Baywatch (film)

Baywatch
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Seth Gordon
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on Baywatch
by Michael Berk
Douglas Schwartz
Gregory J. Bonann
Starring
Music by Christopher Lennertz
Cinematography Eric Steelberg
Edited by Peter S. Elliot
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures[2]
Release date
  • May 13, 2017 (2017-05-13) (Miami)
  • May 25, 2017 (2017-05-25) (United States)
Running time
 116 minutes[4]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $65–69 million[5][4]
Box office $177.9 million[4]

Baywatch is a 2017 American action comedy film directed by Seth Gordon and based on the television series of the same name. Written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Jon Bass, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach and Priyanka Chopra. The plot follows lifeguard Mitch Buchannon and his team, who in an effort to save their beach have to take down a drug lord.

Principal photography began on February 22, 2016, in Florida and Savannah, Georgia. The film was released in the United States on May 25, 2017, by Paramount Pictures, grossed $177 million worldwide and received negative reviews from critics, with criticism for its crude humor, storyline, and character development, but did receive some praise for its cast.[6][7] Baywatch received five nominations at the 38th Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor for Efron.[8]

Plot

In Emerald Bay, Florida, Lt. Mitch Buchannon and his team of lifeguards, including second-in-command Stephanie Holden and veteran C. J. Parker, protect the beaches and the bay as part of an elite division known as Baywatch. Having made over 500 rescues in his career, Mitch is beloved by the community, to the annoyance of local beat cop Garner Ellerbee and Mitch's superior, Captain Thorpe. During one of his morning patrols, Mitch discovers a small pouch of flakka drug washed up near the Huntley Club, which is now under the ownership of Colombian businesswoman Victoria Leeds, who has been secretly bribing city councilman Rodriguez and others in efforts to increase her stake in the bay.

At the tryouts for prospective lifeguards, three people stand out: surfer Summer Quinn, an old friend of Holden; Ronnie Greenbaum, a chubby computer nerd with a crush on C. J.; and Matt Brody, a former Olympic gold medal swimmer who fell from grace to grass after vomiting during a relay race. Summer and Ronnie both pass the trials, but Brody refuses to participate, insisting his Olympic status and recommendation letter entitles him to have a place on the team. Mitch challenges Brody on a course of the former's choosing, but a drowning woman and her kids interrupt the challenge and they rush to save her. Mitch learns Brody has to perform community service as part of an unspecified plea deal, and that Thorpe insists rehabilitating Brody's image is necessary to convince the city not to further cut Baywatch's funding.

When a private yacht catches fire, Brody disobeys orders and dives directly under the flames, causing Holden and C. J. to have to save him. The occupants are evacuated, except for the deceased councilman Rodriguez. Ellerbee disapproves of Mitch's further investigative actions. Mitch and the gang attend a party held by Leeds to look for more evidence but without much luck as Brody makes a fool of himself getting drunk. Mitch, Brody, and Summer later infiltrate the city morgue, where they record two of Leeds' men planting a falsified autopsy report to cover up the fact that Rodriguez was murdered on her orders. Unfortunately, they are discovered, and though Mitch manages to subdue and capture one of them, the recording is destroyed and Ellerbee is forced to release their suspect on a lack of evidence. Angered, Thorpe threatens to fire Mitch if he oversteps his authority again.

Convinced that Leeds is running drugs out of the Huntley, Mitch and Brody go undercover and sneak into the club kitchen, where they witness her workers retrieving the drugs from barrels of fish and processing them. They contact Ellerbee, only to learn that another body has been found on the beach. Thorpe, enraged that Mitch essentially deserted his post, fires him and names Brody as the new lieutenant. Brody accepts the job reluctantly, and Mitch takes a job as a cellphone salesman.

After finding another pouch of flakka on the beach, Brody steals the second victim's report from Ellerbee and brings it to Summer, who confirms his suspicion that the man was murdered. Ronnie, upon recognizing the victim as his friend Dave, helps Brody hack into Leeds' servers, revealing her plan to privatize the entire beach by systematically buying out or eliminating every competing business owner.

The team infiltrates a private party on Leeds' personal yacht, discovering how she's been using the hull to smuggle the drugs. Brody is captured and placed in a bait cage to be drowned, and a gloating Leeds reveals that she bribed the corrupt Thorpe to set Mitch up so he could justify firing him before pushing the cage into the water. Just before Brody drowns, Mitch appears and saves him. The two catch up to Leeds, while Ronnie and C. J. launch fireworks to prevent her escape helicopter from landing. Just as they run out, a wounded Mitch, having intentionally stung himself with a sea urchin to boost his adrenaline, uses a Roman candle to blow Leeds up, saving Brody once again. Ellerbee arrives and takes Leeds' henchmen into custody, apologizing to Mitch for doubting him. Thorpe arrives and begins to berate Mitch for returning to the beach. In response, Brody punches Thorpe in the face. Thorpe is subsequently arrested for his role in Leeds' plan.

In the aftermath, Ronnie and Brody begin relationships with C.J. and Summer respectively. Mitch, having been reinstated, formally inducts Summer, Ronnie, and Brody into Baywatch and introduces them to their new captain, Casey Jean (Pamela Anderson).

Cast

Production

A Baywatch movie was first announced in 2004, although the movie became stuck in development hell over the years, with multiple writers penning drafts.[11] In July 2015, Sean Anders was replaced by Seth Gordon as director.[12][13] On October 2, 2014, Dwayne Johnson was attached to star in the lead role, and Justin Malen was set to rewrite the script.[14] Damian Shannon and Mark Swift wrote the latest draft, and the film would be comedic in style.[12] On August 10, 2015, Zac Efron signed on to star in the film, and Beau Flynn and Ivan Reitman joined to produce with Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions.[15][16] On November 9, 2015, Deadline reported that seven actresses were among the short list testing for the lead female role, Alexandra Daddario, Ashley Benson, Nina Dobrev, Alexandra Shipp, Shelley Hennig, Bianca A. Santos, and Denyse Tontz.[17] On November 18, 2015, Johnson confirmed Daddario would play Summer, a lifeguard, and the love interest of Efron's character.[18][19]

On January 4, 2016, Kelly Rohrbach's casting as C. J. Parker was confirmed by Johnson's Instagram post.[20] Damian Shannon and Mark Swift wrote the screenplay, while the final list of producers were Johnson along with his partner Dany Garcia, through their Seven Bucks Productions, as well as Flynn, Reitman, Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann.[20] On January 20, 2016, Johnson again posted on his Instagram about casting Ilfenesh Hadera as Johnson's love interest.[21] On January 27, 2016, Jon Bass was cast in the film to play Ronnie, a funny, awkward, and skilled disco dancer at the beach, who falls in love with Parker.[22] On February 12, 2016, Hannibal Buress joined the cast of the film to play a bay community local.[23] On February 17, 2016, Priyanka Chopra signed on to star as the antagonist in the film.[24] The role was originally written for a male. In March 2016, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II joined the cast as Ellerbee, a police officer who is constantly reminding Mitch that he has no real authority over the bay.[25] Jack Kesy and Amin Joseph were also cast in the film.[26] Vine (later YouTube) star Logan Paul announced that he is in the film, but his scenes were later cut.[27][28][29][30] Izabel Goulart also appeared.[31] NFL players Vernon Davis and Arian Foster have cameo appearances in the film.[32][33]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on February 22, 2016, in Deerfield Beach, Florida, with the setting in Broward County, Florida, while the TV series was set in Malibu, California.[34][35] The film was shot in Miami and Savannah, Georgia.[23][36][37] In late March 2016, filming started in Tybee Island, Georgia.[38] Filming wrapped on May 18, 2016.[5]

Release

In January 2016, Paramount Pictures scheduled Baywatch for a May 19, 2017 release, which was originally scheduled for a sequel to Terminator Genisys.[39] In December 2016, Paramount pushed the release date back one week to May 26, 2017, to avoid competition with Alien: Covenant.[40] In April 2017, the film was moved one day earlier, to avoid direct competition with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.[41]

Reception

Box office

Baywatch grossed $58.1 million in the United States and Canada and $119.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $177.8 million, against a production budget of $69 million.[4]

In the United States and Canada, the film was initially projected to gross around $40 million from 3,642 theaters over its five-day opening weekend, with the studio predicting a more conservative $30 million debut.[42][43] It made $1.25 million at 2,554 theaters from Wednesday night previews, similar to fellow mid-week R-rated releases We're the Millers ($1.7 million) and Let's Be Cops ($1.2 million).[44] However, after making $4.6 million on its opening day (including Wednesday night previews) and $5.7 million on Friday, five-day projections were lowered to $25 million. It ended up grossing $18.5 million in its opening weekend (for a five-day total of $27.7 million), finishing third at the box office, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ($63 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($20.9 million).[7][45] In its second weekend the film grossed $8.8 million (a drop of 52.5%), finishing 5th at the box office.[46]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 18% based on 214 reviews, and an average rating of 4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Baywatch takes its source material's jiggle factor to R-rated levels, but lacks the original's campy charm – and leaves its charming stars flailing in the shallows."[47] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 37 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[48] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 76% overall positive score.[49][7] Dwayne Johnson responded to critics' reviews on Twitter, saying the film was made for fans, who he said loved it.[50]

Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers praised the cast while acknowledging his dislike for the film. Travers rated it two out of four stars and said, "Think of yourself sitting down for a big two-hour wallow in instant stupid with a vat of popcorn, slathered in fake butter and possibly a mound of melted M&Ms on top. It feels great chugging it down, then your stomach hurts, your head aches and you puke the whole thing up so you can forget about it in the morning. That's Baywatch in a nutshell."[51] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, writing: "As was the case with CHiPS, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Beverly Hillbillies, Car 54, Where Are You? and I’ll just stop there, when you make films from junk TV, more often than not you’re going to wind up with a junk movie."[52]

Home media

Baywatch was released on Digital HD on August 15, 2017[53] and on Blu-ray and DVD on August 29, 2017.[54]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
2017 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Comedy Actor Dwayne Johnson Won [55]
Zac Efron Won
Choice Movie: Comedy Actress Alexandra Daddario Won
Choice Movie: Villain Priyanka Chopra Won
Choice Movie: Ship Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron Nominated
Choice Movie: Ship Priyanka Chopra and Yahya-Abdul Mateen II Won
2018 38th Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Picture Michael Berk, Gregory J. Bonann, Beau Flynn, Ivan Reitman, Douglas Schwartz Nominated
Worst Screenplay Damian Shannon, Mark Swift, Jay Scherick, David Ronn, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant Nominated
Worst Actor Zac Efron Nominated
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel Nominated
The Razzie Nominee So Rotten You Loved It Won

Sequel

In May 2017, the producers of the film revealed that a sequel was being planned.[56]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Alexandra Daddario and David Hasselhoff are listed in the billing block in some of the movie posters.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Baywatch Poster (#15 of 17)". IMP Awards. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Film releases". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Executive Suite: Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman". The Hollywood Reporter. October 3, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Baywatch (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  5. 1 2 "2017 Feature Film Study" (PDF). FilmL.A. August 2018: Page 24. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  6. ↑ Lauren Huff (May 23, 2017). "Baywatch': What the Critics Are Saying". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "How 'Pirates' & 'Baywatch' Are Casualties Of Summer Franchise Fatigue At The Domestic B.O." Deadline. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  8. ↑ "RAZZIE AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED". Rotten Tomatoes. January 21, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Pamela Anderson Joins Dwayne Johnson's 'Baywatch' Movie". msn.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Dwayne The Rock Johnson – Timeline". Facebook. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ Brown, Kat. "Baywatch at last! Horrible Bosses' Seth Gordon set to direct Dwayne Johnson". Telegrap. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  12. 1 2 Kroll, Justin (July 23, 2015). "Seth Gordon to Direct Dwayne Johnson in Paramount's 'Baywatch' Movie". variety.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Dwayne Johnson's 'Baywatch' Movie Lands a Director". ScreenCrush.com. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  14. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (October 2, 2014). "Paramount Moves Forward With 'Baywatch' Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  15. ↑ Kit, Borys (August 10, 2015). "Zac Efron in Talks to Star With Dwayne Johnson in 'Baywatch' Movie (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  16. ↑ Verhoeven, Beatrice (August 29, 2016). "Zac Efron's 'Baywatch' Character Is Basically Ryan Lochte (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (November 9, 2015). "Bevy Of Actresses Test For 'Baywatch' Lead; Dwayne Johnson & Zac Efron Star". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Dwayne Johnson on Instagram". instagram.com. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  19. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (November 18, 2015). "Alexandra Daddario Lands 'Baywatch' Female Lead". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  20. 1 2 Kroll, Justin (January 4, 2016). "'Baywatch' Movie Casts Model Kelly Rohrbach in Pamela Anderson's Role". Variety. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  21. ↑ Evry, Max (January 20, 2016). "Ilfenesh Hadera to Play Dwayne Johnson's Love Interest in Baywatch". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  22. ↑ McNary, Dave (January 27, 2016). "Dwayne Johnson's 'Baywatch' Movie Casts Jon Bass". Variety. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  23. 1 2 Kit, Borys (February 12, 2016). "Hannibal Buress Joining Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron in 'Baywatch' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  24. ↑ Mike, Vulop (February 17, 2016). "Priyanka Chopra Officially Joins Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Baywatch Movie". Eonline. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  25. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (March 2, 2016). "Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Dives Into 'Baywatch'; Jacob Latimore Joins 'Collateral Beauty'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  26. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (March 9, 2016). "'Baywatch' Movie: Jack Kesy & Amin Joseph Join Cast". Deadline Hollywood.
  27. ↑ "Logan Paul on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Logan Paul on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  29. ↑ "When I asked The Rock if he was ready for our scene in the #BAYWATCH movie 😂". vine.co. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  30. ↑ West, Rachel (February 28, 2017). "Dwayne Johnson Coaches Social Media Star Logan Paul On How To #BeBaywatch". ET Canada. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Top Izabel Goulart dá pistas de participação em novo 'Baywatch'". GQ. March 15, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Vernon Davis Washington Redskins worked with The Rock in 'Baywatch' in cameo role". 247sports.com. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  33. ↑ Truffaut-Wong, Olivia. "The 'Baywatch' Cameos Honor David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, & A Superstar Gymnast". bustle.com. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Ripped and ready to go! The Rock and Zac Efron start lifeguard duty as cameras start rolling on Baywatch movie in Florida". Daily Mail. February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Shooting on the Baywatch movie has begun". Entertainment Weekly. February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  36. ↑ "'Baywatch' begins filming next week; Open casting call for extras announced". OLV. February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  37. ↑ "'Baywatch' Movie Open Casting Call for Kid and Teen Actors". Project Casting. January 28, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Dwayne Johnson continues filming 'Baywatch' in Tybee Island, Georgia". On Location Vacations (March 30, 2016). Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  39. ↑ Verhoeven, Beatrice (January 20, 2016). "'Terminator 2' Pulled From Schedule, 'Baywatch' Release Date Set". TheWrap. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  40. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 5, 2016). "'Baywatch' Surfs To Memorial Day Weekend, 'Life' Flies To March". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  41. ↑ "'Baywatch' Looking To Catch A Wave At The B.O. By Opening One Day Earlier". Deadline Hollywood. April 7, 2017.
  42. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (May 4, 2017). "'Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' To Breathe Life Back Into Memorial Day B.O. With Est. $100M Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  43. ↑ "Box-Office Preview: 'Pirates 5,' 'Baywatch' Set Sail for Uncertain Shores". The Hollywood Reporter. May 24, 2017.
  44. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro. "'Baywatch' Swims To $1.25M In Wednesday Night Previews". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  45. ↑ "'Baywatch' bombs at box office, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' wins Memorial Day weekend". Fox News. May 28, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  46. ↑ Scott Mendelson (June 4, 2017). "Box Office: 'Pirates 5' Sails Past $500M Worldwide, 'Baywatch' And 'Alien' Crumble". Forbes. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  47. ↑ "Baywatch (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  48. ↑ "Baywatch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. June 10, 2017.
  49. ↑ "Why 'The Mummy' Turned Crummy At The Domestic B.O. & What This Means For Uni's 'Dark Universe'". Deadline Hollywood. June 10, 2017.
  50. ↑ Buchanan, Kyle (May 31, 2017). "Don't Blame Critics When Your Blockbusters Are Bad". Vulture.com. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  51. ↑ Travers, Peter (May 23, 2017). "'Baywatch' Review: Bring on the Beach Bods, Boobs and Bodily Fluids". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  52. ↑ Roeper, Richard (May 24, 2017). "Baywatch': A dumb TV show inspires a dumb movie". Chicago Sun-Times.
  53. ↑ Bradley, Dan. "'Baywatch' 4K Unrated, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Release Date, Details and Artwork". HD Room. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  54. ↑ "Baywatch (2017)". DVDs Release Dates. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  55. ↑ Knapp, JD; Rubin, Rebecca (August 14, 2017). "Teen Choice Awards 2017: 'Riverdale,' Fifth Harmony Shut Out Competition". Variety. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  56. ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (May 25, 2017). "'Baywatch' Producer Shares Plans for Film Sequel With Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
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