Jump to content

Whiteout (2009 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by WikitanvirBot (talk | contribs) at 08:51, 30 January 2011 (r2.7.1) (robot Removing: zh:冰天血地). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Whiteout
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDominic Sena
Screenplay byJon Hoeber
Erich Hoeber
Chad Hayes
Carey Hayes
Produced byJoel Silver
Susan Downey
David Gambino
StarringKate Beckinsale
Gabriel Macht
Columbus Short
Tom Skerritt
CinematographyChristopher Soos
Edited byMartin Hunter
Stuart Baird
Music byJohn Frizzell
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
September 11, 2009 (2009-09-11)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million[1]
Box office$17,840,867[2]

Whiteout is a 2009 thriller film based on the 1998 comic book of the same name by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, and released on September 11, 2009.[3] The film was produced under the banner of Dark Castle Entertainment by Joel Silver, Susan Downey and David Gambino, is directed by Dominic Sena, is distributed by Warner Bros., and stars Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht and Alex O'Loughlin in the lead roles.

Plot

The movie opens in 1957, inside a Russian cargo plane flying above Antarctica. In the cargo hold, three Russians sit with a padlocked box. The co-pilot launches a gun fight that soon leads to the plane crashing and the death of all aboard. The setting fast-forwards to a present-day geographical research settlement in Antarctica. The inhabitants are preparing to evacuate in the face of an early winter storm. They must depart before the onset of winter or remain for six months.

US Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) has been working in remote Antarctica for two years, since a betrayal by her partner in Miami that killed him and nearly killed her. She is finally planning to leave, but first is called upon with her friend Doc (Tom Skerritt) and pilot Delfy (Columbus Short) to retrieve a body spotted in a remote area. A cursory autopsy first reveals only an old wound, stitched closed, but then discloses that the man was murdered with an axe.

The dead man is Anton Weiss, one of a group of three scientists looking for meteorites. When Carrie goes to speak to one of the others, she finds him dying from a neck wound and is herself attacked by a black-clad man with an axe. Carrie injures her hands in escaping, losing the wet skin of her fingers on the metal handle of a door. Later, she finds Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht), a UN security agent, examining the body of the second scientist. They conclude that the third, who is missing, must be the killer and set out to explore the group’s most recent research site. There, Carrie falls through the ice to find the old Russian cargo plane. Pryce and the pilot Delfy join her to investigate, and they realize that the locked box had been opened and six cylinders removed.

After nearly being trapped by a cave-in at the plane, Carrie must have her badly frostbitten fingers amputated by Doc. She then finds the missing scientist hiding in her office. He tells her that he and his two companions found the plane and took the canisters, but the killer has them now. Before Carrie can see him to safety, he is killed, but Carrie captures his killer, Russell Haden (Alex O'Loughlin).

With Haden locked in the brig and the winter storm only moments away, Carrie and Pryce search for the canisters. Haden, however, escapes. The storm, a "whiteout", hits. Able to navigate through the blinding snow only by the system of security ropes, Pryce and Carrie pursue Haden. Just as Haden is about to kill Carrie, Pryce cuts Haden's rope, sending him to a cold death. At the base, Carrie and Pryce open the bag Haden had been carrying to find that the missing canisters contain only jelly beans.

Carrie has a colleague on the departed plane fax her a manifest of its cargo, so she can see if the original contents of the canisters are hidden there. There is nothing unexpected, but three items from the science center are missing: the bodies of the dead scientists. She searches their body bags and finds nothing, but, noticing that the stitching on Weiss's old wound matches the distinctive pattern on her amputated fingers, has a terrible inspiration. She explores the cavity of his body and finds several bags of large, uncut diamonds. She turns to find Doc in the doorway.

Doc confesses that he was part of the diamond smuggling ring with the others before Haden killed the rest. He had hoped that the diamonds would give him a life worth leaving Antarctica for. When Doc tells her he wants to see the aurora australis one last time, she allows him to walk outside to his death.

Six months later, Carrie, Pryce and Delfy are among those who have wintered at the facility. Carrie transmits an e-mail to her director, rescinding her previous resignation and asking for a warmer station for her next duty station.

Cast

Production

In November 1999, Columbia Pictures acquired feature film rights to the comic book Whiteout by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber.[8] An adapted screenplay for the film was written by Jon and Erich Hoeber.[9] The script was written to have a male character star opposite the female lead, since the studio was hesitant on how large of a film audience that the original setup of two female leads would draw.[8] By November 2002, the studio placed the project on turnaround after a lack of production, and the rights were acquired by Universal Studios. The studio cast Reese Witherspoon to star in Whiteout, which would be based on the screenplay written by the Hoebers.[9] By May 2004, a second draft of the script had been written, and a director was still being sought.[10] Ultimately, rights over the film changed ownership, detaching Witherspoon from the project.[11]

In October 2006, Whiteout entered development at Dark Castle Entertainment with production slated to begin in the coming winter for a release date in the first quarter of 2008.[12] Dominic Sena, a fan of the graphic novel since its '98 debut, had sought to acquire the rights to direct a film adaptation, and when rights were acquired by Dark Castle, Sena petitioned to producer Joel Silver, president of the company, for the opportunity to direct Whiteout.[13] In February 2007, with Warner Bros. signed on to distribute Whiteout, Sena was hired to direct the film, based on the adapted screenplay by the Hoebers. In the same month, Beckinsale was cast in the lead role.[4] Production began on March 5, 2007 in Manitoba, with later footage being shot in Montreal.[14] A set was also constructed on the shore of Lake Winnipeg.[15] The film was primarily set in a bright world of ice and sunlight, an unconventional approach to the murder mystery genre. Both real and fake snow were used in production. The author of the graphic novel, Greg Rucka, applauded the film adaptation of his source material. Filming concluded a few weeks before Comic-Con in July 2007.[5]

Reception

Critical response

The film was panned by critics. AOL.com's Moviefone staff rated it as the 8th worst movie of 2009.[16] Based on 105 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Whiteout has a 'rotten' 7% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 3.5/10.[17] By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 28, based on 19 reviews.[18] Richard Roeper gave the movie 2 stars in the Chicago Sun Times calling it a "formulaic thriller that is ultimately no less predictable or interesting simply because it is set in the coldest and most isolated place on Earth."[19] Online critics at Zap2it claim, "The film moves like frozen molasses, letting the audience get out ahead of the narrative developments at every turn."[20] It is also the 100th worst reviewed movie on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie's banner was exposed in Times Square during the month of August 2009.

Box office

The film was released to U.S. theaters on September 11, 2009. It was a box office bomb. The film continued to have major decreases in ticket sales, and has a gross of $10,275,638 to date[21]. It has grossed only $7,565,229 internationally to date bringing the total return to just $17,840,867 from a budget of $35 million.

Release

The theatrical release was on September 11, 2009. The film was released on DVD[22] and Blu-ray on January 19, 2010.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Tyler Perry: The brand that keeps on delivering". Los Angeles Times. 2009-09-13.
  2. ^ "Whiteout (2009) Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  3. ^ "Whiteout Now Happens in September". ShockTillYouDrop.com. Coming Soon Media, L.P. October 29, 2008. Retrieved Novemnber 22, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (February 7, 2007). "Sena to direct 'Whiteout'". Variety. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b Rotten, Ryan (July 27, 2007). "Comic-Con '07: Warner Bros. Preview". ShockTillYouDrop.com. Coming Soon Media, L.P. Retrieved July 30, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 14, 2007). "Macht lights on 'Whiteout'". Variety. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (March 19, 2007). "Duo warm up for Silver's 'Whiteout'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 2, 2007. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b Weiland, Jonah (November 5, 2002). "WITHERSPOON AND UNIVERSAL ICE 'WHITEOUT'". Comic Book Resources. Boiling Points Production. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ a b "U picks up snow job pic". Variety. November 4, 2002. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite journal}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Missing pipe in: |first= (help)
  10. ^ Wilson, Jericho (May 4, 2004). "BRU, COOKE, RUCKA: WRAPPING UP WONDERCON COVERAGE". Newsarama. Imaginova. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Weiland, Jonah (February 23, 2007). "NYCC, Day 1: Whiteout Returns! Rucka & Lieber Talk". Comic Book Resources. Boiling Point Productions. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (October 15, 2006). "Silver slots solo slate". Variety. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Moro, Eric (July 28, 2007). "SDCC 07: Exclusive: Whiteout Helmer Chat". IGN. Retrieved July 30, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Moro, Eric (March 3, 2007). "WonderCon 07: Whiteout, Haunted Hill". IGN. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ Murray, Rebecca (April 3, 2007). "Producer Joel Silver Talks "Speed Racer" and "Whiteout"". About.com. Retrieved May 3, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  16. ^ Furlong, Maggie; Moviefone Staff (2009-12-23). "The 10 Worst Movies of 2009". Moviefone.com. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  17. ^ "Whiteout review". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  18. ^ "Metacritic review page". Metacritic. 2009-09-11. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  19. ^ "Roeper's White Out review". Sun Times. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  20. ^ "Zap2it's White Out review". Zap2it. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  21. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=whiteout.htm
  22. ^ "Exclusive Clip From the Whiteout Blu-ray".
  23. ^ "Early Whiteout DVD and Blu-ray Details".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whiteout_(2009_film)&oldid=410928490"