film, but her scenes were removed after the film was re-shot.

Release

Universal released Ouija in the United States on October 24, 2014.[5] A tie-in novelization for the film by Katharine Turner was released on September 16, 2014.[29]

Box office

North America

In North America, the film was released to 2,858 theatres and earned $19,875,995[30] on its opening weekend (including its $911,000 gross on Thursday preview nights and $8.3 million on its opening day).[31][32][33] at an average of $7,000 per theatre, debuting at number one at the box office ahead of newly released John Wick ($14.2 million).[34] The film played 75% under-25 years old and 61% female on its opening weekend.[35]

Other territories

Ouija was released in five international markets and earned $1.3 million from 234 screens. The film went to number two in Malaysia ($545,000), number four in Taiwan ($331,000), number two in Singapore ($238,000) and also number four in Poland ($137,000).[36] In its second weekend the film earned $5.7 million from 1,166 screens in 19 territories for a two weekend international total of $7.7 million. It went to number one in the UK, Indonesia and the Philippines. In the UK, the film earned $2.2 million on its opening weekend, which is the second biggest opening weekend for a horror film in 2014 only behind Annabelle ($3.1 million). Ouija made a domestic total of $50,856,010 and $51,673,769 overseas, for a worldwide total of $102,529,779.[37]

Critical response

Ouija was panned by critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 7%, based on reviews from 74 critics, with an average score of 3.3/10. The site's consensus states: "Slowly, steadily, although no one seems to be moving it in that direction, the Ouija planchette points to NO."[38] Metacritic, another review aggregator, gave the film a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[39] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a C grade.[40]

DVD release

Ouija was released in the US on DVD and Blu-ray on February 3, 2015.[41]

Novelization

The film was novelized by Katharine Turner. The novel was released on September 16, 2014.[29]

The plot of the novel differs from the movie in many notable ways, containing an additional flashback sequence at the beginning of the book which occurs two months before Debbie dies, giving a more in-depth backstory to the main characters. Laine's father has a larger role in the novel, snapping at Sarah after she tries to sneak out of the house. There is an additional scene in the novel after the group uses the Ouija board for a second time where Sarah and Laine have a heartfelt conversation at the dinner table. There are longer sequences with Laine's grandmother Nona as well.

The message "Hi friend" from DZ in the novel appears as "Hi frend". When Isabelle approaches her car after work, instead of finding "Hi friend" written in the condensation on the inside of her car, she finds a hand print.

The characters of Pete and Isabelle also die in different ways in the novel. Pete, after seeing DZ's spirit in his room and becoming possessed, slits his wrists with an X-ACTO knife. Isabelle, after being possessed by DZ, sits in her bathtub with a plugged-in hair dryer, electrocuting herself.

The finale of the novel differs greatly from the film. Sarah is not trapped in the altar room with Doris's spirit as in the film, but rather Laine crawls down the passageway into the altar to get Doris's body. While Laine is in the passageway, Sarah is left by the furnace with the Ouija board where DZ manipulates Sarah's arm and has it twist in unnatural positions while touching the planchette. DZ uses Sarah's arm to spell out "D-I-E-F-R-E-N-D" on the board. After throwing Doris's body into a fire with the Ouija board, Doris appears in spirit form as a normal girl, where her mother joins her. The two hold hands and disappear. Laine suddenly notices Debbie's spirit in the room. She says "Hi friend" to Laine. Laine asks if she is dead, but Debbie tells her everything is okay. Debbie says goodbye to Laine, and Laine passes out.

The epilogue to the novel mirrors the film, with Laine finding the planchette in her room.

Sequel

Main article: Ouija 2

Throughout January 2015, reports of a sequel were announced. In February 2015, it was confirmed the film was in development and had no release date; Jason Blum stated "We're a ways away ..."[42] In April 2015, it was announced that the sequel would be released on October 21, 2016. Mike Flanagan will direct and co-write the sequel with Jeff Howard (Oculus). The film will be produced by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, Jason Blum, Brian Goldner, and Stephen Davis. Annalise Basso and Kaylee Procter will star in the sequel.[43][44]

See also

References

  1. ^ "OUIJA (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  2. ^ Saba Hamedy (October 23, 2014). "'Ouija' likely to outspook Keanu Reeves' 'John Wick'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 28, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b "Ouija (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (July 16, 2012). "U recruits pair to rewrite, helm 'Ouija'". variety.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Universal Dates Crimson Peak, Ouija, Pitch Perfect 2 and More!". comingsoon.net. January 30, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  6. ^ Dave McNary. "Ouija 2 Release Date: Oct. 21 2016 - Variety". Variety. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Kit, Borys (December 6, 2013). "'Bates Motel' Actress to Star in Universal's 'Ouija'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Ford, Rebecca (December 11, 2013). "Universal's 'Ouija' Adds 'The Fosters,' 'Red Widow' Actresses". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Daren Kagasoff Joins 'Ouija'". deadline.com. December 4, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Matthew Settle Joins 'Ouija' Cast". deadline.com. December 13, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  11. ^ Kit, Borys (May 28, 2008). "Michael Bay conjures 'Ouija' movie". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  12. ^ Chen, David (February 2, 2009). "Producer Brad Fuller Says Ouija Board Movie Will Be A Big, Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-Like Adventure". slashfilm.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  13. ^ Chen, David (November 1, 2009). "Tron Legacy Writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz To Write Ouija Board Film". slashfilm.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Fleming Jr, Mike (October 27, 2010). "'Ouija' Conjures Up Directing Candidates". deadline.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  15. ^ Kit, Borys (December 18, 2010). "McG, Breck Eisner Vying to Direct Universal's 'Ouija'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  16. ^ Sneider, Jeff (January 4, 2011). "McG in Talks to Direct 'Ouija' for Universal & Hasbro". thewrap.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  17. ^ Kit, Borys (April 19, 2011). "Evan Spiliotopoulos to Pen Universal's 'Ouija'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  18. ^ "Ouija Gets Writer Simon Kinberg". movieweb.com. June 16, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  19. ^ Lussier, Germain (August 23, 2011). "Universal Says Goodbye To 'Ouija'". slashfilm.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  20. ^ Kit, Borys (August 24, 2011). "Universal Scraps 'Ouija' Movie as Studios Eye Budgets Closely". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  21. ^ "Hasbro CEO Says 'Ouija' Board Moves to "Yes"". bloody-disgusting.com. October 17, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  22. ^ Kit, Borys (November 29, 2011). "'Fright Night' Writer to Pen 'Ouija' Screenplay". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  23. ^ Kit, Borys (March 5, 2012). "Hasbro's 'Ouija' Movie Returns to Universal, Set for 2013 Release". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  24. ^ "New Ouija Trailer". facebook.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  25. ^ "Olivia Cooke Ouija Bates Motel season 3 interview". collider.com. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  26. ^ "Sierra Heuermann's Instagram Photo Comments". Instagram.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  27. ^ "Exclusive Interview With Lin Shaye On The Signal". wegotthiscovered.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  28. ^ "So, There's a Trailer for Ouija in Theaters Now…". shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  29. ^ a b Amazon.com (September 16, 2014). "'Ouija' by Katharine Turner". Amazon. Retrieved August 9, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Weekend Box Office: October 24-26, 2014". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  31. ^ Anita Busch (October 24, 2014). "'Ouija' Box Office Starts With $911K, 'John Wick' $870K – B.O. Late Nights". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  32. ^ Anita Busch (October 26, 2014). "'Ouija' Says Yes To No. 1, 'John Wick' No. 2 With A Bullet, 'St. Vincent,' Superb Exit Polls – B.O. Weekend". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  33. ^ "author = Pamela McClintock". The Hollywood Reporter. October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  34. ^ Maane Khatchatourian (October 26, 2014). "'Ouija' Scares Up Box Office Win Ahead of Keanu Reeves' 'John Wick'". Variety. Retrieved October 27, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ Scott Mendelson (October 26, 2014). "Box Office: 'Ouija' Summons $20M Weekend, Keanu Reeves' 'John Wick' Nabs $14M". Forbes. Retrieved October 27, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  36. ^ Nancy Tartaglione (October 26, 2014). "Int'l Box Office: 'Annabelle' Still A Doll With $26.5M Frame; 'Fury' Wages $11.2M; 'Lucy' Outmuscles 'Hercules' In China; 'Guardians' Warps To #3 On 2014 Global Hit List; More". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  37. ^ Nancy Tartaglione (November 2, 2014). "'Turtles', 'Maze Runner' Top Int'l Box Office; 'Guardians' Is 2014's #2 Pic: Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  38. ^ "Ouija (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  39. ^ "Ouija Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  40. ^ Pamela McClintock. "Box Office: 'Ouija' Spooks Keanu Reeves' 'John Wick' With $20M Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  41. ^ http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/6964/ouija
  42. ^ Donguines, Arvin (February 7, 2015). "'Ouija 2' Plot Spoilers, Rumors: Producer Jason Blum Talks Sequel Development". The Christian Post. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  43. ^ Petski, Denise. "'Ouija 2′ Set For October 2016; Jason Blum Back as Producer - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  44. ^ Kroll, Justin (August 14, 2015). "'Ouija 2' Lands Director Mike Flanagan, Actress Annalise Basso". Variety.
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