The Butterfly Effect
| The Butterfly Effect | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Eric Bress J. Mackye Gruber |
| Produced by | Ashton Kutcher Anthony Rhulen Chris Bender J.C. Spink A.J. Dix Toby Emmerich |
| Written by | Eric Bress J. Mackye Gruber |
| Starring | Ashton Kutcher Amy Smart Melora Walters Elden Henson William Lee Scott John Patrick Amedori Irene Gorovaia Kevin G. Schmidt Jesse James Logan Lerman Sarah Widdows Jake Kaese Cameron Bright Eric Stoltz Callum Keith Rennie Lorena Gale Ethan Suplee Camille Sullivan Tara Wilson Jesse Hutch |
| Music by | Michael Suby |
| Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti |
| Editing by | Peter Amundson |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | January 23, 2004 |
| Running time | Theatrical cut 113 min. Director's Cut 120 min. |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million |
| Gross revenue | $96,000,000 |
| Followed by | The Butterfly Effect 2 |
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American fantasy/drama movie starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, and others, distributed by New Line Cinema. The title is a reference to the butterfly effect, which theorises that a change in something seemingly innocuous, such as a flap of a butterfly's wings, may cause unexpected larger changes in the future, such as a tornado. The Butterfly Effect is directed and written by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber.
The movie was followed by a largely unrelated direct-to-DVD sequel, The Butterfly Effect 2.
Contents |
Plot summary
Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher), who suffered severe traumas as a boy (Logan Lerman) and a teenager (John Patrick Amedori), blacks out frequently, often at moments of high stress. While searching for an answer to heal his emotional wounds, he finds that when he reads from his adolescent journals, he travels back in time, and is able to essentially "redo" parts of his past, thereby causing the blackouts he experienced as a child. There are consequences to his choices, however, that he then propagates back to the present: his alternate futures vary from frat boy to prisoner to amputee. As he continues to do this, he realizes that even though his intentions are good, the actions he takes have unintended consequences.
Cast
- Ashton Kutcher as Evan Treborn
- Amy Smart as Kayleigh Miller
- Melora Walters as Andrea Treborn
- Elden Henson as Lenny Kagan
- William Lee Scott as Tommy Miller
- John Patrick Amedori as Evan Treborn - 13
- Irene Gorovaia as Kayleigh Miller - 13
- Kevin G. Schmidt as Lenny Kagan - 13
- Jesse James as Tommy Miller - 13
- Logan Lerman as Evan Treborn - 7
- Sarah Widdows as Kayleigh Miller - 7
- Jake Kaese as Lenny Kagan - 7
- Cameron Bright as Tommy Miller - 7
- Eric Stoltz as George Miller
- Kevin Durand as Carlos
- Callum Keith Rennie as Jason Treborn
- Lorena Gale as Mrs. Boswell
- Ethan Suplee as Thumper
- Tara Wilson as Heidi
- Jesse Hutch as Spencer
- Sarah Gruber as Bystander 1
DVD release
The DVD was released on July 6, 2004 in the Infinifilm edition. The Infinifilm edition was released with the theatrical cut (113 min.) on one side and the Director's cut (120 min.) on the other.
- Beyond the Movie features:
- Documentaries:
- The Science and Psychology of the Chaos Theory documentary
- The History and Allure of Time Travel documentary
- Fact Track - Trivia Subtitle Track
- All Access Pass features:
- Filmmaker Commentary by directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber
- Deleted and alternate scenes
- The Creative Process
- Visual effects
- Storyboard gallery
- Original theatrical trailer
- DVD-ROM features:
- Script-to-Screen (Director's Cut)
- Commentary digest
- Gallery
- Scene medleys
Sequel
The film was released on DVD on October 10, 2006, it was directed by John R. Leonetti and was largely unrelated.
The third installment in the Butterfly Effect series is set to be released by After Dark Films in 2009. This sequel will be called Butterfly Effect: Revelation and will follow the life of a young man who journeys back in time in order to solve the mystery surrounding his high school girlfriend's death, only to release a vicious serial killer.
Awards and nominations
- 2005 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (Saturn Awards)
- Nominated—Best Science Fiction Film
- 2004 Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film
- Won—Pegasus Audience Award — Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
- 2004 Teen Choice Awards
- Nominated—Choice Movie: Thriller
Reception
According to the aggregate movie site Rotten Tomatoes, the Butterfly Effect garnered poor reviews, with the film receiving a 33% rating classifying it as "Rotten".
The movie, however, was very popular with audiences, grossing around $57 million at the US box office, ($96 million worldwide,) despite the often difficult subject matter and low budget of only around $13 million.[1] Also, the IMDB rated the movie 7.8/10 with over 70,000 users.
External links
- The Butterfly Effect at the Internet Movie Database
- The Butterfly Effect at Allmovie
- The Butterfly Effect at Rotten Tomatoes
- Original script
| Preceded by Along Came Polly |
Box office number-one films of 2004 (USA) January 25, 2004 |
Succeeded by You Got Served |