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A Monster Calls
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	J. A. Bayona
Screenplay by	Patrick Ness
Starring	Sigourney Weaver Felicity Jones Toby Kebbell Lewis MacDougall Liam Neeson
Cinematography	Óscar Faura
Edited by	Bernat Vilaplana Jaume Martí
Music by	Fernando Velázquez
Distributed by	Universal Pictures (Spain) Entertainment One Films (United Kingdom)
Release dates	September 10, 2016 (2016-09-10) (TIFF) October 7, 2016 (2016-10-07) (Spain) January 1, 2017 (2017-01-01) (United Kingdom)
Running time	108 minutes
Countries	Spain United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$43 million
Box office	$47.3 million

A Monster Calls is a 2016 dark fantasy film directed by J. A. Bayona and written by Patrick Ness, based on his novel of the same name, which in turn was based on an original idea by Siobhan Dowd. The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, Lewis MacDougall, and Liam Neeson, and tells the story of Conor (MacDougall), a child whose mother (Jones) is terminally ill; one night, he is visited by a monster in the form of a giant anthropomorphic yew tree (Neeson), who states that he will come back and tell Conor three stories. The film is an international co-production between Spain, United Kingdom and the United States.

A Monster Calls premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2016. It was then released in Spain on 7 October 2016, and in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2017. In the United States, the film began a limited release in on 23 December 2016, followed by a wide release on 6 January 2017. It received positive reviews, being praised for its themes, directing, performances and visual effects, but underperformed at the box office, grossing $47 million worldwide on a budget of $43 million.

Plot

Yew, what's up my name's Markiplier welcome back to Five Nights at Freddy's.

Cast

• Liam Neeson as the "Monster" (voice and motion capture), a giant humanoid yew tree.
  • Neeson also appears uncredited in a photograph as Connor's grandfather.
  • Tom Holland, who worked with Bayona on The Impossible, served as the stand-in for the Monster during one week of production.
• Lewis MacDougall as Conor O'Malley
  • Max Golds as 5-year-old Conor
• Sigourney Weaver as Mrs. Clayton (credited as "Grandma"), Conor’s strict grandmother who has a tense relationship with him.
• Felicity Jones as Elisabeth "Lizzie" Clayton (credited as "Mom"), Conor’s mother who is diagnosed with an unspecified terminal illness.
• Toby Kebbell as Liam O'Malley (credited as "Dad"), Conor’s father who is divorced from Lizzie and now lives in the United States.
• James Melville as Harry, a school bully who frequently targets Conor.
• Geraldine Chaplin as the head teacher of Conor’s school.

Production

Focus Features bought the rights to the book in March 2014. Patrick Ness, the book's author, served as the film's screenwriter, with J. A. Bayona hired as director. On 23 April 2014, Felicity Jones joined the film to play the boy's mother. On 8 May, Liam Neeson was cast to voice the Monster, and on 18 August, Sigourney Weaver joined to play the boy's grandmother. On August 19, Toby Kebbell was also cast in the film. On 3 September, author Ness tweeted that Lewis MacDougall had been set for one of the lead roles as the boy in the film. On 30 September, Geraldine Chaplin joined the cast.

Filming

Principal photography began on 30 September 2014, in Spain and Britain. On 9 October, the filming began on location in Preston, Lancashire, Rivington Pike (Chorley/Horwich), Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Marsden, West Yorkshire

Liam Neeson, who voices the titular tree creature, was not on set throughout the shooting process, and completed his motion-capture performance during a two-week period beforehand, with MacDougall in the room. Tom Holland worked on set as The Monster with Neeson absent.

Release

Originally scheduled for an October 2016 release, the film was delayed in order to avoid competition from Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Boo! A Madea Halloween, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and Keeping Up with the Joneses. It was rescheduled for a limited roll out on 23 December 2016, followed by a wide release on 6 January 2017. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2017, by Entertainment One and Lionsgate, and in India on 6 January 2017, by B4U Relativity.

Reception

Box office

A Monster Calls grossed $3.7 million in the United States and Canada and $43.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $47.2 million, against a production budget of $43 million.

In North America, the film had its wide release alongside the opening of Underworld: Blood Wars and the wide expansions of Hidden Figures and Lion, and was initially expected to gross around $10 million from 1,523 theaters over the weekend. However, after making just $659,000 on its first day, weekend projections were lowered to $2 million, which it ended up grossing, finishing 13th at the box office. In its second weekend of wide release it grossed $537,262 (a drop of 74.2%) and in its third week made just $19,080 (a drop of 96.4%) after being pulled from all but 42 theaters, one of the biggest third week theater drops in history.

Critical response

The aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 86% based on 259 reviews, and an average rating of 7.58/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A Monster Calls deftly balances dark themes and fantastical elements to deliver an engrossing and uncommonly moving entry in the crowded coming-of-age genre." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades

References

1. "A Monster Calls (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
2. ^ "A Monster Calls". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
3. Browne, Kit Simpson (15 September 2016). "Patrick Ness Explains Why 'A Monster Calls' Is Going To Make You Cry". Archived from the original on 2016-10-10. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
4. ^ "A Monster Calls (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
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8. "Felicity Jones To Star In Juan Antonio Bayona's 'A Monster Calls'". deadline.com. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
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45. "The 2016 WAFCA Awards Nominations". 3 December 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.

External links

• A Monster Calls at IMDb 
• A Monster Calls at the TCM Movie Database
• A Monster Calls at Metacritic
• A Monster Calls at Rotten Tomatoes
• Template:AllMovie title

• 2016 films
• 2010s drama films
• 2010s fantasy films
• Spanish films
• Spanish drama films
• Spanish fantasy films
• British films
• British drama films
• British fantasy films
• English-language films
• Films about bullying
• Films about death
• Films based on American novels
• Films based on British novels
• Films based on fantasy novels
• Films directed by J. A. Bayona
• Motion capture in film
• Participant Media films
• Films with live action and animation
• Giant monster films
• Films scored by Fernando Velázquez