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Wonder (film)

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Wonder
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStephen Chbosky
Screenplay by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDon Burgess
Edited byMark Livolsi
Music byMarcelo Zarvos
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17) (United States)
Running time
113 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[3]
Box office$73.9 million[4]

Wonder is a 2017 American drama film directed by Stephen Chbosky and written by Jack Thorne, Steve Conrad, and Chbosky, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by R.J. Palacio. The film stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay, and follows a child with Treacher Collins syndrome trying to fit in. Wonder was released in the United States on November 17, 2017, by Lionsgate, and has grossed $73 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

Plot

August "Auggie" Pullman is a fifth-grade boy living in North River Heights in upper Manhattan. He has an extremely rare medical facial deformity, which he refers to as "mandibulofacial dysostosis", which is likely Treacher Collins syndrome. Due to numerous surgeries, Auggie had been home-schooled by his mother Isabel, but as Auggie is approaching middle school age, Isabel and Nate decide to enroll him in Beecher Prep, a private school, for the start of middle school. At first, Auggie is ostracized by nearly all the student body, but he is soon befriended by a boy named Jack, and they become closer as the school year progresses.

During Halloween, Auggie wears an old "Ghost Face" mask and costume because his dog, Daisy, threw up on his "Boba Fett" costume. Unrecognized, he walks around school knowing he would not get tormented while incognito. As he walks through the door to his homeroom he overhears Jack telling Julian that was he was "only pretending to be friends with Auggie" and that he would "kill himself" if he looked like him. Feeling hurt and betrayed by Jack, Auggie decides to quit Beecher Prep, but his older sister Olivia (also known as "Via" by her family), talks him out of it. Auggie later confides the incident to another friend, a girl named Summer, but swears her to secrecy. When Jack notices that Auggie has become quiet and distant he asks Summer why, but she only says "Ghost Face" to give him a clue. At first, Jack believes that Auggie is just avoiding him for no reason and shuns him in retaliation, but then he is shocked when it dawns on him that it was Auggie wearing the Ghost Face costume, and thus had overheard everything he said to Julian.

In science class, Auggie and Jack are assigned as partners for a project. When Julian asks the teacher if he could be Jack's partner instead, Jack declines. But later in the hallway when Julian calls Auggie a "freak," Jack angrily punches him in the face and a fight ensues between the two, which is soon broken up by Mr. Browne and Ms. Petosa. Knowing that Julian would likely get them both in trouble for bad-mouthing Auggie, Jack refuses to tell Mr. Tushman what happened and why, and is suspended for two days for his actions. Regretting what he said to Julian, Jack apologizes to Auggie, and the two reconcile.

During the rest of the school year, Auggie is repeatedly bullied by Julian and his group; they leave hurtful and threatening notes on his desk and tape to his locker their class picture with Auggie photoshopped out. Mr. Browne confronts one of Julian's friends to find out about the bullying and reports it to Mr. Tushman, who later confronts Julian and informed his parents then told them that their son Julian using all the notes and purposely alienates class photo as evidence and Julian picking on August "Aggie" Pullman as well; Julian's mother proclaims that she had Auggie edited out of the photo to make it look more presentable to her friends at home. She then says that Beecher Prep should not be an "inclusive school" and that Auggie does not belong there, but despite her threats to pull their funding from the school, Tushman suspends Julian two days from Beecher Prep for abusing Auggie Pullman. Julian's parents decided to pull him out of Beecher Prep for abusement Auggie Pullman; Julian, who unbelieve that loses all his friends for bullying Auggie, apologizes to Tushman for his actions as his mother drags him out the door.

Meanwhile, Via decides to carve out her own niche and signs up for Drama Club at her high school after her best friend, Miranda, ignores her; in the process, she meets Justin with whom she develops a close friendship which later turns into a relationship. Justin is surprised when he first meets Auggie, but is quickly accepting and very kind to him. Later, Via is selected to be an understudy for the lead role in the school's production of "Our Town", but when Miranda, the lead actress, pretends to fall ill, Via takes her place and gives a performance that earns her a standing ovation.

One night at home, Auggie gets into a heated argument with Via and Isabel, and Auggie storms up to his room. Via soon comes up and informs him that their dog Daisy needs to go to the vet because she is sick and whimpering. Later, Isabel and Nate return holding an empty collar. Later that night, Auggie wakes up and finds Nate crying at the kitchen table over the loss of Daisy.

During a school trip to a nature reserve (which Julian did not attend after his parents grounded him for bullying his classmates), when Auggie and Jack are accosted and threatened by a group of seventh graders from another school, several of Julian's friends come to their defense. After their return to school, Auggie is generally more accepted by his classmates, including most of Julian's former friends. At the year's end during the graduation ceremony (which Julian Ablians also did not attend because of being suspended by Tushman for bullying Auggie Pullman, Mr. Tushman announces that Auggie has been selected for the Henry Ward Beecher Medal which "honors students who have been notable or exemplary in certain areas throughout the school year"; Auggie gets a standing ovation, and the movie ends with everyone applauding Auggie, and Isabel commenting on him being a "wonder".

Cast

Production

On November 27, 2012, it was announced that Lionsgate was developing the feature film adaptation of R. J. Palacio's debut novel Wonder, while in talks with John August to write the screenplay.[5] Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman would be producing the film.[5] On May 8, 2013, Jack Thorne was hired to adapt the novel, while August, who was previously reported as writer, had departed from the project.[6] In October 2014, John Krokidas was reported to be directing the film,[7] but in April 2015, Paul King was hired to take the directing duties. Steven Conrad was writing the script at that time.[8]

On April 14, 2016, Jacob Tremblay was cast in the film to play the lead role as Auggie Pullman, while Julia Roberts was in talks to play Auggie's mother.[9] On May 5, 2016, Roberts was confirmed to play the mother, with Stephen Chbosky signed on to direct the film.[10] On June 27, 2016, Owen Wilson had joined the film to play Auggie's father.[11] On July 11, 2016, newcomer Noah Jupe joined the film to play Auggie's best friend at school.[12] On July 15, 2016, Daveed Diggs was cast in the film to play Mr. Browne, an English teacher at the school.[13] On August 19, 2016, Sonia Braga joined the cast of the film, portraying the role of Roberts' character's mother.[14]

Jacob's prosthetic makeup, designed and created by Arjen Tuiten, took an hour and half to apply. It consisted of a skull cap with prosthetic ears attached, a facial prosthetic that covered Jacob's face, and a wig to tie it all together.[citation needed]

Marcelo Zarvos composed the film's score.[15]

Music

Bea Miller composed a song entitled "Brand New Eyes". It was released on August 3, 2017.

Wonder author R.J. Palacio has often credited Natalie Merchant's song “Wonder” from her 1995 album Tigerlily as the inspiration for her best-selling book and at Merchant's invitation, the song will be featured in the soundtrack.[16]

Release

Wonder was scheduled to be released in the United States on April 7, 2017 by Lionsgate.[17][18] On February 13, 2017, it was announced that the release date for Wonder had been pushed back to November 17, 2017.[19]

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Wonder was released alongside Justice League and The Star and was initially projected to gross around $9 million from 3,096 theaters in its opening weekend.[20] However after grossing $740,000 from Thursday night previews and receiving a large number of group ticket sales, weekend projections were upped to $15 million.[21] Weekend projections were again increased, this time to $28 million, after the film made $9.4 million on its first day. The film went on to debut to $27.1 million, finishing second at the box office behind Justice League.[22] In its second weekend the film dropped just 17.7%, grossing $22.7 million and finishing third at the box office.[23]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Wonder doesn't shy away from its bestselling source material's sentiment, but this well-acted and overall winsome drama earns its tugs at the heartstrings."[24] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, one of fewer than 80 films in the history of the service to receive such a score.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Film releases". Variety Insight. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  2. ^ "WONDER". Lionsgate Press. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  3. ^ "Will 'Justice League' Perform Like 'Wonder Woman' or 'Suicide Squad' at the Box Office?". TheWrap. November 14, 2017.
  4. ^ "Wonder (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Sneider, Jeff (November 26, 2012). "Lionsgate lining up John August to adapt 'Wonder'". Variety. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  6. ^ Jr, Mike Fleming (May 8, 2013). "Lionsgate Taps Jack Thorne To Adapt R.J. Palacio Novel 'Wonder'". Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  7. ^ Ford, Rebecca; Kit, Borys (October 7, 2014). "'Kill Your Darlings' Director to Helm YA Adaptation 'Wonder' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  8. ^ Kit, Borys (April 23, 2015). "'Paddington' Director Books Lionsgate's YA Adaptation 'Wonder' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  9. ^ Geier, Thom (April 14, 2016). "'Room' Star Jacob Tremblay in Talks for Lionsgate's 'Wonder'". TheWrap. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys; Ford, Rebecca (May 5, 2016). "Julia Roberts to Play Jacob Tremblay's Mother in 'Wonder'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 27, 2016). "Owen Wilson to Co-Star With Julia Roberts in 'Wonder' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  12. ^ Kit, Borys (July 11, 2016). "'Night Manager' Actor Joins Julia Roberts, Jacob Tremblay in 'Wonder' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  13. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (July 15, 2016). "Tony Winner Daveed Diggs Joins Lionsgate's 'Wonder' In First Post-'Hamilton' Film Role". Deadline. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  14. ^ Kit, Borys (August 19, 2016). "Sonia Braga Playing Julia Roberts' Mother in 'Wonder' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  15. ^ "Marcelo Zarvos to Score Steven Chbsoky's 'Wonder'". FilmMusicReporter. January 11, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  16. ^ "Wonder the Film". Natalie Merchant. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  17. ^ "Julia Roberts, Jacob Tremblay's Wonder gets spring 2017 release date". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. June 8, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  18. ^ "First Look! Julia Roberts and Jacob Tremblay Will Melt Your Heart in Wonder". People. August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  19. ^ "Julia Roberts' Drama 'Wonder' Pushed to November". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, LLC. February 13, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  20. ^ Anita Busch (November 14, 2017). "The Tale Of Two Films: Walden Media's 'The Star' & 'Wonder' Bow On Same Day".
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 17, 2017). "'Justice League' Powers To $13M Thursday Night; Beats 'Wonder Woman' – Friday AM Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  22. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 18, 2017). "'Justice League' Encounters Kryptonite At The B.O. With $93M+ Opening: Why The DC Movie Weakened". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  23. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 26, 2017). "Thanksgiving B.O. At $268M, +3% Over 2016 Spurred By 'Coco' & Holdovers". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  24. ^ "Wonder (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  25. ^ "Wonder reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
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