Game Night (film)

Game Night
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced by
Written by Mark Perez
Starring
Music by Cliff Martinez
Cinematography Barry Peterson
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • February 23, 2018 (2018-02-23) (United States)
Running time
 100 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $37 million[2]
Box office $117.5 million[2]

Game Night is a 2018 American black comedy film directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and written by Mark Perez. It stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and follows a group of friends whose game night turns into a real-life mystery after one of them is kidnapped by apparent burglars. The film's supporting cast includes Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons, Michael C. Hall, and Kyle Chandler. Warner Bros. Pictures released the film on February 23, 2018. It was a commercial and critical success, grossing $117 million worldwide and receiving praise for its dark humor and performances.

Plot

Married competitive gamer couple Max and Annie are trying to have a child, but their attempts are unsuccessful due to Max's stress surrounding his feelings of inadequacy when compared to his successful, attractive brother Brooks. During Max and Annie's routine weekend game night with their friends Ryan, and married couple Kevin and Michelle, Brooks shows up Max by arriving in a Corvette Stingray (Max's dream car) and sharing an embarrassing childhood story about Max. Brooks offers to host the next game night at a house he's renting while he's in town. Meanwhile, Max and Annie are trying to keep their game nights secret from their neighbor Gary, an awkward police officer after his divorce from their friend Debbie.

When the guests, including Ryan's new date, Sarah, arrive at Brooks' house the following week, Brooks says he's initiated an interactive role-playing mystery game, promising the winner his Stingray. A man dressed as an FBI agent bursts into the home and informs them of the narrative of the mystery, only for two masked men to break in and assault him and Brooks. The guests believe the assault is part of the game. After Brooks is dragged out of the house, the couples begin to solve the mystery using the clues left behind by the actor.

Using his GPS location, Max and Annie track Brooks down to a seedy bar and, using a pistol left behind by Brooks during the struggle (which they believe to be fake), manage to take the keys to the storage closet, where Brooks is being held. After Annie mistakenly fires the gun and shoots Max in the arm, confirming the weapon is real and that they are in actual danger, the three escape. Brooks admits that he actually makes his living buying and selling illegal items on the black market, in particular a Fabergé egg sought by a man known only as the Bulgarian and owned by a man using the alias Marlon Freeman. With his captors in pursuit, Brooks exits the moving car to guarantee Max and Annie's escape.

Eventually, the others learn what they've become involved in, avoiding police because of Brooks' warnings. Trying to determine the identities of the Bulgarian and Marlon Freeman, they show up at Gary's house, under the false pretense of a game night, in order to use his police computer, where Max discovers the address of Marlon Freeman (real name: Donald Anderton). The group leaves Gary's house and arrives at Anderton's address, where he is hosting an underground fight club. As the others search the house, Ryan spots the egg in a wall safe and is caught trying to steal it. The group escapes with the egg, but accidentally break it. They discover the egg is a worthless fake, but end up finding a list of names that was stored inside of it, realizing this was what the Bulgarian wanted.

The group finds Brooks and his captors on an under-construction bridge and move in to rescue him. Before the captors are able to kill them, the group is saved by Gary, who is then shot in the chest. Max and Annie try to encourage him to pull through by promising to invite him to every future game night. Gary then reveals that he faked the entire scenario in an attempt to trick them into letting him join game night again. He is, however, unaware about the egg, and they are immediately attacked by the real Bulgarian, who captures Brooks after he swallows the list, revealed to be people in the witness protection program. Max and Annie use Brooks' Corvette to drive to the airport and stop the Bulgarian from taking off with Brooks in his jet. They knock the Bulgarian out, tie him up, and free Brooks.

Three months later, Brooks, now under house arrest for his crimes, has managed to sell the list for $3 million. Meanwhile, Annie has finally become pregnant. While the group (including an inept Gary) are continuing their game night, men with guns get ready to storm the building.

A post credit scene shows a flashback of Gary's ex-wife Debbie meeting Kenny (not Denzel) at a gas station. It's love at first sight.

Cast

Additionally, the film's directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein cameo as Carter and Dan, respectively. Malcolm Hughes appears as Kenny (credited as "Not Denzel"), while Jessica Lee appears as Debbie, Gary's ex-wife. Jeffrey Wright makes an uncredited cameo as an actor playing Agent Ron Henderson, an FBI Agent.

Production

On May 24, 2016, Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema hired Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley to rewrite and direct the film Game Night, which Jason Bateman produced through Aggregate Films.[3] While Daley and Goldstein did not receive screenwriter credit, they later said they rewrote "almost all of the original script’s dialogue, totally overhauled the characters — most notably a creepy cop portrayed by Jesse Plemons — and comprehensively reworked the original script’s third act."[4]

In January 2017, Rachel McAdams, Bateman, and Jesse Plemons were cast in the film's lead roles.[5][6] In February 2017, Kylie Bunbury joined the cast, while in March, Lamorne Morris, Billy Magnussen, Kyle Chandler, and Sharon Horgan were also added.[7][8][9][10][11] In April 2017, Jeffrey Wright was cast in the film as an FBI agent, a role he ultimately played uncredited.[12]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began in early April 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, US.[13][14]

Release

Warner Bros. Pictures had originally scheduled Game Night for release on February 14, 2018.[15] The date was later pushed back to March 2, 2018, before being moved up to February 23, 2018.[16]

Reception

Box office

Game Night grossed $69 million in the United States and Canada, and $48.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $117.4 million, against a production budget of $37 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, Game Night was released alongside Annihilation and Every Day, and was projected to gross $13–21 million from 3,488 theaters in its opening weekend.[17] The film made $5.6 million on its first day (including $1 million from Thursday night previews). It ended up grossing $16.6 million over the weekend, finishing second, behind holdover Black Panther.[18] The film dropped 38.8% in its second weekend to $10.4 million (above average for a comedy), and finished 4th, behind Black Panther and newcomers Red Sparrow and Death Wish.[19] It made $7.9 million in its third weekend,[20] $5.6 million in its fourth[21] and $4.1 million in its fifth.[22]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84%, based on 201 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With a talented cast turned loose on a loaded premise — and a sharp script loaded with dark comedy and unexpected twists — Game Night might be more fun than the real thing."[23] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film has an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[24] 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 78% overall positive score.[18]

Writing for Variety, Owen Gleiberman gave the film a positive review, saying "Even at 100 minutes, Game Night pushes its premise to the wall of synthetic escapism. Yet the movie manipulates its audience in cunning and puckish ways. It's no big whoop, but you're happy to have been played."[25]

References

  1. ↑ "GAME NIGHT (15)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Game Night (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  3. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (May 24, 2016). "'Spider-Man' Homecoming' Scribes On Board For 'Game Night' At New Line". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  4. ↑ Lee, Chris (21 June 2018). "How Game Night Broke Modern Comedy's Rules to Win at the Box Office". Vulture.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  5. ↑ Kroll, Justin (January 4, 2017). "Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams to Star in Comedy 'Game Night'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  6. ↑ Kroll, Justin (January 19, 2017). "Jesse Plemons Joins Jason Bateman in New Line Comedy 'Game Night' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  7. ↑ Kroll, Justin (February 16, 2017). "'Pitch' Star Kylie Bunbury Joins Jason Bateman's Comedy 'Game Night' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  8. ↑ Kroll, Justin (March 6, 2017). "'New Girl' Star Lamorne Morris Joins Jason Bateman Comedy 'Game Night' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  9. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 16, 2017). "Billy Magnussen Joining 'Game Night' Opposite Jason Bateman & Rachel McAdams". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  10. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 22, 2017). "Emmy Winner Kyle Chandler Joins New Line's 'Game Night'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  11. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 23, 2017). "'Game Night' Gains Another Player In Sharon Horgan". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  12. ↑ Kit, Borys (April 4, 2017). "Jeffrey Wright Joins Jason Bateman in 'Game Night' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  13. ↑ Hensley, Ellie (April 11, 2017). "New Line's 'Game Night' filming in Atlanta". Atlanta Business Chronicle. American City Business Journals. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  14. ↑ InqPOP! (April 21, 2017). "It's game on as shooting begins on New Line Cinema's "Game Night"". InqPOP!. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  15. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 3, 2017). "'Godzilla Vs. Kong', 'Game Night' Among Many Warner Bros. Release Date Changes For 2018 & Beyond". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  16. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 6, 2017). "Warner Bros/New Line Change Up 'Game Night' Again Next Year – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  17. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 21, 2018). "'Black Panther' Posts Record $21M Pre-Summer Tuesday; Second Weekend To Reap $104M-$109M". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  18. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 25, 2018). "'Black Panther' Breaks More Records: $108M Second Weekend Is Second-Best Ever As Marvel Movie Heads For $400M". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  19. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 4, 2018). "'Black Panther' Busts Past Half Billion; 'Red Sparrow' Flies Low With $17M – Sunday AM B.O. Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  20. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 11, 2018). "'Black Panther' Rules 4th Frame With $41M+; 'A Wrinkle In Time' At $33M+: A Diversity & Disney Dominant Weekend". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for March 16-18, 2018". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for March 23-25, 2018". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Game Night (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Game Night Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  25. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (February 20, 2018). "Film Review: 'Game Night'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
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