Clash of the Titans | |
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Theatrical poster |
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Directed by | Louis Leterrier |
Produced by | Basil Iwanyk Kevin De La Noy Richard D. Zanuck |
Written by | Lawrence Kasdan Travis Beacham Phil Hay Matt Manfredi |
Starring | Sam Worthington Gemma Arterton Mads Mikkelsen Alexa Davalos Danny Huston Pete Postlethwaite Ralph Fiennes Liam Neeson |
Music by | Ramin Djawadi |
Cinematography | Peter Menzies Jr. |
Editing by | Vincent Tabaillon Martin Walsh |
Studio | Legendary Pictures The Zanuck Company |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date(s) | April 2, 2010 |
Running time | 106 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $125 million |
Gross revenue | $491,918,410[1] |
Clash of the Titans is a 2010 action film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name (the rights to which had been acquired by distributors Warner Bros. in 1996). As with the 1981 film, the story is very loosely based upon the Greek myth of Perseus.[2][3][4] Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010.[3][4] However, it was later announced that the film would be converted to 3-D and was released on April 2, 2010.[5][6]
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Long ago, three Olympians—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—battled the Titans. Hades provided their means of defeating the Titans with his creation, the Kraken. After the Titans' defeat, Zeus created land-animals (including humans) and ruled them while Poseidon ruled the sea and its creatures. But Zeus deceived Hades and forced him to rule the Underworld. Zeus and his fellow gods on Mount Olympus rely on the prayers of humans to sustain their power.
Millennia later, a fisherman named Spyros finds a coffin adrift in the sea. In it are infant Perseus and his dead mother, Danaë. Spyros raises Perseus as his own son. Years later, the adult Perseus and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a massive statue of Zeus as a declaration of war against the Gods. Hades takes the form of harpies to massacre the soldiers. In the battle, Perseus' family's fishing boat is destroyed, killing all except Perseus. The surviving soldiers take Perseus back to Argos. During a feast for the returning soldiers, King Kepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Argos compare themselves and their daughter Andromeda to the goddess Aphrodite and say they are the new Gods, much to their daughter's dismay. Having convinced Zeus to punish Argos, Hades appears in the courtroom, kills the remaining soldiers and ages Cassiopeia to the brink of death. Recognizing that Perseus is the Demigod son of Zeus, Hades threatens that if Princess Andromeda is not sacrificed to the Kraken, Argos will be destroyed in ten days. Hermes, the Messenger God, informs Zeus that Perseus is in Argos and suggests offering him sanctuary. Zeus refuses.
The King imprisons Perseus because he will not fight with Argos against the gods. Io, a woman who does not age as punishment for refusing to be seduced by the God Ares, reveals to Perseus his true lineage: in order to punish King Acrisius for his own war on the Gods, Zeus disguised himself as Acrisius and seduced Danaë, impregnating her. When Acrisius set Danaë and the baby Perseus adrift in their coffin, an enraged Zeus struck Acrisius with lightning, leaving him hideously disfigured. After learning that killing the Kraken would allow him to have his revenge against Hades, whom he blames for Spyros's death, Perseus agrees to lead Argos' finest soldiers on a quest to find the Stygian Witches. They are joined by a pair of hunters named Ozal and Kucuk; Io follows as well. Hades finds Acrisius, now called Calibos, and reveals his plan to use the Kraken to destroy Argos, thereby weakening Zeus and gaining his revenge for his betrayal after the Titan battle. Hades imbues Calibos with superhuman powers in order to kill Perseus.
While in the woods, Perseus discovers a sword forged in Olympus, as well as Zeus' sacred herd of flying horses, the Pegasus. However, Perseus refuses both the sword—which only he can use—and Pegasus that the Gods were offering as assistance, as he does not wish to become a god. Calibos attacks the group and tries to murder Perseus, but is forced to flee after Draco cuts off his hand. However, Calibos' blood forms giant scorpions from the sand that attack Perseus and kill many of his group. The survivors are saved by the Djinn, a band of formerly human shamans who have turned themselves into the Demons of Arabian mythology by replacing their earthly flesh with ash and stone. Though the Argonauts do not trust the Djinn at first, Sheikh Suleiman heals Perseus' wounds, and the Djinn joins Perseus' group as they too wish to see the Gods overthrown.
The heroes learn from the Stygian Witches that the head of the Gorgon Medusa could kill the Kraken by turning it to stone. When they tell Perseus his group will die in the process, all of the Djinn except for Suleiman leave them. Perseus is visited by Zeus who offers him asylum on Mount Olympus, but he refuses. Zeus gives him instead a golden drachma, which Perseus later learns is a means to bribe Charon for passage into the Underworld with help from Suleiman's magic. In the battle with Medusa, only Perseus survives to behead her. Emerging from the Underworld, Perseus sees Calibos stab Io. Perseus kills him using the sword from Olympus, which restores Acrisius to human form. Perseus watches as Io transforms into gold dust and is swept to Olympus. He then rides Pegasus back to Argos with Medusa's head.
In Argos the Cult of Hades plots to sacrifice Andromeda to the Kraken. As the Kraken is released, Hades reveals to Zeus that the destruction of Argos will give him enough power to overthrow the other Olympians, but Zeus reveals Perseus is still alive in Argos. Although Hades sends his harpies to kill Perseus, Perseus uses the head of Medusa to turn the Kraken into stone and rescues Andromeda. He then uses the sword of Olympus, amplified with Zeus' lightning, to banish Hades back to the Underworld. Andromeda asks Perseus to become king of Argos, but he declines. Zeus again offers Perseus sanctuary, but Perseus rejects this as well. Warning that Hades will someday return, Zeus resurrects Io and disappears.
The Clash of the Titans remake project started in 2002 under producer Adam Schroeder and writers John Glenn and Travis Wright. They wanted to drop the "cheesy chessboard manipulation of characters" by the gods. In The Wright/Glenn version of Clash, various different pantheons were mixed together. The Main Villain was the Sumerian Sea Goddess of Death and Destruction, Tiamat. Perseus was originally kidnapped by an avatar of an unidentified Cthonian Earth Goddess, who planned to have him married to Andromeda so as to develop better relations with humanity. The Earth Goddess and Perseus proceed to fall in love. Zeus prepared to engage in war with Tiamat; taking the aids of other Gods (such as Thoth, Marduk, Yahweh and Usiris). A High Priest named Fantasos starts a Cult of Tiamat that quickly conquers the city. Andromeda was originally a promiscuous spoiled Princess who possessed various male sex slaves. Though the mixing of Mythologies, and the Perseus-Earth Goddess romance was abandoned, the concept of a Goddess enraged at arrogant humans and demanding a sacrifice and the Cult of the Evil God (Changed from Tiamat to Hades) was retained into the final production.[12] Producer Basil Iwanyk revived the project in 2006 with a rewrite by Travis Beacham, a fan of the original, who intended the script to be "darker and more realistic".[13] Lawrence Kasdan and director Stephen Norrington signed on in 2007. Kasdan gave the script another rewrite from the Beacham version.[14] But Norrington was unsure about his direction for the project because he did not grow up with the original. Leterrier, who did, contacted Norrington through their shared agent about replacing him.[15] By June 2008 Leterrier joined the project and Warner Bros. greenlit the film.[16] Leterrier noted the original Clash of the Titans inspired the climax of his previous film The Incredible Hulk – a battle in a burnt-down courtroom with temple-like columns – and has compared modern superheroes to Greek mythology.[17][18]
Writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi took over the script during July 2008 and used Beacham's draft as a starting point. They focused on the mythology and telling the story through Leterrier's eyes. Hay and Manfredi had to rewrite the script in less than a year using a very active process.[19] Leterrier sought Ray Harryhausen's involvement,[15] and reunited with Hulk concept artist Aaron Sims, who had already been working on Clash of the Titans with Norrington.[20]
Louis Leterrier, during an interview, revealed that he is a big Saint Seiya (also known as Knights of the Zodiac) fan. He specifically cited the armor that the Gods wear in his film remake as a sign of homage and respect to Saint Seiya. Masami Kurumada (the author of Saint Seiya) was even asked to collaborate with the production team on poster designs.[21]
Sam Worthington took the role of Perseus because he wanted to make a Clash of the Titans for his nine year old nephew's generation. During filming the cast had a few laughs about the costumes but he took it very seriously "so the audience doesn't have to."[22] Worthington also did not wear sandals while filming, he instead painted toes on his Nikes so he could perform the stunts better.[23]
Leterrier approached the studio early on about a 3-D conversion but it was expensive and very new technology.[24] After Avatar, the studio put pressure on Leterrier to convert the film. He was worried because of his previous concerns but was convinced after seeing the View-D conversion process.[25] Leterrier considered the 3-D conversion to improve the viewing experience, and states that it should not be seen as a gimmick.[24]
Filming began April 27, 2009, in London at Shepperton Studios, and also Longcross Studios, Chertsey.[26] Filming also took place in Wales, the Canary Islands (Spain) (primarily at the World Heritage Site Teide National Park in Tenerife), Maspalomas Dunes, Gran Canaria, and Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote. Aerial photography was conducted in Iceland and Ethiopia.[2]
Filming of volcano scenes at the Harriet hole in Dinorwic Slate Quarry in Wales wrapped at the end of July.[27] This slate quarry has also been used for locations for Willow and Street Fighter.[28]
Clash of the Titans was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010.[3][4] The Heat Vision Blog reported on January 27, 2010 that after a 3D conversion test of the film which Warner Bros. found to be a "roaring success", the film would be converted to 3D and would premiere on April 2, 2010. The national premiere in Spain took place on Tuesday 30 March in one of the two capitals of the Canary Islands (Santa Cruz de Tenerife).[5][6][29]
The score for this film was composed by Ramin Djawadi and released March 30, 2010.
Clash of the Titans: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi | |
Released | March 30, 2010 |
Genre | Film score |
Length | 75:18 |
Label | WaterTower Music |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "The Storm That Brought You To Me" | 4:50 |
2. | "There Is A God In You" | 1:38 |
3. | "Perseus" | 6:33 |
4. | "You Can't Hide From Hades" | 3:30 |
5. | "Medusa" | 4:07 |
6. | "Scorpiox" | 3:23 |
7. | "Argos" | 1:53 |
8. | "You Fall, You Die" | 1:14 |
9. | "Written In The Stars" | 2:54 |
10. | "Pegasus" | 2:22 |
11. | "Bring Everything (But The Owl)" | 1:47 |
12. | "Killed By A God" | 1:50 |
13. | "Djinn" | 1:56 |
14. | "Eyes Down" | 1:56 |
15. | "You Were Saved For A Reason" | 1:20 |
16. | "Redemption Through Blood" | 2:14 |
17. | "I Have Everything I Need" | 3:15 |
18. | "King Acrisius" | 2:27 |
19. | "It's Expensive Where You're Going" | 2:50 |
20. | "Be My Weapon" | 10:09 |
21. | "The Best Of Both" | 1:29 |
22. | "Release The Kraken" | 6:03 |
23. | "It's Almost Human Of You" | 3:15 |
Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 29% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 225 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's consensus stated "An obviously affectionate remake of the 1981 original, Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans doesn't offer enough visual thrills to offset the deficiencies of its script."[30] On Metacritic, the film was assigned a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 37 reviews from mainstream critics.[31]
In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, stating "I don't say it's good cinema, although I recognize the craftsmanship that went into it. I don't say it's good acting, when the men have so much facial hair they all look like Liam Neeson. I like the energy, the imagination, the silliness".[32] Richard Corliss of Time understands that many critics did not like it, but found the film "a full-throttle action-adventure, played unapologetically straight." He dismissed other critics' complaints, writing that the film is "very watchable in 2-D", that other critics were biased by nostalgia for the original, and that 15 seconds of Bubo is enough for his tastes.[33] Colin Covert stated the film was "all flash, trash, and crash; a tasty hunk of baloney; mindless yet shamelessly thrilling." He considered Worthington to have a "Shatneresque heaviness about him", and found that all the laughs came from the fact that the heavyweight actors were "slumming through their roles."[34] James Berardinelli gave it a mixed review, concluding that Clash of the Titans is a flawed but mildly entertaining regurgitation of Greek mythological elements, but it's also an example of how poorly-executed 3D can hamstring a would-be spectacle.[35]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film one star out of four, criticizing it for being "a sham, with good actors going for the paycheck and using beards and heavy makeup to hide their shame."[36] In a review for the Chicago Tribune, Turan complained that the film is worse in 3D; he went on further to explain that the action scenes are "more of a distraction than an enhancement", with the battle scenes being cluttered and "harder to follow rather than exciting."[37] Claudia Puig for USA Today wrote that the film's "most outstanding achievement is the ability to be both chaotic and dull." Justification for her opinion came from the frantic action sequences and muddled special effects.[38] Dan Kois blamed the director for making a "muddled disappointment" instead of a "camp classic that could have endured for generations." Kois also accused Leterrier of not knowing how to direct an action scene, and that the film is lacking in "wit and flair".[39] David Stratton also criticized the film's action scenes, suggesting to Leterrier: "check out your local video store for something by Kurosawa, or almost any movie with sword fight scenes, to see how it's done."[40]
Clash of the Titans earned $61 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada (not including Thursday previews).[1] The movie was #1 for two weeks in a row, edging out Date Night and the previous winner How to Train Your Dragon.[41] As of August 31, 2010, Clash of the Titans made $163,214,888 domestically and $328,703,522 internationally for a worldwide total of $491,918,410.
Clash of the Titans is now available on DVD and Blu-ray combo pack on July 16 (Mexico), July 26 (UK), July 27 (US) and (Canada), October 6 (Japan) 2010.[42] In Germany and Japan, A Blu-Ray 3D Disc will be released as well.
Warner Bros. Interactive released a video game adaptation of the movie on July 27, 2010 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with the film's home video release. It was originally planned to come out in March 2010, though the game was delayed due to difficulties. The game follows Perseus on his quest to fight Hades and his minions.
In March 2010, it has been stated that a trilogy has already been written. Director Louis Leterrier will not come back to direct, but will be an executive producer on the second installment.[43] Clash of the Titans II has a tentative Spring 2012 release date.[44]
In June 2010, it was announced that the sequel will start shooting in January 2011.[45] Warner Bros. Pictures confirmed David Leslie Johnson and Dan Mazeau as the writers for the project.[46] Jonathan Liebesman has been confirmed to direct the sequel.[47]
Instead of converting into 3-D, the sequel will be shot in 3-D in order to improve on the first installment, which received negative reviews for its 3-D release.
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