Skyline (film series)
| Skyline | |
|---|---|
 Official film series logo | |
| Created by |
|
| Original work | Skyline (2010) |
| Owners | Universal Pictures (1) Vertical Entertainment (2-3) XYZ Films (4) |
| Years | 2010–present |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | |
The Skyline film series consists of American science fiction-disaster alien action films. Created by Joshua Cordes and Liam O'Donnell, the series centers around a global alien invasion and the uprise of mankind to fight back and save humanity. The series implements various genres within each installment.
The first film was met with negative critical reception but was a box office success, given its smaller production budget.[1][2] The second installment was met with a generally positive reception from film critics,[3] and was not a box office success.[4][5] A third film, which mas made in part by a distribution deal with Netflix, was met with mixed reception.[6][7]
Films
[edit]| Film | U.S. release date |
Director(s) | Screenwriter | Story by | Producers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skyline | November 12, 2010 | Greg Strause & Colin Strause | Joshua Cordes & Liam O'Donnell | Greg Strause, Colin Strause, Kristian Andresen and Liam O'Donnell | |
| Beyond Skyline | December 15, 2017 | Liam O'Donnell | Matthew E. Chausse, Liam O'Donnell, Colin Strause and Greg Strause | ||
| Skylines | December 18, 2020 | Liam O'Donnell | Matthew E. Chausse & Liam O'Donnell | ||
| Skyline: Warpath | 2025 | Liam O'Donnell | Matthew E. Chausse and Evangelo Kioussis | ||
Skyline (2010)
[edit]Jarrod and Elaine take a trip to Southern California for a getaway trip and to visit his friend named Terry. Their vacation quickly turns into a horrific weekend of terror, when an alien invasion follows a night of hypnotizing strange lights in the sky. What starts off as a city under attack, quickly becomes a worldwide takeover. While the city is under attack and thousands of terrified people are abducted into the ships, Jarrod and Elaine work together with their companions to survive the ensuing global genocide.[8][9]
Beyond Skyline (2017)
[edit]During an alien invasion, Detective Mark Corley braves the warzone and infiltrates their ships, after his estranged son named Trent is abducted. Upon entering the spacecraft, Corley works with some unlikely allies in his rescue efforts. While aboard the ship Corley discovers that the extraterrestrials are harvesting humans for their brainpower. In his pursuits, he receives assistance from a friendly alien lifeform, who's revealed to be living embodiment of Jerrod's intelligence. As Elaine passes away giving birth to their daughter, Jerrod and Detective Corley work together to free Trent and escape the spaceship, while protecting the newborn from its otherworldly inhabitants. During the ensuing fight, Trent is overpowered and his brain is harvested to be used by one of the aliens. When the flying saucer takes a crash-landing into Southeast Asia, the team must form an alliance with a small group of survivors to take back the planet. Meanwhile, it's discovered that exposure to the DNA altering technology has left the baby Rose, who ages rapidly, with enhanced powers and abilities that may be key to defeating the planetary invaders.[10]
Skylines (2020)
[edit]After years of working together, a virus from another planet begins to turn humans-turned-alien hybrids against their allied forces. Captain Rose Corley, who has alien-enhanced DNA and has reached adult age, forms a team to venture to the extraterrestrial home world. Together this team works to find a cure against this unknown ailment plaguing and prevent a once all out war from once again overrunning the Earth. As they fight for survival, Rose works to outsmart the enemies with the benefit of her otherworldly knowledge, and reestablish the once forming peace.[11]
Skyline: Warpath (2025)
[edit]In December 2020, writer/director O'Donnell announced plans to continue the series, with intentions to bring back the featured cast.[12] That same month, Frank Grillo expressed interest in reprising his role in the series.[13] By August 2021, O'Donnell announced that he had finished writing the script, while revealing the official title to be Skyline Radial.[14] The filmmaker stated that the plot will include a father/daughter reunion plot, while acknolwedging that he may have some rewrites to complete in the future.[15]
In May 2022, it was announced that O'Donnell will once again serve as writer/director for the new movie. The filmmaker stated that he views the installment as the Fast Five or The Avengers equivalent in the film series, where various characters from previous movies will team up for a "bigger...sci-fi martial arts adventure." Principal photography was scheduled to commence later that year, with Screen Media acting as the international distribution sales company in collaboration with its parent company Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, while a distributor would be determined following a presence at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[16][17] Grillo and Lindsey Morgan are slated to reprise their respective roles, with the plot centering around Col. Rose Corley hiring a crew with a planned mission of freeing her father Det. Mark Corley from an alien prison; while coming into conflict with the most powerful force in the universe, and alien race called The Radial.[18]
In January 2024, it was announced that the film, now retitled Skyline: Warpath, had commenced principal photography in Indonesia. Iko Uwais was reported to return as Sua, with Scott Adkins, Louis Mandylor, Randall Bacon, and Yayan Ruhian joining the cast. XYZ Films will distribute the movie.[19]
Development
[edit]Film series co-writer and three-time director, Liam O'Donnell stated that the each installment intentionally explores additional science fiction genres. The filmmaker stated that various directors were influential on his work within the series, including: James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, George Miller, Paul Verhoeven, John Carpenter, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, and Jordan Peele.
Skyline, which the filmmaker stated was limited by a smaller budget, was intended to be similar in tone to found-footage horror. Creatives involved were intent with depicting a realistic real-world alien invasion. With the extensive post-production process, the project consisted of extensive CGI special effects, where much of the budget was spent.
O'Donnell stated that with the second film, Beyond Skyline, all creatives involved were intent on making up for the areas in which the first was lacking. The filmmaker stated that he intentionally used practical effects as often as was possible to provide the alien characters with more personality and interaction with each actor. With intentions to introduce a greater level of action sequences, the premise was conceptualized as "John McClane.. in an alien invasion scenario."[20] With fight choreography inspired by the martial arts film genre, the movie has been compared favorably to The Raid.[21]
The third film Skylines, embraced the science fiction elements that were well-received in the previous release with O'Donnell looking to James Cameron's Aliens for referential inspiration. With each release, the filmmaker stated that his primary focus has been on character development.[12]
During production of Skyline: Warpath, O'Donnell stated that the movie will be influenced by Star Trek;[22] while also calling the movie a team-up similar to Fast Five or The Avengers, with the fourth Skyline movie including various characters from previous installments teaming up to fight the villainous alien race.[16]
Main cast and characters
[edit]This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
- An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
- A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
- C indicates a cameo role.
- P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
- S indicates an appearance through use of special effects.
- Y indicates a younger version of the character.
| Character | Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skyline | Beyond Skyline | Skylines | Skyline: Warpath | |
| Principal cast | ||||
| Jarrod | Eric Balfour[a] | Tony BlackC[b] | Tony BlackAC[c] | |
| Elaine | Scottie Thompson | Samantha Jean | Samantha JeanAC | |
| Det. Mark Corley | Frank Grillo | Frank GrilloAC | Frank Grillo | |
| Audrey | Bojana Novakovic | Bojana NovakovicAC | ||
| Capt. Rose Corley | Dhara Kinanti AkhmadYC[d] Katherine HaidenYC[e] Alaina JayarazY[f] Lindsey Morgan |
Lindsey Morgan Dhara Kinanti AkmadYAC[g] Katherine HaidenYAC[h] Alaina JayarazYAC[i] |
Lindsey Morgan | |
| Trent Corley | Jonny Weston[j] Camden QuaintanceY Jack ChausseY |
Jeremy Fitzgerald[k] | ||
| Leon | Jonathan Howard | |||
| Supporting cast | ||||
| Terry | Donald Faison | |||
| Candice | Brittany Daniel | |||
| Denise | Crystal Reed | |||
| Oliver | David Zayas | |||
| Ray | Neil Hopkins | |||
| Jen | Tanya Newbould | |||
| Colin | J. Paul Boehmer | |||
| Garcia | Jacob Vargas | |||
| Sarge | Antonio Fargas | |||
| Jones | Betty Gabriel | |||
| Dr. Harper | Callan Mulvey | |||
| Sua | Iko Uwais | Iko Uwais | ||
| Kanya | Pamelyn Chee | |||
| Huana | Yayan Ruhian | |||
| Dr. Mal | Rhona Mitra | |||
| Alexi | Ieva Andrejevaitė | |||
| Zhi | Cha-Lee Yoon | |||
| Grant | James Cosmo | |||
| Kate | Naomi Tankel | |||
| Gen. Radford | Alexander Siddig | |||
| Owens | Daniel Bernhardt | |||
| the Matriarch | Phong Giang[l] | |||
Notes
[edit]- ^ CGI special effects are used to portray Jarrod, in his alien-form.
- ^ A combination of practical and CGI special effects are used to portray Jarrod, in his alien-form.
- ^ Practical effects are used in the archive footage that portrays Jarrod, in his alien-form.
- ^ Akhmad portrays Rose, as a newborn baby.
- ^ Haiden portrays Rose, at the age of 18 months.
- ^ Jayaraz portrays Rose, at the age of 3-years-old.
- ^ Akhmad portrays Rose, as a newborn baby.
- ^ Haiden portrays Rose, at 18-months-old.
- ^ Jayaraz portrays Rose, as a 3-year-old.
- ^ A combination of practical and CGI special effects are used to portray Trent, in his alien-form.
- ^ A combination of practical and CGI special effects portray Trent, in his alien-form.
- ^ A combination of practical and CGI special effects were used to portray the Matriarch.
Additional crew and production details
[edit]| Film | Crew/Detail | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composer | Cinematographer | Editor(s) | Production companies |
Distributing company |
Running time | ||
| Skyline | Matthew Margeson | Michael Watson | Nicholas Wayman-Harris | Relativity Media, Rogue, Black Monday Film Services, Hydraulx Entertainment, Transmission Productions, Rat Entertainment, Brothers Strause Films |
Universal Pictures | 1 hr 34 mins | |
| Beyond Skyline | Nathan Whitehead | Christopher Probst | Sean Albertson & Banner Gwin | Vertical Entertainment, Hydraulx Entertainment, m45 Productions, XYZ Films, Beijing Creastar Picture International Ltd., Arlberg Productions Limited, S&C Picture Co. Ltd., North Hollywood Films,[23] Ingenious Media |
Vertical Entertainment | 1 hr 45 mins | |
| Skylines | Ram Khatabakhsh | Alain Duplantier | Barrett Heathcote | Vertical Entertainment, Hydraulx Entertainment, Liam O'Donnell Films, XYZ Films, m45 Productions, Gifflar Films Limited, Gifflar (Patriot) Films Limited, UAB Cobaltas, Cobalt Films S.L., Ingenious Media, Lipsync Productions LLP, Artbox, Fasten Films |
1 hr 50 mins | ||
| Skyline: Warpath | TBA | TBA | TBA | XYZ Films | TBA | TBA | |
Reception
[edit]Box office and financial performance
[edit]| Film | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Home video total |
Gross income | Budget | Net income/loss | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All-time North America |
All-time worldwide | ||||||
| Skyline | $21,416,355 | $46,848,618 | $68,264,973 | #3,510 | #1,887 | $11,228,846 | $79,493,819 | $10,000,000 | $69,493,819 | [2] |
| Beyond Skyline | — | $992,181 | $992,181 | #10,604 | #15,419 | $1,249,049 | $2,241,230 | $14,000,000 | -$17,758,770 | [4][5][24] |
| Skylines | — | $170,581 | $170,581 | #16,270 | #23,294 | figures not publicly available |
>$170,581 | ≤$14,000,000 | > -$13,829,419 | [24][7][25] |
| Totals | $21,416,355 | $48,011,380 | $69,427,735 | x̄ #10,128 | x̄ #13,533 | >$12,477,895 | >$81,905,630 | ≤$38,000,000 | ~$43,905,630 | |
Critical and public response
[edit]| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skyline | 15% (84 reviews)[1] | 26/100 (18 reviews)[26] | D−[27] |
| Beyond Skyline | 67% (21 reviews)[3] | 46/100 (8 reviews)[28] | — |
| Skylines | 56% (27 reviews)[6] | 46/100 (4 reviews)[29] | — |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Skyline". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ a b "Skyline (2010) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
- ^ a b "Beyond Skyline". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ a b "Beyond Skyline". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ a b "Beyond Skyline (2017) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
- ^ a b "Skylines". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ a b "Skylines". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ Henderson, Jason (December 20, 2020). "Skylines Brings Back the SF Franchise That Could". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ Mendelson, Scott (December 19, 2021). "How 'Skylines' Succeeds Where 'Independence Day' And 'Pacific Rim' Failed". Forbes. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ Harvey, Dennis (December 23, 2017). "Film Review: 'Beyond Skyline'". Variety. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ Haley (October 28, 2020). "The 'Skyline' Trilogy Comes To an End in Lindsey Morgan Led 'Skylines' Trailer". Nerds and Beyond. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ a b Kristopowitz, Bryan (December 19, 2020). "Liam O'Donnell On Directing the Sci-Fi Action Sequel Skylines, A Potential Fourth Film". 411 Mania. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ Jerva, John (December 22, 2020). "Frank Grillo to Return for the Fourth Movie in Skyline Franchise?". The Action Elite. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ Miska, Brad (August 12, 2021). "'Skyline Radial': Fourth 'Skyline' Teased by Director Liam O'Donnell". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ Hamman, Cody (August 12, 2021). "Skyline Radial: Liam O'Donnell has written a script for Skyline 4". JoBlo. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Lodderhose, Diana (May 10, 2022). "Screen Media Picks Up Int'l Rights To 'Skyline Radial', Foresight Unlimited Launching Project In Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ O'Rourke, Ryan (May 11, 2022). "'Skyline Radial': Screen Media Snags International Sales Rights for Sci-Fi Film". Collider. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ Miska, Brad (May 10, 2022). "'Skyline Radial' Detailed, Liam O'Donnell Returning to Direct!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (January 16, 2024). "XYZ Picks Up U.S. Rights To Martial Arts Alien Invasion Pic 'Skyline: Warpath' Starring Iko Uwais & Scott Adkins; First Look Images Revealed". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ Milner, Kyle (December 22, 2020). "Interview : Liam O'Donnell, writer/director of Skylines". Movie Hole. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ Curran, Brad (December 20, 2020). "Skyline: Ranking The Sci-Fi Movie Series From Worst To Best". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ O'Donnell, Liam (August 27, 2022). "Trek". Twitter. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ "North Hollywood Films".
- ^ a b O'Donnell, Liam (December 18, 2020). "I'm Liam O'Donnell, Writer/Director of SKYLINES, the third and final installment to the SciFi franchise. I'm here to answer all your questions. AMA!". Reddit AMA. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ "Skylines (2020) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
- ^ "Skyline" – via www.metacritic.com.
- ^ "Home". Cinemascore.
- ^ "Beyond Skyline" – via www.metacritic.com.
- ^ "Skylines" – via www.metacritic.com.