Passengers (2016 film)

Passengers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Morten Tyldum
Produced by
Written by Jon Spaihts
Starring
Music by Thomas Newman
Cinematography Rodrigo Prieto
Edited by Maryann Brandon
Production
companies
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
Running time
 116 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $110–150 million[2][3]
Box office $303.1 million[2]

Passengers is a 2016 American science fiction romance film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Jon Spaihts. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt as Aurora Lane and Jim Preston, respectively, with Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles. The plot depicts two people who are awakened ninety years too early from an induced hibernation on a spaceship, transporting thousands of passengers, travelling to a distant colony planet.

The film was originally written in 2007 by Spaihts but was kept in development hell, with multiple actors attached over the years. In December 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment picked up the film's rights, with Tyldum attached to direct. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence were cast as the two leads in February 2015. The film was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures, Start Motion Pictures, Original Film, LStar Capital, Wanda Pictures and Company Films. Principal photography took place at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia from September 2015 to February 2016.

Passengers premiered at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on December 14, 2016 and was released theatrically in the United States on December 21, 2016, in 2D and RealD 3D by Columbia Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Pratt and Lawrence's performances, as well as the score, visual style and production values, though criticism was directed at the plot and characters.[4][5] It grossed $303 million worldwide, becoming the third-biggest original live-action US release of 2016. The film received two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Production Design at the 89th Academy Awards.[6]

Plot

The Avalon, a sleeper ship transporting 5,000 colonists and 258 crew members in hibernation pods, is on course to the planet Homestead II, a journey taking 120 years. Thirty years into its journey, the ship passes through an asteroid field, leading to a collision that causes a malfunction. The malfunction awakens one passenger, mechanical engineer Jim Preston, 90 years too early.

After a year of isolation, with no company except an android barman named Arthur, Jim grows despondent and contemplates suicide. One day, he notices Aurora Lane, a journalist, in her pod. He watches her video profile and is immediately smitten, and reads everything she has ever written. After struggling with the morality of manually reviving Aurora for companionship, therein robbing her of a long life on a planet — a dilemma he daily discusses with Arthur — he awakens her, claiming her pod also malfunctioned. Aurora is devastated to realize she will live the rest of her life on the ship. Her attempts to re-enter hibernation are fruitless. Eventually, she accepts her situation and begins writing a book about her experiences. Over the next year, Jim and Aurora grow closer, and eventually fall in love.

Jim prepares to propose to Aurora on the one-year anniversary of her awakening in space, but inadvertently allows Arthur to reveal the truth to Aurora by saying that he and Aurora have "no secrets" between them. Aurora is devastated; she considers his action tantamount to murder. She alternately berates, shuns, and physically attacks Jim. Jim tries to ask Aurora for forgiveness, but she furiously rejects him. The two refrain from contact for some time.

Soon after, another pod failure awakens Gus Mancuso, Chief Deck Officer. He discovers multiple failures throughout the ship's systems. If not repaired, the ship will continue to suffer critical system failures. Gus attempts to repair the ship with Jim and Aurora's help, while Aurora still blames Jim for stealing her life. Gus soon becomes ill; unlike Jim's, his body was physically damaged by his malfunctioning pod. The Autodoc, an automated medical diagnostics and treatment pod, shows he has only hours to live. Before dying, Gus gives Jim and Aurora his ID badge to access crew-only areas and repair the ship.

Jim and Aurora discover a series of hull breaches from the collision two years earlier. The computer module administering the fusion reactor that powers the ship has been damaged, causing the ship's escalating malfunctions. Jim and Aurora replace the damaged module. The computer attempts to vent the reactor in order to extinguish a massive reactor fire, but fails. Jim realizes that the reactor must be vented by opening the vent hatch from the ship's exterior. Aurora assists, while admitting she is terrified of losing Jim and being left alone. Aurora, from inside the ship, and Jim, outside, vent the reactor. Jim's tether snaps and his damaged spacesuit loses oxygen; Aurora frantically retrieves and resuscitates Jim in the Autodoc.

Afterwards, Jim learns that the Autodoc can function as a makeshift hibernation pod for one person. To make amends to Aurora, he offers it to her to sleep for the remainder of the voyage.

Eighty-eight years later, the ship's crew awaken as scheduled, shortly before arrival on Homestead II. They discover a small house amid lush flora and fauna in the ship's grand concourse area. Aurora's book reveals that she chose to stay awake with Jim and continue writing her story.

Cast

Emma Clarke, Chris Edgerly, Matt Corboy, Fred Melamed, and screenwriter Jon Spaihts appear as the voices of the Avalon, InfoMat, video game, observatory, and Autodoc respectively.

Production

Development

The original script for Passengers was written by Jon Spaihts in 2007, and had been in development hell for years. In this original script, character Aurora's original surname was Dunn.[7] At one point, the film was set to star Keanu Reeves and Emily Blunt.[8] The film's production budget was a relatively low $35 million, and at various points in its development, actors attached to it included Reeves, Reese Witherspoon, and Rachel McAdams.[9] Brian Kirk was originally scheduled to make his feature directorial debut with the film, with Reeves in the lead.[10][11] On December 5, 2014, it was announced that Sony Pictures Entertainment had won the rights to the film.[12] In early 2015, Morten Tyldum was chosen to direct the film.[13] Tyldum had always wanted to do a massive sci-fi action movie, but also stressed the importance of a character-driven sci-fi film, rather than a cold and distant one.[14]

Metro described its plot as bearing a resemblance to the EC Comics story "50 Girls 50" by Al Williamson, first published in the July–August 1953 issue of Weird Science,[15] in which two passengers of a colony spaceship are awoken from hibernation early and fall in love.

The cast – Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne – were announced between February 2015 and January 2016.[16][17][18][19] Lawrence was paid $20 million against 30 percent of the profit after the movie breaks even and Pratt was paid $12 million.[9][20]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on September 15, 2015 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.[21][22] Filming occasionally took place for full days with a bulk of the shooting done around the two leads only. Rodrigo Prieto was cinematographer, and Maryann Brandon was film editor.[23][24] Filming concluded on February 12, 2016.[25]

Music

Thomas Newman composed the musical score for Passengers.[26] Spaihts said that he wrote Passengers while listening to Newman's previous scores.[27] Also, Imagine Dragons recorded a song, "Levitate", for the film's soundtrack. It was released on November 29, 2016.[28]

Release

In August 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment set the film's release date for December 21, 2016, in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. The film was concurrently released in 3D and RealD 3D formats,[29] with the international rollout running through Christmas and the New Year, to January 12, 2017.[30]

Marketing

At CinemaCon 2016, Passengers was featured by Sony Pictures chairman Thomas Rothman, alongside Lawrence and Pratt during Sony's presentation. A teaser trailer of unfinished footage was presented afterwards.[31] The first official images of the film were released on August 12, 2016.[32]

Home media

Passengers was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 14, 2017, and was made available on Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes on March 7, 2017.[33] On March 14, 2017, Passengers: Awakening, a virtual reality experience based on the film launched for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.[34]

Reception

Box office

Passengers grossed $100 million in the United States and Canada and $203.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $303.1 million, against a net production budget of $110 million.[3][2] It was the second-highest grossing original live-action Hollywood release of 2016, after La La Land.[35]

Passengers opened alongside Sing and Assassin's Creed, and was initially expected to gross around $50 million from 3,478 theaters over its first six days of release, although the studio was projecting a more conservative $35 million debut.[36][37] After making $1.2 million from Tuesday night previews[38] and $4.1 million on its first day, projections for the six-day opening were lowered to $27 million.[39] It went on to gross $15.1 million in its opening weekend (a six-day total of $30 million), finishing third at the box office behind Rogue One and Sing.[40] It became the third-biggest original live-action domestic release of 2016 behind Central Intelligence ($126 million) and La La Land ($149 million).[35]

Critical response

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 31% of 244 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review and an average rating of 5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Passengers proves Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence work well together – and that even their chemistry isn't enough to overcome a fatally flawed story."[41] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100 based on 48 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[42] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale,[43] while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 77% overall positive score.[40]

Mick LaSalle of The San Francisco Chronicle gave the film three out of four stars. He stated "despite the confinement and the limited cast, Passengers has moments of intense drama that take the actors to places of extreme feeling."[44] James Dyer of Empire gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating the film is "as surprisingly traditional as it is undeniably effective." He described the film as "Titanic amongst the stars" and "a touching, heartfelt tale of loss and love for the Gravity generation."[45] Peter Keough of The Boston Globe gave the film two and a half out of four stars, stating "perhaps as a well-written play for a cast of three, Passengers might have been first class. Instead, it's just another mediocre thrill ride."[46] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film an "appealing sci-fi romance" but criticized the final act as an "anticlimax". He gave the film three out of five stars.[47]

Rebecca Hawkes of The Telegraph described the film as not a romance but "a creepy ode to manipulation", describing the action as a "central act of violence" that is softened and justified.[48] Andrew Pulver of The Guardian called it an "interstellar version of social-media stalking" with "a fantastically creepy start" that, contrary to romantic comedies that manage to "plane down" the nastiness of stalking tactics, presents them in a way where "it's gruesomely inescapable".[49] Alissa Wilkinson of Vox called it "a fantasy of Stockholm syndrome, in which the captured eventually identifies and even loves the captor" and "a really disturbing wish fulfillment fantasy".[50]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards February 26, 2017 Best Production Design Guy Hendrix Dyas and Gene Serdena Nominated [51][52]
Best Original Score Thomas Newman
Art Directors Guild Awards February 11, 2017 Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film Guy Hendrix Dyas Won [53]
Golden Trailer Awards June 6, 2017 Best Action Sony Pictures Entertainment Nominated [54]
Best Motion Poster
Saturn Awards June 28, 2017 Best Science Fiction Passengers Nominated [55]
Best Actor Chris Pratt
Best Actress Jennifer Lawrence
Best Music Thomas Newman
Best Production Design Guy Hendrix Dyas

References

  1. ↑ "Passengers (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Passengers (2016)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  3. 1 2 FilmL.A. (May 2017). "2016 Feature Film Study" (PDF). FilmL.A. Feature Film Study. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  4. ↑ Giles, Jeff. "Sing Is Mostly On Key". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  5. ↑ Romano, Nick. "Jennifer Lawrence Gets Candid About 'Passengers' Criticism". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Oscar Nominations: Complete List". Variety. January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  7. ↑ Kroll, Justin (17 July 2015). "Michael Sheen Joins Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in 'Passengers'". Variety. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Hawkes, Rebecca (November 24, 2016). "Passengers: watch the new trailer, plus all you need to know about Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt's sci-fi romance ". The Daily Telegraph.
  9. 1 2 Kim Masters (June 16, 2015). "Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt's Sci-Fi 'Passengers' Nears Green Light After Sony Behind-the-Scenes Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Keanu Reeves Sci-Fi Film 'Passengers' Gets a 'Game of Thrones' Director". screenrant.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Sci-Fi Pic 'Passengers' to Star Keanu Reeves, with Brian Kirk Directing and Wayfare Entertainment Producing". Deadline Hollywood. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  12. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (December 5, 2014). "Sony Wins Auction For Jon Spaihts Sci-Fi Script 'Passengers'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  13. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (January 27, 2015). "Sony Engaging 'Imitation Game' Helmer Morten Tyldum For Space Saga 'Passengers'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  14. ↑ Brian Truitt (September 20, 2016). "Sneak peek: 'Passengers' puts Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt in space". USA Today. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  15. ↑ Chilton, Luke (September 20, 2016). "Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt get close and personal in new Passengers trailer". Metro. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  16. ↑ Kroll, Justin (February 6, 2015). "Jennifer Lawrence in Talks for Sci-Fi Drama 'Passengers'". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  17. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (February 6, 2015). "Chris Pratt in Talks to Star Opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Sony's 'Passengers'". TheWrap. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  18. ↑ Kroll, Justin (July 17, 2015). "Michael Sheen Joins Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in 'Passengers'". Variety. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  19. ↑ Ford, Rebecca; Siegel, Tatiana (August 5, 2015). "Laurence Fishburne Joining Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt in 'Passengers'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Hollywood Salaries 2016: Who Got Raises (and Who Didn't), From Movie Stars to Showrunners". The Hollywood Reporter. September 29, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt's Latest Film "Passengers" Has Started Filming In Atlanta; JLaw Spotted In Freshly Bleached Blonde Locks". Venture Capital Post. September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Hard at work! A very blonde Jennifer Lawrence wears nude tank top as she joins Chris Pratt on Atlanta set of Passengers". Daily Mail. September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  23. ↑ Jack Moulton (March 9, 2016). "2016 Awards Profile: 'Passengers' from Morten Tyldum". Awards Circuit. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  24. ↑ Christopher Hooton (March 17, 2016). "Passengers: Following Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian, what you need to know about this year's big space movie". The Independent. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Director James Gunn and Actor William H. Macy added to ATLFF lineup". CW69. 6 April 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  26. ↑ Film Music Reporter (September 9, 2016). "Thomas Newman to Score Morten Tyldum's 'Passengers'". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  27. ↑ Spaihts, Jon [@jonspaihts] (September 20, 2016). "I wrote #Passengers listening to Thomas Newman. Now he's scoring the film. Dream come true" (Tweet). Retrieved September 21, 2016 – via Twitter.
  28. ↑ Mitchell, Bea (29 November 2016). "Imagine Dragons are back with new track 'Levitate'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  29. ↑ Kroll, Justin (August 5, 2015). "Sony Dates 16 Films Including Two More 'Bad Boys' Sequels, 'Jumanji' Remake". Variety. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Watch the First Trailer for Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt's 'Passengers'". Variety. September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  31. ↑ Orange, B. Alan (13 April 2016). "Spider-Man & Ghostbusters Headline Sony CinemaCon 2016 Presentation". MovieWeb. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  32. ↑ Cavassuto, Maria (12 August 2016). "'Passengers': First Photos of Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt Released". Variety. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Passengers Blu-ray Release Date, News & Reviews - Releases.com". www.releases.com.
  34. ↑ "Sony Releases 'Passengers: Awakening' VR Experience". www.vrscout.com.
  35. 1 2 Scott Mendelson (March 15, 2017). "Box Office: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt's 'Passengers' Was One Of 2016's Bigger Original Grossers". Forbes. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Will 'Rogue One' Vanquish The Christmas B.O. Competition?". Deadline Hollywood.
  37. ↑ McClintock, Pamela. "Christmas Box-Office Crush: 'Sing,' 'Passengers,' 'Assassin's Creed' to Battle 'Rogue One'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  38. ↑ "'Sing's' Box-Office Debut Tops 'Assassin's Creed,' 'Passengers' in Tuesday Night Previews". The Hollywood Reporter.
  39. ↑ "With 'Rogue One' & 'Sing', It's A Two-Picture Christmas At The B.O." Deadline Hollywood.
  40. 1 2 "With 'Fences,' 'La La Land' Enter Top 10 As 'Rogue One' & 'Sing' Rule Holiday – Monday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood.
  41. ↑ "Passengers (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  42. ↑ "Passengers Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  43. ↑ CinemaScore on Twitter (December 21, 2016). "Passengers". Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  44. ↑ LaSalle, Mick. "Love in (or outside) the atmosphere in 'Passengers'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  45. ↑ Dwyer, James. "Passengers Review". Empire. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  46. ↑ Keough, Peter. "Passengers: They woke up 90 years too soon. Now what?".
  47. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter. "Passengers review – Chris Pratt falls for Jennifer Lawrence in space". The Guardian. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  48. ↑ "Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence's Passengers isn't a romance: it's a creepy ode to manipulation". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  49. ↑ Andrew Pulver (December 15, 2016). "Passengers review – spaceship romcom scuppered by cosmic creep". Guardian.
  50. ↑ Wilkinson, Alissa. "Passengers is 3 movies in one, each creepier than the last". Vox. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  51. ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (January 24, 2017). "Oscars: 'La La Land' Ties Record With 14 Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2017-12-02. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  52. ↑ "Oscar Nominations: Complete List". Variety. January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  53. ↑ Hipes, Patrick. "Art Directors Guild Awards Nominations: 'Rogue One', 'Game Of Thrones' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  54. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (7 June 2017). "'Wonder Woman', 'Lego Batman' & Warner Bros Top Winners At Golden Trailer Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  55. ↑ McNary, Dave (March 2, 2017). "Saturn Awards Nominations 2017: 'Rogue One,' 'Walking Dead' Lead". Variety. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
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