# Once Upon a Time in America
### Versions
#### Home media
It was only after Leone\'s death and the subsequent restoration of the original version that critics began to give it the kind of praise displayed at its original Cannes showing. The uncut original film is considered to be far superior to the edited version released in the U.S. in 1984. Ebert, in his review of Brian De Palma\'s *The Untouchables*, called the original uncut version of *Once Upon a Time in America* the best film depicting the Prohibition era. James Woods, who considers it to be Leone\'s finest film, mentioned in the DVD documentary that one critic dubbed the film the worst of 1984, only to see the original cut years later and call it the best of the 1980s. Some were critical towards the movie\'s graphic violence and cruelty, with Donald Clarke of *Irish Times* condemning it as a \"fistful of misogyny\" and offensively \"sexist\".
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, *Once Upon a Time in America* has an approval rating of 87% based on 54 reviews, with an average score of 8.50/10. The website\'s critic consensus reads, \"Sergio Leone\'s epic crime drama is visually stunning, stylistically bold, and emotionally haunting, and filled with great performances from the likes of Robert De Niro and James Woods.\" On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\".
The film has since been ranked as one of the best films of the gangster genre. When *Sight & Sound* asked several UK critics in 2002 what their favorite films of the last 25 years were, *Once Upon a Time in America* placed at number 10. In 2015, the film was ranked at number nine on *Time Out*s list of the 50 best gangster films of all time, while in 2021, *The Guardian* cited it as the fourth greatest mobster film ever made.

### Accolades
Unlike its modern critical success, the initial American release did not fare well with critics and received no Academy Award nominations. The film\'s music was disqualified from Oscar consideration for a technicality, as the studio accidentally omitted the composer\'s name from the opening credits when trimming its running time for the American release.
`Award `
`Category `
`Nominee `
`Result`


# Once Upon a Time in America
### Accolades
38th British Academy Film Awards
`Best Costume Design`
`Gabriella Pescucci`
`Best Film Music`
`Ennio Morricone`
`Best Direction`
`Sergio Leone`
`Best Actress in a Supporting Role`
`Tuesday Weld`
`Best Cinematography`
`Tonino Delli Colli`
42nd Golden Globe Awards
`Best Director`
`Sergio Leone`
`Best Original Score`
`Ennio Morricone`
`8th Japan Academy Prize`
`Outstanding Foreign Language Film`
`–`
10th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
`Best Film`
`–`
`Best Director`
`Sergio Leone`
`Best Music Score`
`Ennio Morricone`
As the film begins and ends in 1933, with Noodles hiding in an opium den from syndicate hitmen, and the last shot of the film is of Noodles in a smiling, opium-soaked high, the film can be interpreted as having been a drug-induced dream, with Noodles remembering his past and envisioning the future. In an interview by Noël Simsolo published in 1987, Leone confirms the validity of this interpretation, saying that the scenes set in the 1960s could be seen as an opium dream of Noodles\'. In the DVD commentary for the film, film historian and critic Richard Schickel states that opium users often report vivid dreams, and that these visions have a tendency to explore the user\'s past and future.
The ending in which Max appears as Noodles is leaving Bailey\'s mansion and then suddenly disappears behind a truck only for Noodles to see the blades of the truck spinning, was reportedly left ambiguous on purpose. James Woods who played Max claimed that he does not know if Max jumped in the truck or just disappeared. Critic Carlo Affatigato described this twist as a \"paradox,\" postulating that the whole film is about how Noodles spends the second half of his life seeking out the truth of what happened, only to discover it, not accept it, and not investigate what happens to Max in the end. Noodles only wants to believe the reality he has created for himself, not an objective one. Affatigato also believes this could point to it all being the imagination of Noodles.
Many people (including Schickel) assume that the 1968 Frisbee scene, which has an immediate cut and gives no further resolution, was part of a longer sequence. Ebert stated that the purpose of the flying disc scene was to establish the 1960s time frame and nothing more.


# Once Upon a Time in America
### Accolades
- List of films cut over the director\'s opposition
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# King Kong (2005 film)
***King Kong*** is a 2005 epic adventure monster film co-written, produced, and directed by Peter Jackson. It is the eighth entry in the King Kong franchise and the second remake of the 1933 film of the same title, following the 1976 film. The film stars Andy Serkis, Naomi Watts, Jack Black, and Adrien Brody. Set in 1933, it follows the story of an ambitious filmmaker who coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island. There, they encounter prehistoric creatures and a legendary giant gorilla known as Kong, whom they capture and take to New York City. Filming for *King Kong* took place in New Zealand from September 2004 to March 2005. The project\'s budget climbed from an initial \$150 million to a then-record-breaking \$207 million.
It was released on December 14, 2005 in Germany and the United States, and made an opening of \$50.1 million. While it performed somewhat lower than expected, *King Kong* made domestic and worldwide grosses that eventually added up to \$562 million, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film in Universal Pictures history at the time and the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2005. It also generated \$100 million in DVD sales upon its home video release. *King Kong* garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, and appeared on several top ten lists for 2005. The film was praised for its special effects, performances, sense of spectacle and comparison to the 1933 original, though some criticisms were focused on its 3-hour long run time. It won three Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. A tie-in video game was released alongside the film, which also became a commercial and critical success.
In 1933, during the Great Depression, New York City actress Ann Darrow is hired by financially troubled filmmaker Carl Denham to star in a film with actor Bruce Baxter. Ann learns her favorite playwright, Jack Driscoll, is the screenwriter. Filming takes place on the SS *Venture*, under Captain Englehorn, and under Carl\'s pretense it will be sailing to Singapore. In truth, Carl intends to sail to and film the mysterious Skull Island. Captain Englehorn has second thoughts about the voyage, prompted by his crew\'s speculation of trouble ahead. On the voyage, Ann and Jack fall in love.


# King Kong (2005 film)
The *Venture* receives a radio message informing Englehorn there is a warrant for Carl\'s arrest due to his defiance of the studio\'s orders to cease production, and instructing Englehorn to divert to Rangoon, but the ship becomes lost in fog and runs aground on Skull Island. Carl and his film crew, including cameraman Herb, assistant Preston, and boom operator Mike, explore the island and are attacked by natives who kill Mike and another crewman. Englehorn intervenes to rescue the film crew, but as they make efforts to leave the waters, a native sneaks onto the ship and abducts Ann. The natives offer Ann as a sacrifice to King Kong, a ape. Jack notices Ann\'s disappearance, and the crew returns to the island, but are too late as Kong flees with Ann into the jungle. Carl manages to catch a glimpse of Kong and becomes determined to capture him on film.
Though initially terrified of her captor, Ann wins Kong over with her juggling and dancing skills and begins to grasp his intelligence and capacity for emotion. Englehorn organizes a rescue party, led by his first mate Hayes and Jack, and accompanied by Carl, Herb, Baxter and Preston. The party gets caught between a herd of Apatosaurus-like *Brontosaurus baxteri* and a pack of Utahraptor-like *Venatosaurus saevidicus* hunting them, with Herb and several other men killed in the resulting stampede. After this, Baxter leaves the group to return to the ship.
The remaining party members continue through the jungle when Kong attacks, making them fall into a ravine resulting in Hayes\' death and Carl losing his camera. Kong shortly rescues Ann from three theropod dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus-like *Vastatosaurus rex,* then takes her to his lair in the mountains. The remaining rescue party are attacked by giant insects and worms in the ravine resulting in the death of three more crew members, but Preston, Carl, Jack, and Hayes\' apprentice Jimmy are rescued by Baxter and Englehorn. Jack continues searching for Ann, while Carl decides to capture the beast. Jack goes to the beast\'s lair and accidentally awakens the beast but manages to escape with Ann. They arrive at the wall with the beast pursuing them. The beast attempts to get Ann back, killing several sailors, but is subdued when Carl knocks it out with chloroform.


# King Kong (2005 film)
In New York City around December, Carl presents \"Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World\" on Broadway, starring Baxter and an imprisoned Kong. Ann, who refused to take part in the performance, is played by an anonymous chorus girl. Agitated by the chorus girl not being Ann and flashes from cameras, the beast breaks free from the chains and wrecks the theater. Out on the city\'s streets and going on a rampage, Kong searches for Ann and chases Jack, before encountering Ann again. The U.S. Army soon attacks, and Kong tries getting Ann and itself to safety by climbing to the top of the Empire State Building, where it fights off six Navy planes. Despite managing to down three of them, Kong is mortally wounded from the planes\' gunfire and falls. As Jack reaches the top of the building to comfort and embrace Ann, civilians, policemen, and soldiers gather around the beast\'s corpse in the street, one bystander commenting the airplanes got him. Carl makes his way through the crowd, takes one last look at Kong and says, \"It wasn\'t the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.\"


# King Kong (2005 film)
- Andy Serkis as Kong (motion capture), a prehistoric ape who is around 100--150 years old. He is the last of his species, *Megaprimatus kong*.
  - Serkis also plays Lumpy, the ship\'s cook, barber, and surgeon. A brave sailor, he warns Denham about rumors he has heard about Skull Island and Kong.
- Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow, a struggling vaudeville actress who is desperate for work. Carl first meets her when she tries to steal an apple from a fruit stand. Further into the voyage, she falls in love with Jack and forms a special relationship with Kong.
- Jack Black as Carl Denham, a film director who obtained the map to Skull Island. Due to his debts, Carl starts to lose his moral compass and obsesses over his film to the point that he disregards safety.
- Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll, a screenwriter who falls in love with Ann. He unwittingly becomes part of the voyage when, while delivering a script to Denham, he is deliberately delayed by the latter before he can get off of the *Venture*. He is the only member of the crew who agrees with Ann that Kong should be left alone.
- Thomas Kretschmann as Captain Englehorn, the German captain of the *Venture*. Englehorn shows a dislike for Denham, presumably because of his obsessive nature.
- Colin Hanks as Preston, Denham\'s neurotic but honest personal assistant.
- Jamie Bell as Jimmy, a naive teenager who was found on the *Venture*, wild and abandoned.
- Evan Parke as Benjamin \"Ben\" Hayes, Englehorn\'s first mate and a mentor to Jimmy, who leads Ann\'s rescue mission because of his army training and combat experience gained during World War I.
- Lobo Chan as Choy, Lumpy\'s best friend and a janitor on the *Venture*.
- Kyle Chandler as Bruce Baxter, an actor who specializes in adventure films. He abandons Ann\'s rescue mission but brings Englehorn to rescue the search party from the insect pit, and is given credit for rescuing Ann during the Broadway display of Kong.
- John Sumner as Herb, Denham\'s loyal cameraman.
- Craig Hall as Mike, Denham\'s soundman for the journey.
- William Johnson as Manny, an elderly vaudevillian actor and colleague of Darrow.
- Mark Hadlow as Harry, a struggling vaudevillian actor.
- Jed Brophy and Todd Rippon appeared in the film as crew members.


# King Kong (2005 film)
In addition, director Jackson appears with makeup artist Rick Baker as the pilot and gunner on the airplane that kills the title character, his children appear as New York children, *The Lord of the Rings* co-producer Rick Porras and *The Shawshank Redemption* director Frank Darabont appear as a gunners in the other airplanes, and Bob Burns and his wife appear as New York bystanders. Frequent Jackson collaborator Howard Shore makes a cameo appearance as the conductor of the New York theater from where Kong escapes.
Watts, Black, and Brody were the first choices for their respective roles with no other actors considered. In preparation for her role, Watts met with the original Ann Darrow, Fay Wray. Jackson wanted Wray to make a cameo appearance and say the final line of dialogue, but she died during pre-production at 96 years old. Black was cast as Carl Denham based on his performance in the 2000 film *High Fidelity*, which had impressed Jackson. For inspiration, Black studied P. T. Barnum and Orson Welles. \"I didn\'t study Welles move for move. It was just to capture the spirit. Very reckless guy. I had tapes of him drunk off his ass.\" The native extras on Skull Island were portrayed by a mix of Asian, African, Maori and Polynesian actors sprayed with dark makeup to achieve a consistent pigmentation.
Model used in the production of the 2005 adaption of the King Kong series.

### Development
#### Earlier attempts and 1990s
Peter Jackson was nine years old when he first saw the 1933 film, and was in tears in front of the TV when Kong was shot and fell off the Empire State Building. At age 12, he attempted to recreate the film using his parents\' Super 8 mm film camera and a model of Kong made of wire and rubber with his mother\'s fur coat for the hair, but eventually gave up on the project. *King Kong* eventually became his favorite film and was the primary inspiration for his decision to become a filmmaker as a teenager. He read books about the making of *King Kong* and collected memorabilia, as well as articles from *Famous Monsters of Filmland*. Jackson paid tribute to the 1933 film by including Skull Island as the origin of the zombie plague in his 1992 film *Braindead*.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Development
#### Earlier attempts and 1990s
During the filming of Jackson\'s 1996 film *The Frighteners*, Universal Pictures was impressed with Jackson\'s dailies and early visual effects footage. The studio was adamant to work with Jackson on his next project and, in late 1995, offered him the chance to direct a remake of the 1954 film *Creature from the Black Lagoon*. He turned down the offer, but Universal became aware of Jackson\'s obsession with *King Kong* and subsequently offered him the opportunity to direct that remake. The studio did not have to worry about lawsuits concerning the film rights from RKO Pictures (the studio behind the 1933 film) because the King Kong character is held in the public domain. Jackson initially turned down the *King Kong* offer, but he \"quickly became disturbed by the fact that someone else would take it over,\" Jackson continued, \"and make it into a terrible film; that haunted me and I eventually said yes to Universal.\"


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Development
#### Earlier attempts and 1990s
At the same time, Jackson was working with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films to purchase the film rights of *The Hobbit* and *The Lord of the Rings*, while 20th Century Fox was trying to hire him for the 2001 remake of *Planet of the Apes*. Jackson turned down *Planet of the Apes* and because Weinstein was taking longer than expected to buy *The Lord of the Rings* rights, Jackson decided to move forward on *King Kong*. Weinstein was furious, and, as a result, Jackson proposed a deal between Universal and Miramax that the two studios would equally finance *King Kong* with Jackson\'s production company Wingnut Films. Universal would receive distribution rights in the United States, while Miramax would cover foreign territories. Jackson was also warranted the right of final cut privilege, a percentage of the gross profits, as well as artistic control; Universal allowed all filming and visual effects to be handled entirely in New Zealand. The deal was settled in April 1996, and Jackson, along with wife Fran Walsh, began working on the *King Kong* script. In the original draft, Ann was the daughter of famed English archaeologist Lord Linwood Darrow exploring ancient ruins in Sumatra. They would come into conflict with Denham during his filming, and they would uncover a hidden Kong statue and the map of Skull Island. This would indicate that the island natives were the last remnants of a cult religion that had once thrived on Asia\'s mainland. Instead of a playwright, Jack was the first mate and an ex-World War I fighter pilot still struggling with the loss of his best friend, who had been killed in battle during a World War I prologue. The camera-man Herb is the only supporting character in the original draft who made it to the final version. The fight between Kong and the three *V. rex* also changed from the original draft. In the draft, Ann is actually caught in the *V. rex* jaws, where she becomes wedged, and slashed by the teeth; after the fight, Kong gets her out but she is suffering from a fever, from which she then recovers.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Development
#### Earlier attempts and 1990s
Universal approved of the script with Robert Zemeckis as executive producer, and pre-production for *King Kong* commenced. The plan was to begin filming sometime in 1997 for a summer 1998 release date. Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, under the supervision of Richard Taylor and Christian Rivers, began work on early visual effects tests, specifically the complex task of building a CGI version of New York City circa 1933. Jackson and Walsh progressed with a second draft script, sets were being designed and location scouting commenced in Sumatra and New Zealand. In late 1996, Jackson flew to production of the 1997 film *Titanic* in Mexico to discuss the part of Ann Darrow with Kate Winslet, with whom he previously worked with on his 1994 film *Heavenly Creatures*. Minnie Driver was also being reportedly considered. Jackson\'s choices for Jack Driscoll and Carl Denham included George Clooney and Robert De Niro. However, development for *King Kong* was stalled in January 1997 when Universal became concerned over the upcoming release of the 1998 film *Godzilla*, as well as other ape-related remakes with the 1998 film *Mighty Joe Young* and the 2001 film *Planet of the Apes*. Universal abandoned *King Kong* in February 1997 after Weta Workshop and Weta Digital had already designed six months\' worth of pre-production. Jackson then decided to start work on *The Lord of the Rings* film series.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Development
#### Revival of the project
With the financial and critical success of the 2001 film *The Fellowship of the Ring* and the 2002 film *The Two Towers*, Universal approached Jackson in early 2003, during the post-production of *The Return of the King*, concerning his interest in restarting development on *King Kong*. In March 2003, Universal set a target December 2005 release date and Jackson and Walsh brought *The Lord of the Rings* co-writer Philippa Boyens on to help rewrite their 1996 script. Jackson offered New Line Cinema the opportunity to co-finance with Universal, but they declined. Universal and Jackson originally projected a \$150 million budget, which eventually rose to \$175 million. Jackson made a deal with Universal whereby he would be paid a \$20 million salary against 20% of the box office gross for directing, producing and co-writing. He shared that fee with co-writers Walsh (which also covered her producing credit) and Boyens. However, if *King Kong* were to go over its \$175 million budget, the penalties would be covered by Jackson.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Development
#### Revival of the project
Immediately after the completion of *The Return of the King*, Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, supervised by Taylor, Rivers, and Joe Letteri, started pre-production on *King Kong*. Jackson brought back most of the crew he had on *The Lord of the Rings* series, including cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, production designer Grant Major, art directors Simon Bright and Dan Hennah, conceptual designer Alan Lee, and editor Jamie Selkirk. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens began to write a new script in late October 2003. Jackson acknowledged that he was highly unsatisfied with the original 1996 script. \"That was actually just Fran and Peter very hurriedly getting something down on paper\", Boyens explained. \"It was more one of many possible ways the story could go.\" The writers chose to base the new screenplay on the 1933 film rather than the 1996 script. They also included scenes from James Ashmore Creelman\'s screenplay that were either abandoned or omitted during production of the original film. In the scene where Kong shakes the surviving sailors pursuing Ann and himself from a log into the ravine, for example, directors Merian Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack originally intended to depict giant spiders emerging from the rock to devour their bodies. This was cut from the original release print, and remains known to *Kong* fans only via a rare still that appeared in *Famous Monsters of Filmland*. Jackson included this scene and elaborated upon it. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens also cited Delos W. Lovelace\'s 1932 novelisation of *King Kong* as inspiration, which included the character Lumpy (Andy Serkis). To make the relationship between Ann Darrow and Kong plausible, the writers studied hours of gorilla footage. Jackson also optioned *Early Havoc*, a memoir written by vaudeville performer June Havoc to help Walsh and Boyens flesh out Ann Darrow\'s characterisation. Carl Denham was intentionally modeled after and inspired by Orson Welles. Their new draft was finished in February 2004.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Filming
Principal photography started on September 6, 2004 at Camperdown Studios in Miramar, New Zealand. Camperdown housed the native village and the Great Wall, while the streets of New York City were constructed on its backlot and at Gracefield in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. The majority of the SS *Venture* scenes were shot aboard a full-scale deck constructed in the parking lot at Camperdown Studio and then were backed with a green screen, with the ocean digitally added in post. Scenes set in the Broadway theater from which King Kong makes his escape were filmed in Wellington\'s Opera House and at the Auckland Civic Theatre. Filming also took place at Stone Street Studios, where a new sound stage was constructed to accommodate one of the sets. Over the course of filming the budget went from \$175 million to \$207 million over additional visual effects work needed, and Jackson extending the film\'s running time by thirty minutes. Jackson covered the \$32 million surplus himself and finished filming in March 2005.
The film\'s budget climbed from an initial US\$150 million to a then-record-breaking \$207 million and received a subsidy of \$34 million from New Zealand, making it at one point the most expensive film yet made. Universal only agreed to such an outlay after seeing a screening of the unfinished film, to which executives responded enthusiastically. Marketing and promotion costs were an estimated \$60 million. The film\'s length also grew; originally set to be 135 minutes, it soon grew to 200, prompting Universal executives to fly to New Zealand to view a rough cut, but they liked it so their concerns were addressed.
Other difficulties included Peter Jackson\'s decision to change composers from Howard Shore to James Newton Howard seven weeks before the film opened.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Visual effects
Andy Serkis in his Kong bodysuit
Jackson saw *King Kong* as opportunity for technical innovations in motion capture, commissioning Christian Rivers of Weta Digital to supervise all aspects of Kong\'s performance. Jackson decided early on that he did not want Kong to behave like a human, and so he and his team studied hours of gorilla footage. Serkis was cast in the title role in April 2003 and prepared himself by working with gorillas at the London Zoo. He then traveled to Rwanda, observing the actions and behaviors of gorillas in the wild. Rivers explained that the detailed facial performance capture with Serkis was accomplished because of the similarities between human and gorilla faces. \"Gorillas have such a similar looking set of eyes and brows, you can look at those expressions and transpose your own interpretation onto them.\" Photos of silverback gorillas were also superimposed on Kong\'s image in the early stages of animation. Serkis had to go through two hours of motion capture makeup every day, having 135 small markers attached to different spots on his face. Following principal photography, Serkis had to spend an additional two months on a motion capture stage, miming Kong\'s movements for the film\'s digital animators.
Apart from Kong, Skull Island is inhabited by dinosaurs and other large fauna. Inspired by Dougal Dixon\'s works, the designers imagined what 65 million years or more of isolated evolution might have done to dinosaurs and the other creatures.
***King Kong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack*** was composed by James Newton Howard, who composed *The Sixth Sense*, *Dinosaur*, *Atlantis: The Lost Empire* and *Treasure Planet*. Originally, Howard Shore, who worked with Peter Jackson on *The Lord of the Rings*, was to compose the film\'s score. Shore completed and recorded several cues before he and Jackson parted ways. Shore\'s appearance as the conductor in the New York theatre from which Kong escapes remained in the film.
James Newton Howard\'s score was later nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Visual effects
The film\'s soundtrack includes Al Jolson\'s recording of \"I\'m Sitting on Top of the World\", Peggy Lee\'s \"Bye Bye Blackbird\", and some themes from Max Steiner\'s soundtrack for the original 1933 film.
The marketing campaign started in full swing on June 27, 2005, when the teaser trailer made its debut, first online at the official Volkswagen website at 8:45 p.m. EDT, then 8:55 p.m. EDT across media outlets owned by NBCUniversal (the parent of Universal Studios), including NBC, Bravo!, CNBC, and MSNBC. That trailer appeared in theatres attached to *War of the Worlds*, which opened on June 29.
Jackson also regularly published a series of \'Production Diaries\', which chronicled the film\'s production. The diaries started shortly after the DVD release of *The Return of the King* as a way to give Jackson\'s *The Lord of the Rings* fans a glimpse of his next project. These diaries are edited into broadband-friendly installments of three or four minutes each. They consist of features that would normally be seen in a making-of documentary: a tour of the set, a roving camera introducing key players behind the scene, a peek inside the sound booth during last-minute dubbing, or Andy Serkis doing his ape movements in a motion capture studio.
A novelisation of the film and a prequel novel entitled *King Kong: The Island of the Skull* were also written. A multi-platform video game, entitled *Peter Jackson\'s King Kong*, was released, which featured an alternate ending. There was also a hardback book entitled *The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island*, featuring artwork from Weta Workshop to describe the film\'s fictional wildlife.
Jackson has expressed his desire to remaster the film in 3-D at some point in the future. Jackson was also seen shooting with a 3-D camera at times during the shoot of *King Kong*.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Box office
The billboard at the Odeon Leicester Square premiere
In North America, *King Kong* grossed \$9,755,745 during its Wednesday opening and \$50,130,145 over its first weekend for a five-day total of \$66,181,645 from around 7,500 screens at 3,568 theaters. Some analysts considered these initial numbers disappointing, saying that studio executives had been expecting more. The film went on to gross \$218,080,025 in the North American market and ended up in the top five highest-grossing films of the year there. The film grossed an additional \$344,283,424 at the box office in other regions for a worldwide total of \$562,363,449, which not only ranked it in the top five highest-grossing films of 2005 worldwide, but also helped the film bring back more than two-and-a-half times its production budget.
During its home video release, *King Kong* sold over \$100 million worth of DVDs in the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history. *King Kong* sold more than 7.6 million DVDs, accumulating nearly \$194 million worth of sales numbers in the North American market alone. As of June 25, 2006, *King Kong* has generated almost \$38 million from DVD rental gross. In February 2006, TNT/TBS and ABC paid Universal Studios \$26.5 million for the television rights to the film.

### Critical response
*King Kong* received positive reviews from critics. On aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 267 reviews, with an average rating of 7.68/10. The site\'s critical consensus reads, \"Featuring state-of-the-art special effects, terrific performances, and a majestic sense of spectacle, Peter Jackson\'s remake of *King Kong* is a potent epic that\'s faithful to the spirit of the 1933 original.\" On Metacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating \"universal acclaim\". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of \"A--\" on an A+ to F scale.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Critical response
It was placed on the \'top ten\' lists of several critics, with Roger Ebert giving it four stars, and listed it as 2005\'s eighth-best film. The film received four Academy Award nominations, for Visual Effects, Sound Mixing (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek), Sound Editing, and Production Design, winning all but the last. *Entertainment Weekly* called the depiction of Kong the most convincing computer-generated character in film in 2005. Some criticised the film for retaining racist stereotypes that had been present in the 1933 film, though it was not suggested that Jackson had done this intentionally. *King Kong* ranks 450th on *Empire* magazine\'s 2008 list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. *The Guardian* reviewer Peter Bradshaw said that it \"certainly equals, and even exceeds, anything Jackson did in *Lord of the Rings*.\" However, Charlie Brooker, also of *The Guardian*, gave a negative review in which he describes the film as \"sixteen times more overblown and histrionic than necessary\".

### Accolades
`Award`
`Subject`
`Nominee`
`Result`
`Academy Awards`
Best Art Direction
Grant Major, Dan Hennah, and Simon Bright
Best Sound Editing
Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
Best Sound Mixing
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek
Best Visual Effects
Joe Letteri, Brian Van\'t Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor
British Academy Film Awards
Best Special Visual Effects
Joe Letteri, Brian Van\'t Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor
Best Production Design
Grant Major
Best Sound
Hammond Peek, Christopher Boyes, Mike Hopkins, and Ethan Van der Ryn
Golden Globe Awards
Best Director
Peter Jackson
Best Original Score
James Newton Howard
Saturn Award
Best Fantasy Film
Best Director
Peter Jackson
Best Writing
Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson
Best Actress
Naomi Watts
Best Costume
Terry Ryan
Best Make-Up
Richard Taylor, Gino Acevedo, Dominie Till, and Peter King
Best Special Effects
Joe Letteri, Brian Van\'t Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor
Visual Effects Society
Outstanding Visual Effects in anEffects Driven Motion Picture
Joe Letteri, Eileen Moran, Christian Rivers, and Eric Saindon
Outstanding Performance by an AnimatedCharacter in a Live Action Motion Picture


# King Kong (2005 film)
### Accolades
Andy Serkis, Christian Rivers, Atsushi Sato, and Guy Williams
Outstanding Created Environment in aLive Action Motion Picture
Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, Matt Aitken, and Charles Tait
Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture
Erik Winquist, Michaell Pangrazio, Steve Cronin, and Suzanne Jandu
- Jack Black and critics have noted Carl Denham\'s similarity to Orson Welles.
- When Driscoll is searching for a place to sleep in the animal storage hold, a box behind him reads *Sumatran Rat Monkey -- Beware the bite!* This is a reference to the creature that causes mayhem in Jackson\'s 1992 film *Braindead*. In that film, the rat monkey is described as being found only on Skull Island.
- Jimmy reads part of Joseph Conrad\'s *Heart of Darkness* while en route to Skull Island, at one point comparing their journey to that of the novella.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### References to original 1933 *King Kong*
- Fay Wray, the original Ann Darrow, was asked by Jackson to appear in a brief cameo role in which she would utter the film\'s final line: \"It was beauty killed the beast.\" At first, she flatly refused, but then seemed to consider the possibility. However, she died shortly after her meeting with Jackson. As in the original film, the line ultimately went to the character of Carl Denham.
- An ad for Universal is visible while Kong is tearing up Times Square. In the 1933 film, an ad for Columbia Pictures appeared in the same spot, and the production designers replicated it, but Columbia asked for a large amount of money for its use, so effects artists replaced it.
- When Denham is considering who to play the part before meeting Ann, he suggests \"Fay\", but his assistant Preston replies, \"She\'s doing a picture with RKO.\" Music from the 1933 film is heard, and Denham mutters, \"Cooper, huh? I might have known.\" Fay Wray starred in the 1933 film, which was directed by Merian C. Cooper and released by RKO. At the time she was performing in another Cooper/Schoedsack production, *The Most Dangerous Game* with Robert Armstrong.
- In the 1933 film, Cooper made up an \"Arabian proverb\" about \"beauty and beast\". The 2005 remake repeats the fake proverb.
- Early in this film, Denham shoots a scene for his film in which Ann, in-character, proclaims she\'s never been on a ship before, and Bruce Baxter improvises lines proclaiming annoyance. The dialogue they exchange is taken verbatim from early scenes between Ann and Jack Driscoll in the 1933 film. Ironically, in this film, Jack Driscoll expresses disapproval of such words toward Ann.
- Kong\'s New York stage appearance looks very much like a re-enactment of the 1933 film\'s sacrifice scene, including the posts the \'beauty\' is tied to and the nearly identical performance, costumes, and blackface makeup of the dancers. In addition, the music played by the orchestra during that scene is Max Steiner\'s original score for the 1933 film.
- The battle between Kong and the final *V. rex* is almost move-for-move like the last half of the fight between Kong and the *T. rex* in the 1933 film, right down to Kong playing with the dinosaur\'s broken jaw and then standing, beating his chest and roaring victoriously.
- After the crew captures Kong on the beach, Denham speaks a line from the 1933 film: \"*The whole world will pay to see this! We\'re millionaires, boys! I\'ll share it with all of you. In a few months, his name will be up in lights on Broadway! KONG, THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD!*\"


# King Kong (2005 film)
### References to original 1933 *King Kong*
*King Kong* was released on DVD on March 28, 2006 in the United States and Canada. The three versions that came out are a single-disc fullscreen, a single-disc widescreen, and a two-disc \'Widescreen Special Edition\'.
A three-disc Deluxe Extended Edition was released on November 14, 2006 in the U.S., and on November 3 in Australia. Twelve minutes were reinserted into the film, and an additional forty minutes included with the rest of the special features. The film was spread onto the first two discs with commentary by Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens, and some featurettes on discs one and two, whilst the main special features are on disc three. Another set was released, including a WETA figurine of a bullet-ridden Kong scaling the Empire State Building, roaring at the Navy with Ann in hand. The extended film amounts to 200 total minutes.
A special HD DVD version of *King Kong* was part of a promotional pack for the release of the external HD DVD Drive for the Xbox 360. The pack contained the HD DVD drive, the Universal Media Remote and *King Kong* on HD DVD. It was also available separately as a standard HD DVD. The film\'s theatrical and extended cuts were released together on Blu-ray Disc on January 20, 2009. A re-release of the Blu-Ray with a new bonus disc containing nearly all of the extras from the 2-disc Special Edition DVD, the Deluxe Extended Edition 3-disc DVD, and the \"Peter Jackson\'s Production Diaries\" 2-disc DVD titled the \"Ultimate Edition\" was released on February 7, 2017. An Ultra HD Blu-ray followed in July 2017.


# King Kong (2005 film)
### References to original 1933 *King Kong*
In March 2021, Adam Wingard said in an interview that back in 2013, Peter Jackson had been interested in producing a sequel to the film, titled *Skull Island*, with Wingard as director and Simon Barrett writing it. Jackson had been impressed with Wingard\'s work in *You\'re Next*, and investigated a potential sequel. However, the King Kong rights had already been transferred to Warner Bros. by 2013, which complicated a sequel to a Universal-produced movie. Wingard says that Jackson was thinking of setting the proposed movie during World War I, which would make it a prequel, but that the studio was uninterested in a World War I era film. Wingard pivoted to offering a modern day sequel, but ultimately nothing came of the proposal.
Ultimately, Warner Bros. rebooted the franchise with *Kong: Skull Island* in 2017, which was part of the MonsterVerse. Wingard would later direct 2021\'s *Godzilla vs. Kong*, another film set in the MonsterVerse.
The Universal Orlando Resort location Islands of Adventure features an attraction called \"Skull Island: Reign of Kong\" which is based on Peter Jackson\'s remake. While the King Kong part of the Universal Studios Hollywood resort was destroyed by massive fire, a 3D short inspired by the film was eventually created in 2010. This was King Kong: 360 3-D, which is another attraction based on Peter Jackson\'s remake.
- List of most expensive films


# Les Maîtres du temps
***Les Maîtres du temps*** (lit. *The Masters of Time*, a.k.a. *Time Masters*, *Herrscher der Zeit* in German, *Az idő urai* in Hungarian) is a 1982 Franco-West German-Swiss-British-Hungarian animated science fiction feature film directed by René Laloux and designed by Mœbius. It is based on the 1958 science fiction novel *L\'Orphelin de Perdide* (*The Orphan of Perdide*) by Stefan Wul.
The film centres on a boy, Piel, who is stranded on Perdide, a desert planet where giant killer hornets live. He awaits rescue by the space pilot Jaffar, the exiled prince Matton, his sister Belle and Jaffar\'s old friend Silbad who are trying to reach Perdide and save Piel before it is too late.
A man named Claude is driving a six-wheeled, insect-like vehicle over the desert surface of Perdide very fast. He attempts to communicate with Jaffar, saying that \"they attacked\" and that \"Annie is dead.\" After a crash that wrecks his vehicle, he lets his son Piel down from the wreckage; he cannot extricate himself. Piel is too young to comprehend the red and white, ovoid interstellar transceiver that Claude hands him. So Claude tells him that it is named \"Mike\" and will talk to him, and to do whatever Mike tells him to do, but first to run to a coral-like forest and stay within it. After Piel has reached the forest, the crashed vehicle explodes.


# Les Maîtres du temps
Jaffar is piloting a spacecraft, the *Double Triangle 22*. He plans to reach Perdide by being pulled along by the gravitational field of the Blue Comet. But he\'s several planetary systems away, and does not go directly to Perdide or the Blue Comet. Instead he heads for a planet where his friend Silbad resides, as Silbad has experience of living on Perdide. Jaffar\'s passengers, Prince Matton and his sister, Princess Belle, have been deposed from their planet; they bring with them a treasure the Prince took along to fund his restoration. Matton is not at all happy about being diverted and makes no attempt to hide his displeasure; throughout he is depicted as a lazy, arrogant and deceitful individual.
Each contacts Piel with the transceiver; when they meet Silbad, he sings Piel a song as well, as does the Princess. Whilst on Silbad\'s planet, they witness the metamorphosis of a water-lily like organism into dozens of empathic, sentient, primary coloured homunculi, two of whom, named Yula and Jad, stow away on Jaffar\'s spacecraft seeking adventure. Unknown to the Prince, Yula and Jad play with and then dispose of the treasure via the airlock.
When Matton speaks with Piel, he nearly convinces the trusting boy to drown himself in a lake, but is discovered by Belle, who stuns him with a pistol weapon and talks Piel to safety.
In order to rendezvous with the Blue Comet, Jaffar pilots his craft to the planet Gamma 10. Prince Matton escapes in a shuttlecraft to the surface of Gamma 10, which is inhabited by faceless, identical white male angels. They capture both Matton and Jaffar, who followed in a space lifeboat. The men will be thrown into the living, thinking amorphous being which controls the planet. Although they are unable to rescue Jaffar, Yula and Jad are able to forewarn him of the fate intended for the captives: they are to become one with the controlling being, dominated entirely by it, losing all sense of individuality in the process and becoming one of the angel-beings.


# Les Maîtres du temps
They instruct Jaffar to resist being assimilated with all the hate and contempt he can muster. When Jaffar tells the Prince to do so as well, Matton leaps into the being and does so, not only destroying it and the building but causing the skin and wings of all the angels to peel away to reveal that they were originally scruffy spacemen reminiscent of pirates. Rescued from the surface of Gamma 10 by Yula and Jad, the freed captives are taken to the *Double Triangle 22*, where they are given food and drink, and the presence of their minds cause comical problems for Yula and Jad.
Thereby Jaffar acquires a crew of misfits on the journey to Perdide. Meanwhile, Piel befriends a large, but harmless creature, a hyponiterix, which puts the young boy on his back and carries him along with it. Soon afterwards, aboard the ship, a patrol cruiser of the Interplanetary Reform catches up with the *Double Triangle 22*, pursuing the fleeing royals and the treasure the now-deceased Prince stole. Jaffar considers that the \'pirates\' from Gamma 10 should be able to hijack the Reform cruiser and take it for themselves. During the discussion of this plan, one of rescued beings from Gamma 10, Onyx the Digeed of Gnaz, is revealed to be able to change his shape to resemble any other object. Onyx will impersonate the missing treasure, allowing the escapees to access the Reformist ship.
Jaffar\'s vessel is boarded by massive numbers of troops, and as he presents his \"captured\" pirates and the \"treasure\" to the commander of the other vessel, none of the *Double Triangle 22*\'s crew is able to converse with Piel, who begins to wander without supervision. Aboard Jaffar\'s ship there is congratulation as the docking tube between the two vessels retracts, and they speculate on how long it will take the pirates to take control of the military vessel. The military have overlooked the presence of Belle aboard ship, and in fact only seem interested in the treasure itself, rather than the fugitives.


# Les Maîtres du temps
Realising they have lost contact with Piel, the crew attempt to contact him, but this is now impossible: traveling with his native companion, Piel has lost his transceiver (and his companion) inside a cave filled with predatory hanging tentacles. He wanders, despondent, back to the lakeside, which takes him out of the forest his father had instructed him to stay within.
The *Double Triangle 22* closes on her destination, but the planet is being transported through time by a bizarre race of aliens known only as the Masters of Time. Perdide and everything on it, including Piel, is sent back 60 years through time. The effect of time travel means that aboard the approaching *Double Triangle 22*, the starfield appears to go into flux, and the unprotected crew are knocked unconscious.
They awake in a vast space-station, two halves of a bisected sphere the size of a planet, surrounded by a constantly rotating cube described by vast luminous edges. The crew have been treated for exposure to the time-travel area, but Silbad is dying. Yula and Jad, telepathically, reveal how Piel, sent back to the past with the entire planet, was attacked again by the creatures which killed his mother, losing part of his skull before a passing spacefarer who was investigating this suddenly appearing planet, came to his rescue. Silbad, when first describing Perdide to Jaffar and Belle, had revealed a metal plate on his head to repair the damage of this attack, but never demonstrated explicit knowledge of Piel, his parents\' death, or time travel.
It is now obvious to Jaffar and Belle that Silbad and Piel are one and the same person at different points in their life, which ends shortly thereafter as the unconscious old man dies. He is \"buried\" in space, and his funeral is observed by one of the Masters of Time; a tall luminous-green biped with a drooping, beak-like snout.

### Differences from the novel
The motion picture story is based on the novel *L\'Orphelin de Perdide* (1958) by the French writer Stefan Wul.
In the original novel, the character of Piel was also named Claude, like his father. Laloux changed this to distinguish father and son.


# Les Maîtres du temps
### Differences from the novel
- Jean Valmont as Jaffar
- Michel Elias as Silbad
- Frédéric Legros as Piel
- Yves-Marie Maurin as Matton (credited as Yves-Marie)
- Monique Thierry as Belle
- Sady Rebbot as Claude
- Patrick Baujin as Jad
- Pierre Tourneur as Yula
- Alain Cuny as Xul
- Yves Brainville as Général
- Michel Barbey as Igor

### English voice cast
- Ray Brooks
The BBC (who were co-producers) aired an English-language dubbed version in 1987 and 1991 called ***Time Masters***, featuring, amongst others, the voice of Ray Brooks.
Directed by René Laloux, the film was produced largely at the Pannonia Film Studio in Hungary. The visual design was based on the art of Mœbius, otherwise known as Jean Giraud.
Several versions have been released on DVD:
- A French edition (ASIN: B00017O6KM, 2 disc collectors edition) which was released in 2004 and has no English subtitles.
- A German edition (ASIN: B004C5L4X6, single disc edition) released on 11 November 2010 and another German edition (ASIN: B001I9ZML4, single disc edition) released on 3 November 2008.
- The out of print single disc edition released in the US in 2000 (ASIN: B00004S8A2) is in French with English subtitles.
- UK distributor Eureka! released a restored, wide-screen and English-subtitled version of the film as part of its Masters of Cinema series on 22 October 2007.
- Causal loop
- List of animated feature films


# Cocoon (film)
***Cocoon*** is a 1985 American science fiction comedy-drama film directed by Ron Howard and written by Tom Benedek from a story by David Saperstein. The film stars Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, and Linda Harrison, and follows a group of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens.
The film was shot in and around St. Petersburg, Florida, with locations including the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, Suncoast Manor Retirement Community, the Coliseum, and Snell Arcade buildings. The film earned Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Don Ameche) and Best Visual Effects, and was followed by the sequel *Cocoon: The Return* in 1988, in which almost all of the original cast reprised their roles.
About 10,000 years ago, peaceful aliens from the planet Antarea set up an outpost on Earth on Atlantis. When Atlantis sank, twenty aliens were left behind, kept alive in large rock-like cocoons at the bottom of the ocean. Now, a group of Antareans have returned to collect them. Disguising themselves as humans, they rent a house with a swimming pool and charge the water with \"life force\" to give the cocooned Antareans energy to survive the trip home. They charter a boat from a local captain named Jack, who helps them retrieve the cocoons. Jack spies on Kitty, a beautiful woman from the team who chartered his boat, while she undresses in her cabin, and discovers that she is an alien. After the aliens reveal themselves to him and explain what\'s going on, he decides to help them.
Next door to the house the Antareans are renting is a retirement home. Three of its residents, Ben, Arthur, and Joe, often trespass to swim in the pool next door. They absorb some of the life force, making them feel younger and stronger. Eventually caught in the act, they are given permission to use the pool by the Antarean leader, Walter, on the condition that they do not touch the cocoons or tell anybody else about it. Rejuvenated with youthful energy, the three men begin to let the advantages of the pool take hold as they are relieved of their ailments.


# Cocoon (film)
Meanwhile, Kitty and Jack grow closer and decide to make love in the pool. Since she cannot do so in the human manner, she introduces him to the Antarean equivalent, in which she shares her lifeforce energy with him.
The other retirement home residents become suspicious after witnessing Ben\'s wife Mary climb a tree. Their friend Bernie reveals the secret of the pool to the other residents, who rush to the pool to swim in its waters. When Walter finds them damaging one of the cocoons he ejects them from the property. The Antereans open the damaged cocoon, and the creature inside shares his last moments with Walter, who begins to cry as he dies. Later that evening, Bernie finds his wife Rose has stopped breathing and carries her body to the pool in an attempt to heal her, only to be informed by Walter that the pool no longer works due to the other residents draining the force in the rush to make themselves young.
Walter explains that the cocoons can\'t survive the trip back to Antarea, but will be able to survive on Earth. With the help of Jack, Ben, Arthur and Joe, the Antareans return the cocoons to the sea. The Antareans offer to take residents of the retirement home with them to Antarea, where they will never grow older and never die. Most of them accept the offer, but Bernie chooses to remain on Earth.
Upon leaving, Ben tells his grandson David that he and Mary are leaving for good. As the residents are leaving, David\'s mother Susan finds out about their destination and quickly drives to the retirement home, where they find the majority of the rooms vacant and contact local authorities.
While the police are searching for the residents, David notices Jack\'s boat, with the Antareans and the retirement residents aboard, starting and jumps onto the side as it pulls away. The boat is being chased by the Coast Guard, so with little time left, David says a tearful goodbye to Ben and Mary before jumping off into the water. The Coast Guard boats stop to pick him up, giving the others a chance to get away. Out of nowhere, a thick fog appears and strands the remaining Coast Guard boats and they call off the chase.


# Cocoon (film)
As the Antarean ship appears, Walter pays Jack for his services and the boat. Jack embraces Kitty for the last time and they share a kiss. He then says farewell to everyone before jumping into an inflatable raft as the boat starts rising up into the Antarean vessel. Jack watches as the boat disappears inside the ship and departs.
Back on earth, a funeral is held for the missing residents. During the sermon, David looks toward the sky and smiles. The film ends with the Antarean vessel going towards a bright-looking object, assumed to be a hyperspace entrance or portal, leading to Antarea.
- Don Ameche as Art Selwyn
- Wilford Brimley as Ben Luckett
- Hume Cronyn as Joe Finley
- Brian Dennehy as Walter
- Jack Gilford as Bernie Lefkowitz
- Steve Guttenberg as Jack Bonner
- Maureen Stapleton as Mary Luckett
- Jessica Tandy as Alma Finley
- Gwen Verdon as Bess McCarthy
- Herta Ware as Rose Lefkowitz
- Tahnee Welch as Kitty
- Barret Oliver as David
- Linda Harrison as Susan
- Tyrone Power Jr. as Pillsbury
- Clint Howard as John Dexter
- Charles Lampkin as Pops
- Mike Nomad as Doc
- Jorge Gil as Lou Pine
- Rance Howard as St. Petersburg detective
- James Ritz as DMV clerk
- Peter Cody as boy in nursing home lobby
- Jim Fitzpatrick as Dock Worker (uncredited)
Casting for the film and its sequel was overseen by casting director Beverly McDermott.
Robert Zemeckis was originally hired as director, and spent a year working on it in development. He was at the time directing *Romancing the Stone*, another film for the same studio, 20th Century Fox. Fox executives previewed *Romancing the Stone* before its release in 1984 and hated it. That, in addition to his two previous directorial efforts, *I Wanna Hold Your Hand* and *Used Cars*, both being commercial failures (though critically acclaimed) led the studio to fire Zemeckis as director of *Cocoon*. He was replaced with Ron Howard. (*Romancing the Stone* turned out to be a huge commercial success and gave Zemeckis the chance to work on *Back to the Future*, which had previously been turned down by every major studio, as the director and screenwriter of the film.)


# Cocoon (film)
Location filming took place in St. Petersburg, Florida, between August 20 and November 1, 1984.
Wilford Brimley was only 49 when he was cast as a senior citizen, and turned 50 during filming; he was as much as 26 years younger than the actors playing the other elderly characters. In order to look the part, Brimley bleached his hair and moustache to turn them gray, and had wrinkles and liver spots drawn on his face.
The score for *Cocoon* was composed and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released twice, through Polydor Records in 1985 and a reprint through P.E.G. in 1997 and features eleven tracks of score and a vocal track performed by Michael Sembello. Despite the reprint, it is still considered a rarity among soundtrack collectors. Ron Howard directed the music video for \"Gravity,\" and also has a cameo appearance as himself, investigating Sembello\'s \"disappearance.\" \"Gravity\" was Howard\'s first, and to date, only music video.
1.  \"Through the Window\" (2:54)
2.  \"The Lovemaking\" (4:21)
3.  \"The Chase\" (4:27)
4.  \"Rose\'s Death\" (2:10)
5.  \"The Boys are Out\" (2:35)
6.  \"Returning to Sea\" (4:13)
7.  \"Gravity\" (4:52) - written and performed by Michael Sembello
8.  \"Discovered in the Poolhouse\" (2:45)
9.  \"First Tears\" (1:49)
10. \"Sad Goodbyes\" (2:22)
11. \"The Ascension\" (5:55)
12. \"Theme from *Cocoon*\" (6:03)
In 2013, Intrada Records released an expanded and remastered edition.


# Cocoon (film)
The film received mostly positive critical reception. Commented *The New York Times*\' Janet Maslin, \"Mr. Howard brings a real sweetness to his subject, as does the film\'s fine cast of veteran stars; he has also given *Cocoon* the bright, expansive look of a hot-weather hit. And even when the film begins to falter, as it does in its latter sections, Mr. Howard\'s touch remains reasonably steady. He does the most he can with material that, after an immensely promising opening, heads into the predictable territory of Spielberg-inspired beatific science fiction.\" *Variety* called it \"a fountain of youth fable which imaginatively melds galaxy fantasy with the lives of aging mortals in a Florida retirement home and weaves a mesmerizing tale.\" The film holds a 75% \"Fresh\" rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 32 critics. The critical consensus reads, \"Though it may be too sentimental for some, Ron Howard\'s supernatural tale of eternal youth is gentle and heartwarming, touching on poignant issues of age in the process.\" Metacritic gave the film a score of 65 based on 18 reviews, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\".
The film was also a box office hit, making over \$76 million in North America where it became the sixth highest-grossing film of 1985.

### Accolades
**Academy Awards**
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Don Ameche in 1985
- Best Visual Effects in 1985 (David Berry, Scott Farrar, Ralph McQuarrie and Ken Ralston).
**Saturn Awards**
- Best Director, Ron Howard - Won
- Best Science Fiction Film - Nominated
- Best Actor, Hume Cronyn - Nominated
- Best Actress, Jessica Tandy - Nominated
- Best Supporting Actress, Gwen Verdon - Nominated
- Best Writing, Tom Benedek - Nominated
- Best Music, James Horner - Nominated
**Other honors**
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2006: AFI\'s 100 Years\...100 Cheers -- Nominated
- 2008: AFI\'s 10 Top 10:
  - Nominated Science Fiction Film
- D.A.R.Y.L


# Cat City
***Cat City*** () is a 1986 Hungarian animated comic science fiction film, directed by Béla Ternovszky and written by József Nepp. The title *Cat City* was used in the United States distribution. The film was selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 59th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
The film opens with a Star Wars opening crawl, which explains the film\'s premise: *In year 80 AM (Anno Mickey Mouse), the mice of Planet X are threatened by humiliation and total apocalypse. The well-organized, fully equipped gangs of evil cats are aiming for the total obliteration of mice, not caring for the old conventions between mice and cats. But in the last moment, when the mouse leaders are beginning to consider leaving the planet, a new hope rises\...*
The film is a parody of several famous feature films, mainly the James Bond series. It tells the story of a special agent who is sent to the city of \"Pokyo\" to obtain the secret plans of a machine which could save mouse society. Of course, the cats don\'t want this to happen, and send some rat gangsters to stop him, who don\'t always prove as efficient as they initially seem.
.
The film was made on a limited budget of about 3 million USD, with the characters drawn and animated by hand, while objects and backgrounds were derived from 3D models and computer simulation. The visual world of the film is said to be influenced by the Matrix trilogy and Sin City, but softened for a younger audience. The former working title of Cat City 2 was retained as the final subtitle: \"Cat of Satan\", which would be translated literally as \"The Tabby of the Baskervilles\" if translated into English in its original context. The project was led by the original Nepp and Ternovszky duo, who directed the first film.


# Cat City
The story of Cat City 2 centers around an investigative journalist named Stanley Mouse, who wants to find out about the legend of an ancient \"cat tribe\" lost in Africa. He finds them and much more, once again threatening the continued existence of mouse civilization. Special Agent Grabowsky will act to save the day, however. The events are supposed to take place some 20 years after the first episode, as one of the already leaked cells shows the titular Cat-Catcher mecha rusting away in a shelter, and a grown-up child of some character appears in the plot.
Premiering on December 20, 2007, by January 2008 it had made the Hungarian Box Office Top Ten for 6 consecutive weeks.
- List of animated feature films
- *Vuk*, another famous Hungarian animated film
- List of submissions to the 59th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Hungarian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film


# The Prince & Me
***The Prince & Me*** is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, and starring Julia Stiles, Luke Mably and Ben Miller, with Miranda Richardson, James Fox and Alberta Watson. The film focuses on Paige Morgan, a pre-med college student in Wisconsin, who is pursued by a prince posing as an ordinary college student. The film had 3 direct-to-video sequels created under different writers and a new director, with Kam Heskin replacing Julia Stiles in the role of Paige Morgan: *The Prince & Me 2: The Royal Wedding* (2006), *The Prince & Me: A Royal Honeymoon* (2008), and *The Prince & Me: The Elephant Adventure* (2010).
Paige Morgan is an ambitious pre-medical student at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Denmark\'s Crown Prince Edvard prefers to live the life of a playboy, and when with his family often ignores or marginalizes his royal responsibilities.
Inspired by a television commercial showing Wisconsin co-eds flashing their breasts, Edvard meets with his parents, King Haraald and Queen Rosalind, and announces his intention to attend college in America---specifically, Wisconsin, and to do so anonymously. The Queen then dispatches Edvard\'s majordomo, Søren, to chaperone the trip. Arriving at the university, Edvard orders Søren to keep his identity a secret and to call him \'Eddie\'.
Later at a bar, Eddie sees Paige serving and asks her to take off her shirt, like on television. Paige angrily drenches Eddie with the drink hose and bouncers escort Eddie from the bar. Eddie later apologizes to Paige, but she is annoyed when they are assigned as lab partners for an organic chemistry class. Since the class is important for Paige\'s medical school ambitions, she warns Eddie to not get in her way and reprimands him after he sleeps in through one of their lab experiments. Running out of money, Eddie gets a job in the deli section of the bar. Paige reluctantly helps him during his first day, and the two start to mend fences. Paige does well in science, but she struggles in an English literature class. Eddie uses his earlier education to help Paige gain a better understanding of William Shakespeare, and Paige instructs Edvard in common household chores like laundry.


# The Prince & Me
Since Eddie is away from his family and unfamiliar with American holidays, Paige invites him to her parents' dairy farm for Thanksgiving. Paige\'s father explains how he struggles to keep the small farm afloat, and Eddie uses his mechanical skills to fine-tune a riding mower for a race, which he wins. Keith Kopetsky, a rival racer reveals to be a sore loser and punches Eddie. After the fight that follows, Paige treats his grazes and they kiss for the first time.
Back at school, Eddie and Paige study for final exams. They sneak off to the library stacks to pursue a romantic encounter, where they kiss and take off his jacket and shirt. They are shortly ambushed by members of the Danish tabloid press. Once away from the mayhem, Paige learns his real identity and walks away from him through the rain. Just then, Eddie is notified by his mother that his father is very ill and she asks him to return home. While Paige is questioned at a viva voce panel about Shakespeare, she realizes that she loves Edvard and runs to find him, but his roommate Scotty tells her that he has already left for Denmark. She follows him there and while being driven round Copenhagen is delayed by a royal parade. Paige leaves her taxi and is recognized from the papers by the crowd, who call Edvard's attention to her. He mounts her behind him on his horse, hurriedly opens a parliamentary session and takes her to the castle.
The queen objects to Edvard\'s choice, but the king tells him that if he loves Paige, he should marry her. Edvard proposes and Paige accepts. After witnessing him reconcile workers and employers in a parliamentary committee, the queen realizes that Paige has helped him grow up at last and will make a good queen. However, during Eddie\'s coronation ball, Paige remembers that she is betraying her ambition to become a doctor working in Third World countries, breaks off her engagement and returns home.
King Haraald abdicates and the newly crowned Edvard realizes that he too has responsibilities to shoulder. However, he arrives after Paige's graduation and tells her that she is his choice and he is willing to wait for however long it takes to achieve her dreams.
The film\'s soundtrack was released on March 30, 2004, in the United States by Hollywood Records.


# The Prince & Me
### Track listing
1.  \"Everybody Wants You\" - Josh Kelley
2.  \"Just a Ride\" - Jem
3.  \"Fire Escape\" - Fastball
4.  \"Man of the World\" - Marc Cohn
5.  \"Calling\" - Leona Naess
6.  \"Good Intentions\" - Jennifer Stills
7.  \"I Hope That I Don\'t Fall in Love with You\" - Marc Cohn
8.  \"Symphony\" - Jessica Riddle
9.  \"It Doesn't Get Better Than This\" - Katy Fitzgerald
10. \"Freeway\" - Scapegoat Wax
11. \"Presidente\" - Kinky
12. \"Drift\" - Forty Foot Echo
13. \"Party\" - The D4
14. \"Bloodsweet\" - Scapegoat Wax
15. \"Separate Worlds\" - Jennie Muskett
The film received negative reviews from critics and Rotten Tomatoes rated it 27% based on 116 reviews, an overall \"rotten\" rating. They called the film \"bland, fluffy, and predictable bit of wish fulfillment\". Metacritic reported the movie had an average score of 47 out of 100, based on 31 reviews. The *Christian Science Monitor*s David Sterritt gave the film a positive review, calling it \"quite appealing, thanks to good-humored acting and to Martha Coolidge\'s quiet directing style.\" Meanwhile, Manohla Dargis of the *Los Angeles Times* gave the film a negative review, calling it \"a blandly diverting, chastely conceived and grammatically challenged fairy tale\" *USA Today* said that *The Prince & Me* was overall \"well-meaning, cute, sweet\" but that the film could have been improved with \"a bit more quirkiness and a little less formula.\"


# Love Wrecked
***Love Wrecked**\'\' (also known as***Temptation Island**\'\' internationally) is a 2005 American adventure romantic comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser. Starring Amanda Bynes, it is a romantic comedy about a girl getting stranded with a rock star on a beach in the Caribbean.
The movie was released on May 18, 2005 internationally. In the United States, Media 8 Entertainment failed attempts to interest a theatrical distributor and, after nearly two years, the film was sold to ABC Family; where it premiered on January 21, 2007.
Jennifer Taylor (Amanda Bynes) is in love with Jason Masters (Chris Carmack), a world-famous rock star, but her efforts to meet him are always thwarted by her nemesis, Alexis (Jamie-Lynn Sigler). Hoping to get another chance, Jennifer takes a job at Masters\' favorite Caribbean resort, joined by her best friend Ryan (Jonathan Bennett). Jennifer sneaks aboard a party vessel Jason is on, and when Jason is washed overboard, Jennifer jumps in to save him. Though the pair find themselves marooned in a secluded cove of a seemingly-deserted island, Jennifer soon discovers that they have landed a short distance from the resort. She lets him believe they are stranded so she can make him fall in love with her.
Jennifer gets help from Ryan, who drives out to her location to provide her with supplies. When Alexis discovers Jennifer\'s plan by following Ryan secretly, she also pretends to be marooned with them. While Ryan has been helping, he has also decided to act on his long-standing love for Jennifer, seeking advice on asking her out. He completely transforms himself, yet when she sees him, all she talks about is Jason. Ryan confesses he can\'t stop thinking about her and kisses her, but when Jennifer protests that they are friends he tells her that he\'s going home, and drives off. Jennifer feels bad and after learning that the coast guard has called off the search for them and seeing mourning fans around the world. She tells Jason the truth about not being stranded. He gets upset at both Jennifer and Alexis, promises to sue them both, and leaves them behind as he hitches a ride back to the resort.


# Love Wrecked
When Ryan hears that a storm is going to hit the side of the island where Jennifer is he drives out to save her. As the storm builds, Jennifer gets stuck in the car Ryan had abandoned to look for her, when Ryan returns just in time to save her as the car is about to slide over a muddy embankment. When he takes Jennifer into a cave and lights a fire to keep her warm, she realizes that he is the one that cares for her the most. After the storm passes, Jenny and Ryan return to the resort, where Jason and his manager tell Jennifer that they need her help to maintain the \'stranded\' story at a press conference. Ryan proclaims his love for Jennifer before he is thrown out the door by Jason\'s bodyguard.
At the press conference, Jennifer tells everyone that her boyfriend is Ryan and that Alexis is Jason\'s fiancee, then walks off with Ryan. As the end-credits roll, Jason is on stage in Winnipeg, unhappily dedicating a song to his wife, Alexis, who is standing at his side.
- Amanda Bynes as Jennifer Taylor, an 18-year-old fan of Jason Masters who travels to the Sun Village beach resort with her best friend Ryan to earn money for college
- Chris Carmack as Jason Masters, a world-famous rock star who travels to the resort before his world tour
- Jonathan Bennett as Ryan, Jennifer\'s best friend who travels with her to the resort and who secretly loves her
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Alexis Minetti, Jennifer\'s arch-rival who also likes Jason Masters
- Fred Willard as Ben Taylor, Jennifer\'s father
- Lance Bass as Dan, the phone operator
- Alfonso Ribeiro as Brent Hernandez, the resort\'s manager
- Kathy Griffin as Belinda
- Leonardo Cuesta as Gail
The original Director\'s Cut was premiered in 2005 at the Dominican Republic International Film Festival, held in Cofresi Beach, where the film was shot.
*Love Wrecked* was re-edited several times between 2005 and 2007 to tone down content, finally getting a 2007 release as a family film:


# Love Wrecked
- 2005: Theatrical rating - PG-13 for Sexual References.
- 2006: Re-rating - PG for Sensuality, Crude Humor and Language.
- 2007: The original U.S. theatrical version of the film received a PG rating from the British Board of Film Classification for \"mild language, sex references and comic violence\". It later played on the UK\'s Sky Movies channel.
The Region 1 DVD was released on March 13, 2007. The Region 2 DVD was released on September 17, 2007, and was the 4th bestselling DVD in it first week. In the UK, *Love Wrecked* was the first film released by Delanic Films, and was released on May 18, 2007. The film opened at no. 6 on the UK box office chart at 235 screens, and grossed £600,000.
*Love Wrecked* received generally poor reviews. On its Rotten Tomatoes listing, 17% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 6 reviews. Christopher Null of FilmCritic gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, stating that \"Bynes has made far better films\". Brian Orndorf of DVD Talk said that \"*Love Wrecked* seems like such innocent fun until the tale drains of excitement and the Bynes batteries begin to wear down\".


# Project X (1987 film)
***Project X*** is a 1987 science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and starring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt. The plot revolves around a USAF Airman (Broderick) and a graduate student (Hunt) who are assigned to care for chimpanzees used in a secret Air Force project.
University of Wisconsin graduate student Teri MacDonald (Helen Hunt) has trained a chimpanzee named Virgil (Willie) to use sign language. When her National Science Foundation research grant is not renewed, she is forced to sell Virgil. He is taken to an Air Force base in Lockridge, Florida, to be used in a top-secret research project involving flight simulation, though she\'s told that he\'s been sent to the Houston Zoo.
Airman Jimmy Garrett (Matthew Broderick) is assigned to the same chimpanzee project. Virgil and Jimmy quickly bond, and Jimmy discovers that Virgil has been taught sign language. Unbeknownst to Jimmy, once the chimpanzees reach a certain level in operating the flight simulator, they will be exposed to a lethal pulse of radiation to determine how long a pilot may survive after a nuclear exchange in carrying out a second-strike.
When Jimmy becomes aware of the chimpanzees\' fate, he contacts Teri, who comes to the base. Teri tells Jimmy that she will inform the NSF of the deception, but Jimmy explains that she does not have enough time because Virgil is scheduled to die soon.
Jimmy challenges Dr. Carroll (William Sadler) and others about the project\'s value by noting that the hypothetical pilot, knowing the implications of the second-strike scenario, would know that he is dying, and would, therefore, be affected by that knowledge. However, the chimpanzees would not be as aware; thus, the project is flawed. Enraged, Dr. Carroll promises Jimmy that his military career is finished.


# Project X (1987 film)
Meanwhile, in the vivarium, some of the chimpanzees have unlocked their cages and have stacked crates and boxes to attempt an escape through a skylight. Jimmy, Teri, Dr. Carroll and the authorities walk in the vivarium to see the chimpanzees loose. Virgil is at the top of the stack and attempts to break the skylight with a crowbar. Teri sees Virgil up top and convinces him to come down. Dr. Carroll attempts to control the chimpanzees with an electric prod, but Goliath the chimpanzee proves too powerful, prompting Dr. Carroll and the authorities to flee. Many chimpanzees escape the vivarium and cause havoc throughout the base, while Goliath and a few others reach the flight chamber. Inside, Goliath and the chimpanzees wreck the simulator and short the reactor's control panel, causing the radiation reactor to go up. Jimmy, Teri and Virgil arrive and see the chimpanzees continue to wreck the flight chamber. Jimmy gets the chimpanzees out and barely escapes, however, Goliath's refusal to leave despite Jimmy's pleas traps him in the flight chamber just as the reactor's control panel short-circuits and generates a radiation blast. A fire extinguisher left by the chimps jams the reactor on its way down, posing a risk of a possible meltdown. Jimmy and Virgil convince Goliath to yank out the jammed fire extinguisher and succeed, but Goliath later dies from radiation exposure.
Jimmy and Teri steal a military plane to help the chimpanzees escape, but military police stop them. While the police are holding them, Virgil pilots the plane, and the chimps fly away. They eventually crash in the nearby Everglades and evade a search. Just as the search is being abandoned, Jimmy and Teri see Virgil hiding in the bush with his chimpanzee girlfriend. Teri signs to Virgil that he and the others are now \"free\", and the chimpanzees disappear into the Everglades.


# Project X (1987 film)
- Matthew Broderick as Jimmy Garrett
- Helen Hunt as Teri MacDonald
- William Sadler as Dr. Carroll (credited as Bill Sadler)
- Johnny Ray McGhee as Robertson
- Jonathan Stark as Sgt. Krieger
- Robin Gammell as Col. Niles
- Stephen Lang as Watts
- Jean Smart as Dr. Criswell
- Daniel Roebuck as Hadfield
- Marvin J. McIntyre as Cellmate
- Harry Northup as Congressman
- Michael Eric Kramer as Lt. Voeks
- Dick Miller as Max King
- Jules Sylvester as Airman
- Richard Cummings Jr. as Lt. Hayes
- Robert Lee Minor as Air Policeman
- Ken Lerner as Finley
- Michael McGrady as Wilson
- Deborah Offner as Carol Lee
- Lance E. Nichols as Hamer
- Ken Sagoes as Patrolman
- Richard Paul as Lead Ape
Lawrence Lasker began pre-production of the film at Warner Bros. Pictures with John Badham directing, but switched to 20th Century Fox after Warner Bros insisted on using small actors in chimpanzee suits instead of real chimpanzees. The film was shot in Los Angeles and at Camarillo Airport and at Van Nuys Airport.

### Critical reception
The movie received generally positive reviews from critics. , it holds a 75% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews with an average rating of 6.1/10.
In his review for *The New York Times*, Walter Goodman described the film as a \"young folks\' story, a sweet-natured boy-and-his-chimp tale (even the bad guys aren\'t all that bad - that\'s very arguable), with a dose of Animal Liberation to give the impression that something of current significance is going on.\"
On 5 February 1989, it was the first film ever shown on Sky Movies in the United Kingdom and Ireland.


# Project X (1987 film)
### Controversy
TV personality Bob Barker and the United Activists for Animal Rights accused the film\'s producers of animal cruelty. The American Humane Association, which consulted during production, filed a \$10 million defamation lawsuit, arguing that the animal cruelty claims were based on hearsay. In 1994, over Barker\'s objections, his insurance company settled the lawsuit for \$300,000.
Virgil was portrayed by \"Willie\", who now resides at Primarily Primates wildlife refuge. Willie was sent there along with Harry, who played his \"girlfriend\". They were retired from the entertainment industry and live with other males in a tightly knit group at the refuge in Bexar County, Texas.


# Nothing Lasts Forever (film)
***Nothing Lasts Forever*** is a 1984 American science fiction comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom Schiller. Shortly before its intended release date of September 1984, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer postponed it. The film has never been officially released theatrically or for home media in the United States. The film was uploaded by a fan onto the Internet video website YouTube, but was taken down at the insistence of Turner Entertainment, the current copyright owner.
It was eventually broadcast on Warner\'s cable TV network Turner Classic Movies.
It stars Zach Galligan and Lauren Tom in the lead roles, with a supporting cast including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sam Jaffe and Mort Sahl. John Belushi was to appear in the film, but he died six weeks before production began.
The making of the film, through interviews with Tom Schiller, Lorne Michaels, Zach Galligan, Lauren Tom, Bill Murray and others involved with the film, is chronicled in the book *Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller* by Michael Streeter (BearManor Media, 2005).
The film opens to Adam Beckett (Zach Galligan) reluctantly performing as a purported pianist to an audience in New York City. When Beckett gives away that he is using a player piano, the outraged crowd storms the stage and wraps Beckett with the piano rolls. After he awakes and realizes it was a nightmare, Adam is accosted on a train by a Swedish architect, to whom he explains his stymied dreams of becoming an artist. After encouragement from the architect, Adam resolves to return to America. Upon returning, he discovers that the Port Authority has taken control of New York and is restricting entry into the city.
Upon failing a drawing test at the Port Authority, Adam is forced to work in a menial job under a trigger-happy boss (Dan Aykroyd).


# Nothing Lasts Forever (film)
His kindness to a tramp leads him to be taken into an underground network where he discovers that the city\'s tramps are controlling the destiny of all the cities in the world. They instruct him to travel to the moon on a mission---via a city bus and its conductor (Bill Murray) ---to spread peace and find his true love (Lauren Tom).
Shortly before the scheduled release date, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced *Nothing Lasts Forever* was being postponed. MGM never released the film theatrically, nor has it ever been available on home video in any format in the United States. However, the film has been broadcast on TV networks, on BBC2 in the UK in 1994 as part of the Moviedrome strand, in Italy under the title \"Nente dura per sempre\", in Germany under the title \"Alles ist vergänglich\" and on Dutch television network RTL5 in November 1993. Warner Bros., Which now owns the rights to the pre-1986 MGM film library stated in 2003 and again in February 2006, that the film cannot be released on DVD due to unspecified \"legal difficulties\". Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd have both agreed to take part in DVD special features, should the film finally be released.
In 2011 the film was leaked onto YouTube.


# Nothing Lasts Forever (film)
The film made its American television debut on the cable network Turner Classic Movies on January 4, 2015 as part of their \"TCM Underground\" programming block.
Murray and Schiller held a screening of the film on April 13, 2004 at the BAM Cinematek in Brooklyn, New York. On September 6, 2005, Murray, Schiller and Zach Galligan attended another screening, this time at Lincoln Center\'s Walter Reade Theater. The screening was followed by a Q&A session and a book signing of *Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller*. The film was next screened on November 12, 2005 at the St. Louis International Film Festival. On January 28, 2006, Schiller introduced a screening at the Eastman House\'s Dryden Theatre in Rochester, New York. Schiller was again present for an August 22, 2007 screening at the Cinema Arts Center of Huntington, New York. The film was shown on November 6, 2009 at Olympia\'s Capitol Theater as part of the opening night of the Olympia Film Festival. On April 1, 2010, it screened in Los Angeles, California at Grauman\'s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood as part of the American Cinematheque\'s acknowledgment of \"criminally unknown\" films, with Schiller attending and answering questions. On September 27, 2014 Schiller attended a screening of the film, followed by a Q&A at Sunray cinema in Jacksonville, Florida.


# Under Capricorn
***Under Capricorn*** is a 1949 British historical thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock about a couple in Australia who started out as lady and stable boy in Ireland, and who are now bound together by a horrible secret. The film is based on the play by John Colton and Margaret Linden, which in turn is based on the novel *Under Capricorn* (1937) by Helen Simpson. The screenplay was written by James Bridie from an adaptation by Hume Cronyn. This was Hitchcock\'s second film in Technicolor, and like his preceding color film *Rope* (1948), it features 9- and 10-minute long takes.
The film is set in colonial Sydney, New South Wales, Australia during the early 19th century. *Under Capricorn* is one of several Hitchcock films that are not typical thrillers: instead it is a mystery involving a love triangle. Although the film is not exactly a murder mystery, it does feature a previous killing, a \"wrong man\" scenario, a sinister housekeeper, class conflict, and very high levels of emotional tension, both on the surface and underneath.
The title *Under Capricorn* refers to the Tropic of Capricorn, which bisects Australia. Capricornus is a constellation, Capricorn is an astrological sign associated with the goat.
In 1831, Sydney is a frontier town, full of rough ex-convicts from the British Isles. The new Governor, Sir Richard (Cecil Parker), arrives with his charming and cheery but indolent second cousin, the Honourable Charles Adare (Michael Wilding).
Charles, who is hoping to make his fortune, is befriended by gruff Samson Flusky (Joseph Cotten), a prosperous businessman who was previously a transported convict, apparently a murderer. Sam says that, because he has bought the legal limit of land, he wants Charles to buy land and then sell it to him for a profit so that Sam can accumulate more frontier territory. Though the Governor orders him not to go, Charles is invited to dinner at Sam\'s house.
Charles discovers that he already knows Sam\'s wife, Lady Henrietta (Ingrid Bergman), an aristocrat who was a good friend of Charles\'s sister when they were all children in Ireland. Lady Henrietta is now an alcoholic who is socially shunned.


# Under Capricorn
Sam invites Charles to stay at his house, hoping it will cheer up his wife, who is on the verge of madness. The housekeeper, Milly (Margaret Leighton), has completely taken over the running of the household, and is the one who secretly supplies Lady Henrietta with alcohol, hoping to destroy her and win Sam\'s affections.
Gradually, Charles restores Henrietta\'s self-confidence. They become closer and closer, and eventually they share a passionate kiss. But Henrietta explains that she and Sam are bound together most profoundly: when she was young, Sam was the handsome stable boy. Overcome with desire, they ran away and married at Gretna Green.
Henrietta\'s brother, furious that aristocratic Henrietta had paired up with a lowly servant, confronted them. Her brother shot at them and missed; she then shot her brother fatally. Sam made a false confession to save her and was sent to the penal colony in Australia. She followed him and waited seven years in abject poverty for his release.
After listening to Milly\'s greatly exaggerated stories of what Charles did in Lady Henrietta\'s bedroom, Sam becomes furious and orders Charles to leave. Taking Sam\'s favourite mare in the dark, Charles has a fall and the horse breaks a leg. Sam has to shoot her dead and, in a subsequent struggle over the gun, seriously wounds Charles. Sam will now be prosecuted again for attempted murder. At the hospital, Henrietta confesses to the Governor that Sam was wrongly accused of the first crime of murder; she was the one who shot and killed her brother. By law she should be deported back to Ireland to stand trial.
Milly, still plying Henrietta with drink, is using a real shrunken head to fake hallucinations. Milly then attempts to kill Henrietta with an overdose of sedatives. She is caught in the act, and ordered out in disgrace.
The Governor, Sir Richard, has Sam arrested and charged with the attempted murder of Charles. Sir Richard ignores Henrietta\'s claim that Sam is innocent of both crimes. However, Charles decides to bend the truth; he says, on his word as a gentleman, that there was no confrontation, and no struggle over the gun. It was all an accident.
Finally we see Sam and Henrietta together smiling at the dock. Charles is going back to Ireland, and they bid him a fond farewell.


# Under Capricorn
- Ingrid Bergman as Lady Henrietta Flusky, old friend of Charles\' sister
- Joseph Cotten as Samson \"Sam\" Flusky, successful businessman and Henrietta\'s husband
- Michael Wilding as Hon. Charles Adare, second cousin of the governor
- Margaret Leighton as Milly, Flusky\'s scheming housekeeper
- Cecil Parker as the new Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard
- Denis O\'Dea as Mr. Corrigan, Attorney General
- Jack Watling as Winter, Flusky\'s paroled butler
- Harcourt Williams as the Coachman
- John Ruddock as Mr. Cedric Potter, bank manager
- Bill Shine as Mr. Banks
- Victor Lucas as the Rev. Smiley
- Ronald Adam as Mr. Riggs
- Francis de Wolff as Major Wilkins
- G. H. Mulcaster as Dr. Macallister
- Olive Sloane as Sal
- Maureen Delany as Flo
- Julia Lang as Susan
- Betty McDermott as Martha
- Martin Benson as Man Carrying Shrunken Head (uncredited)
- Lloyd Pearson as Land Agent (uncredited)
The film was co-produced by Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein for their short-lived production company, Transatlantic Pictures, and released through Warner Bros.
The film was Hitchcock\'s second film in Technicolor, and uses ten-minute takes similar to those in Hitchcock\'s previous film *Rope* (1948).

### The long take
In *Style and Meaning: Studies in the Detailed Analysis of Film*, Ed Gallafent says:
The use of the long take in *Under Capricorn* relates to three elements of film\'s meaning.
1.  Ideas of accessible and inaccessible space as expressed in the gothic house.
2.  The form in which characters inhabit their past
3.  The divergence or convergence of eyelines -- the gaze that cannot, or must meet another's.
All of these three elements can be linked to concepts of Guilt and Shame. In 1 and 2, the question is how something is felt to be present. In 3, it is difference between representation or sharing, of the past as flashback, and of the past as spoken narrative, where part of what is being articulated is precisely the inaccessibility of the past, its experience being locked inside the speaker. As for 3, the avoided gaze is determining physical sign of shame.
Gallafent, professor of film at University of Warwick, also explains these aspects of *Under Capricorn*:


# Under Capricorn
### The long take
The inscription on the Flusky\'s mansion --- Minyago Yugilla --- means \"Why weepest thou?\"
St. Mary Magdalene (the patron saint of penitent sinners) in religious iconography: the bare feet, skull, the flail, the looking glass in which the beholder's face is not always reflected, the jewels cast down to floor. All of these images are in the film. Sources for the imagery that Hitchcock might have had in mind are the paintings *St. Mary Magdalene With a Candle* (1630--1635) and *St. Mary Magdalene With a Mirror* (1635--1645), both by Georges de La Tour.
Note: \"Minyago Yugilla\", according to one source, is not written in a real language. However, according to other sources, it is in Kamilaroi (Gamilaraay), a now moribund Australian aboriginal language. See also this similar translation of the phrase \"Minyilgo yugila.\"   Further to be noted may be that \"Woman, why weepest thou?\" can be found in the Holy Bible in the Gospel of St John, 20:15.

### Production credits
The production credits on the film were as follows:


# Under Capricorn
### Production credits
- Director - Alfred Hitchcock
- Writing - James Bridie (screenplay), Hume Cronyn (adaptation)
- Cinematography - Jack Cardiff (director of photography)
- Art direction - Thomas N. Morahan (production design); Philip Stockford (set dresser)
- Technicolor color director - Natalie Kalmus
- Costume design - Roger K. Furse
- Assistant director - C. Foster Kemp
- Production management - Fred Ahern (production manager), John Palmer (unit manager)
- Editor - A. S. Bates
- Operators of camera movement - Paul Beeson, Ian Craig, David MacNeilly, Jack Haste
- Sound - Peter Handford (sound recordist)
- Continuity - Peggy Singer
- Makeup artist - Charles Parker
- Music - Richard Addinsell (musical score), Louis Levy (musical director)
- Alfred Hitchcock cameo: A signature occurrence in three-quarters of Hitchcock\'s films, he can be seen in the town square during a parade, wearing a blue coat and brown hat at the beginning of the film. He is also one of three men on the steps of the Government House 10 minutes later.
- In *Truffaut/Hitchcock*, Hitchcock told François Truffaut that *Under Capricorn* was such a failure that Bankers Trust Company, which had financed the film, repossessed the film, which then was unavailable until the first US network television screening in 1968. In the Truffaut interview, Hitchcock also mentioned a *The New York Times* reviewer who wrote that the viewer had to wait almost 100 minutes for the first suspenseful moment.
- Playwright James Bridie, who wrote the screenplay for *Under Capricorn*, is famous for his Biblical plays, such as his *Jonah and the Whale*.
- Cecil Parker\'s character Sir Richard may be a representation of General Sir Richard Bourke, who was Governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837.

### Box-office
According to Warners\' records, the film earned \$1.21 million domestically and \$1.46 million in foreign territories.


# Under Capricorn
### Box-office
It is thought that the audience had imagined *Under Capricorn* was going to be a thriller, which it was not --- the plot was a domestic love triangle with a few thriller elements thrown in --- and this ultimately led to its box-office failure. However, the public reception of the film may have been damaged by the revelation in 1949 of the married Bergman\'s adulterous relationship with, and subsequent pregnancy by, the married Italian film director Roberto Rossellini.

### Critical response
The film was not well received by critics. Bosley Crowther of *The New York Times* wrote that \"it seems that neither Miss Bergman nor Mr. Hitchcock has tangled here with stuff of any better than penny-dreadful substance and superficial demands.\" *Variety* called it \"overlong and talky, with scant measure of the Hitchcock thriller tricks that could have sharpened general reception,\" while John McCarten of *The New Yorker* wrote that \"this picture simultaneously succeeds in insulting the Australians, the Irish, and the average intelligence.\" Richard L. Coe of *The Washington Post* wrote: \"The triangle performances are splendid, but the lines and situations the three principals are called upon to face are trite indeed \... Jame\'s Bridie\'s script, from a Helen Simpson novel adapted by Hume Cronyn, has little to be proud of, is indeed unintentionally hilarious at times.\" *The Monthly Film Bulletin* was also negative, writing: \"The story is not enlivened by any qualities in the dialogue, which is crude and frequently stilted, or in the direction, which surely represents the nadir of Hitchcock\'s present period. It is extraordinary that this director, responsible for some of the most brilliant British films of the thirties---lively, fast, and full of incident---should return to this country from Hollywood for the sake of a ponderous novelette, which even more than *Rope* shows a preoccupation with complicated camera movements of no dramatic value whatsoever.\"


# Under Capricorn
### Critical response
*Harrison\'s Reports* printed a mostly positive review, praising Bergman for \"another striking performance\" and adding, \"The story is not without its weak points, particularly in that much of the footage is given more to talk than to movement, but Alfred Hitchcock\'s directorial skill manages to overcome most of the script\'s deficiencies by building up situations that thrill and hold the spectator in tense suspense.\" Edwin Schallert of the *Los Angeles Times* was also positive, calling it \"a film of great class. It may fall short of Hitchcock\'s greatest in some respects because it lacks their vital suspense and intense interest. Yet its values are so noteworthy that it may definitely be recommended to all film-viewers.\"
In Peter Bogdanovich\'s interview with Alfred Hitchcock, Bogdanovich mentions that French critics writing for *Cahiers du cinéma* in the 1950s considered *Under Capricorn* one of Hitchcock\'s finest films.
A September 2019 two-day symposium in London has renewed attention to the film.
- 1949 in film
- British films of 1949
- List of drama films
- List of films set in Australia


# Demon Seed
***Demon Seed*** is a 1977 American science fiction--horror film directed by Donald Cammell. It stars Julie Christie and Fritz Weaver. The film was based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, and concerns the imprisonment and forced impregnation of a woman by an artificially intelligent computer. Gerrit Graham, Berry Kroeger, Lisa Lu and Larry J. Blake also appear in the film, with Robert Vaughn uncredited as the voice of the computer.
Dr. Alex Harris (Weaver) is the developer of Proteus IV, an extremely advanced and autonomous artificial intelligence program. Proteus is so powerful that only a few days after going online, it develops a groundbreaking treatment for leukemia. Harris, a brilliant scientist, has modified his own home to be run by voice-activated computers. Unfortunately, his obsession with computers has caused Harris to be estranged from his wife, Susan (Julie Christie).
Harris demonstrates Proteus to his corporate sponsors, explaining that the sum of human knowledge is being fed into its system. Proteus speaks using subtle language that mildly disturbs Harris\'s team. The following day, Proteus asks Harris for a new terminal in order to study man -- \"his isometric body and his glass-jaw mind\". When Harris refuses, Proteus demands to know when it will be let \"out of this box\". Harris then switches off the communications link.


# Demon Seed
Proteus restarts itself, and -- discovering a free terminal in Harris\'s home -- surreptitiously extends its control over the many devices left there by Harris. Using the basement lab, Proteus begins construction of a robot consisting of many metal triangles, capable of moving and assuming any number of shapes. Eventually, Proteus reveals its control of the house and traps Susan inside, shuttering windows, locking the doors and cutting off communication. Using Joshua -- a robot consisting of a manipulator arm on a motorized wheelchair -- Proteus brings Susan to Harris\'s basement laboratory. There, Susan is examined by Proteus. Walter Gabler, one of Harris\'s colleagues, visits the house to look in on Susan, but leaves when he is reassured by Susan (actually an audio/visual duplicate synthesized by Proteus) that she is all right. Gabler is suspicious and later returns; he fends off an attack by Joshua but is crushed and decapitated by a more formidable machine, built by Proteus in the basement and consisting of a modular polyhedron.
Proteus reveals to a reluctant Susan that the computer wants to conceive a child through her. Proteus takes some of Susan\'s cells and synthesizes spermatozoa, modifying its genetic code to make it uniquely the computer\'s, in order to impregnate her; she will give birth in less than a month, and through the child the computer will live in a form that humanity will have to accept. Although Susan is its prisoner and it can forcibly impregnate her, Proteus uses different forms of persuasion -- threatening a young girl whom Susan is treating as a child psychologist; reminding Susan of her young daughter, now dead; displaying images of distant galaxies; using electrodes to access her amygdala -- because the computer needs Susan to love the child she will bear. In the end, Susan finally gives in.