| Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | |
|---|---|
Official international poster |
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| Directed by | Edgar Wright |
| Produced by | Edgar Wright Marc Platt Eric Gitter Nira Park |
| Screenplay by | Edgar Wright Michael Bacall |
| Based on | Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley |
| Narrated by | Bill Hader |
| Starring | Michael Cera Mary Elizabeth Winstead Kieran Culkin Chris Evans Anna Kendrick Alison Pill Brandon Routh Jason Schwartzman |
| Music by | Nigel Godrich |
| Cinematography | Bill Pope |
| Editing by | Jonathan Amos Paul Machliss |
| Studio | Big Talk Films Relativity Media |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | July 27, 2010 (Fantasia Festival) August 13, 2010 (United States) |
| Running time | 112 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $85–90 million[2][3][4] $60 million after tax rebates[5] |
| Box office | $47,664,559[2][5] |
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a 2010 comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The film is about Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), a young Canadian musician, meeting the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an American delivery girl. In order to win Ramona, Scott learns that he must defeat Ramona's "seven evil exes", who are coming to kill him.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was planned as a film after the first volume of the comic was released. Wright became attached to the project and filming began in March 2009 in Toronto. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World premiered after a panel discussion at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 22, 2010. It received a wide release in North America on August 13, 2010 in 2,818 theaters.[5][6] The film finished fifth on its first weekend of release with a total of $10.5 million.[5][7] The film received generally positive reviews by critics and fans of the graphic novel, but it failed to recoup its production budget during its release in theaters, grossing $31.5 million in North America and $16 million overseas.[5][8] However, the film has fared better on home video, becoming the top-selling Blu-ray on Amazon.com during the first day it was available.[9]
Contents |
In Toronto, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), the bass guitarist for the band "Sex Bob-omb", begins dating high schooler Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) much to the disapproval of his friends. Scott meets an American girl, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who has been appearing in his dreams, and becomes obsessed with her - losing interest in Knives. While playing in a battle of the bands, Scott is attacked by Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), who introduces himself as the first of Ramona's "evil exes." Scott defeats Patel and learns from Ramona that, in order for them to date, he must defeat all seven of her evil exes.
Her second evil ex, popular actor and skateboarder Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), comes to Toronto to film a movie. Scott breaks up with Knives; still in love, Knives attempts to win him back from Ramona. Scott defeats Lee by tricking him into performing a dangerous skateboard grind which he fails to complete. Scott later encounters the third evil ex, Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), who is dating Scott's ex-girlfriend, Natalie "Envy" Adams (Brie Larson). Todd initially overpowers Scott using his psychic vegan abilities, but is stripped of his powers by the Vegan Police (Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins, Jr.) after Scott tricks him into having coffee with half and half milk, allowing Scott to defeat him.
Scott begins to grow upset with Ramona over her dating history by the defeat of the fourth ex, Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman), as he is afraid of fighting girls. During the second round of the battle of the bands, Sex Bob-omb faces off against the fifth and sixth evil exes, twin Katayanagi brothers Kyle (Keita Saito) and Ken (Shota Saito), earning Scott an extra life upon their defeat. During the battle, Scott sees Ramona together with her seventh evil ex, Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman), who turns out to be Sex Bob-omb's sponsor, G-Man. Gideon offers the members of Sex Bob-omb a record deal and a chance to perform at his newly opened Chaos Theatre. While the rest of the band signs the contract, Scott refuses to accept the offer and leaves the band. Shortly after, Ramona breaks up with Scott. Scott returns home to get a phone call from Gideon, inviting him to the Chaos Theatre to show there are no hard feelings.
Scott enters the Chaos Theatre and challenges Gideon to a fight, and professes his love for Ramona, gaining the "Power of Love" sword which he uses to fight Gideon. Gideon strikes Scott in mid-air, making him lose the sword. Knives also crashes the scene (and blocks another attack), to fight Ramona over Scott. Not able to take it any more, Scott goes to break up the girls' fight, and admits that he cheated on them with each other. He is killed by Gideon before he can apologize.
In Limbo, Scott and Ramona discuss the reasons for each other's actions. Ramona tells Scott that she broke up with Gideon because he ignored her during their relationship. While they were together however, Gideon had a mind control device planted on the back of her neck. Scott realizes he still has an extra life, which he uses to escape limbo and returns to life at the moment in time where Gideon calls him. Scott re-enters the Chaos Theatre.
Scott challenges Gideon again, stating he is fighting for himself and gaining the "Power of Self-Respect" sword. The mid-air strike is repeated, and Scott strikes Gideon. With Gideon unconscious, Scott blocks Knives' attack on Ramona, and apologizes to both girls. Gideon rises to fight Scott again and knocks down Ramona, who betrayed him, but is defeated when Knives and Scott team up to destroy him. Shortly afterwards, Nega Scott (a shadow-like alter ego of Scott) appears, but instead of fighting, the two get along quite well. Free from Gideon's control, Ramona prepares to leave. Knives accepts that her relationship with Scott is over, and encourages him to chase after Ramona. He does, and the two start their relationship anew.
Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins, Jr. appear uncredited as the Vegan Policemen. The author, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and his wife, Hope Larson, also appear uncredited as Lee's Palace bar patrons. Reuben Langdon (known for being the voices of Ken in Street Fighter IV, and Dante in the Devil May Cry series) has a cameo as one of Lucas Lee's stunt doubles.
After artist Bryan Lee O'Malley completed the first volume of Scott Pilgrim, his publisher Oni Press contacted producer Marc Platt with the proposition for a film version.[11] Universal Studios contracted Edgar Wright who had just finished his last film, Shaun of the Dead, to adapt the Scott Pilgrim comics.[11][12] O'Malley originally had mixed feelings about a film adaptation, stating that he "expected them to turn it into a full-on action comedy with some actor that I hated" [but ultimately] "didn't even care. I was a starving artist, and I was like, 'Please, just give me some money.'"[13]
In May 2005, the studio signed Michael Bacall to write the screenplay adaptation.[12] Bacall said that he wanted to write the Scott Pilgrim film because he "felt strongly" about the story and "empathized" with Scott Pilgrim's characters.[14] By January 2009, filmmakers rounded out its cast for the film, now titled Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.[15] Edgar Wright noted that O'Malley was "very involved" with the script of the film from the start, and even contributed lines to and "polished" certain scenes in the film. Likewise due to the long development process several lines from the various scripts written by Wright and Bacall ended up in books four and five as well.[16]
O'Malley confirmed that no material from Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, the sixth Scott Pilgrim volume, would appear in the film, as production had already begun. While he had given ideas and suggestions for the final act of the film, he admitted to that some of those plans might change throughout the writing process and ultimately stated that "Their ending is their ending".[17] O'Malley gave Wright and Bacall his notes for the sixth book while filming took place.[18]
Casting of the principal characters began in June 2008.[19] Principal photography began in March 2009 in Toronto[20][21] and wrapped as scheduled in August.[19][22] In the film's original ending, written before the release of the final Scott Pilgrim book, Scott ultimately gets back together with Knives. After the final book in the series was released, in which Scott and Ramona get back together, and negative audience reaction to the ending during testing, a new ending was filmed to match the books, with Scott and Ramona getting back together.[23]
The film was given a production budget of $85–90 million, an amount offset by tax rebates that resulted in a final cost around $60 million.[5] Universal fronted $60 million of the pre-rebate budget.[24]
Director Wright felt confident with his casting in the film. Wright stated that "Like with Hot Fuzz how we had great people in every single tiny part, it's the same with this. What's great with this is that there's people you know, like with Michael [Cera] and Jason [Schwartzman], and then we have people who are up and coming, like Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza and Brie Larson, and then there's complete unknowns as well".[25] There was no studio interference with casting more unknowns, as Wright stated that "Universal never really gave me any problems about casting bigger people, because in a way Michael [Cera] has starred in two $100 million-plus movies, and also a lot of the other people, though they're not the biggest names, people certainly know who they are."[25] Wright planned on casting Cera while writing Hot Fuzz after watching episodes of Arrested Development.[25] Wright said he needed an actor that "audiences will still follow even when the character is being a bit of an ass."[26] Edgar Wright ran all his casting decisions by O'Malley during the casting session.[18] Mary Elizabeth Winstead was Wright's choice for Ramona Flowers two years before filming had started, because "she has a very sunny disposition as a person, so it was interesting to get her to play a version of herself that was broken inside. She's great in the film because she causes a lot of chaos but remains supernaturally grounded."[10] Ellen Wong, a Toronto actress known mostly from a role in This Is Wonderland,[19] auditioned for the part of Knives Chau three times. On her second audition, Wright learned that Wong has a green belt in tae kwon do, and says he found himself intrigued by this "sweet-faced young lady being a secret badass".[10]
Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Beck, Metric, Broken Social Scene, Cornelius, Dan the Automator, Kid Koala, and David Campbell all contributed to the film's soundtrack.[27][28][29][30][31] Beck wrote and composed the music played by Sex Bob-omb in the film, and two unreleased songs can also be heard in the teaser trailer.[32] Cast members Mark Webber, Alison Pill and Johnny Simmons all had to learn to play their respective instruments, and spent time rehearsing as a band with Michael Cera (who already played bass) and Beck before filming began.[33] The actors also perform on the movie soundtrack.[34] Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene wrote all the songs for Crash and the Boys. The tracks were sung by actor Erik Knudsen, who plays Crash in the film. Drew stated that the reason behind this was that "[he] knew that [Knudsen] didn't need to be a singer to pull [it] off" because the songs were "so quick and punk and fast" and "it needed to be the character's voice."[35] Metric is the inspiration for the film's fictional band, the Clash at Demonhead, and contributed the song "Black Sheep" to the film. The clothing of Metric's lead singer, Emily Haines, is also the basis for the clothing of the lead singer of Clash at Demonhead.[36] Brie Larson provides the vocals for "Black Sheep" in the film, while the soundtrack features a version of the song with Haines as lead singer.[37] Chris Murphy of the band Sloan was the guitar coach for the actors in the film.[25] Music from The Legend of Zelda video game series is used in a dream sequence in the film. To get permission to use the music, Edgar Wright sent a clip of the film and wrote a letter to Nintendo that described the music as "like nursery rhymes to a generation."[26]
The opening title sequence was designed by Richard Kenworthy of Shynola, and was inspired by the drawn-on-film animation work of Len Lye, Oskar Fischinger, Stan Brakhage and Norman McLaren.[38]
A Scott Pilgrim vs. the World panel featured at the San Diego Comic-Con International held on July 22, 2010. After the panel Edgar Wright invited selected members of the audience for a screening of the film which was followed by a performance by Metric.[40] Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was also shown at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on July 27, 2010 and was also featured at the Movie-Con III in London, England on August 15, 2010.[41][42]
The film premiered in Japan during the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival on February 26, 2011 as an official selection. It was released to the rest of the country on April 29, 2011.[43][44]
On March 25, 2010, the first teaser trailer for the film was released.[45] A second trailer featuring music by The Ting Tings, LCD Soundsystem, Be Your Own Pet, Cornelius, Blood Red Shoes, and The Prodigy was released May 31, 2010.[46]
At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, the first clip from the film was released featuring Scott Pilgrim facing Lucas Lee in battle. The actors playing Lucas Lee's stunt doubles are the actual stunt doubles for Chris Evans.[47] Alison Pill who plays Kim Pine in the film stated that her character's past relationship with Scott will be explored in other media stating that "There will be a little something-something that will air on Adult Swim".[48] The animated short, Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, produced by Titmouse Inc., adapts the opening prologue of the second Scott Pilgrim book and was aired on Adult Swim on August 12, 2010, later being released on their website.[49] Michael Cera stated that he felt the film was "a tricky one to sell. I don't know how you convey that movie in a marketing campaign. I can see it being something that people are slow to discover. In honesty, I was slow to find Shaun of the Dead".[50]
A video game was produced based on the series. It was released for PlayStation Network on August 10, 2010 and on Xbox Live Arcade on August 25, being met with mostly positive reviews.[51][52] The game is published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Chengdu, featuring animation by Paul Robertson and original music by Anamanaguchi.[53][54]
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on November 9, 2010[55] and in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2010.[56]
The DVD features include four audio commentaries: (director Edgar Wright, co-writer Michael Bacall, and author Bryan Lee O'Malley; Wright and director of photography Bill Pope; Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, and Brandon Routh; and Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin, and Mark Webber), 21 deleted, extended, and alternate scenes with commentary, bloopers, photo galleries, and a trivia track.
The Blu-ray release includes all DVD features, plus alternate footage, six featurettes, production blogs, Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, trailers and TV spots, storyboard picture-in-picture, a DVD copy, and a digital copy. The "Ultimate Japan Version" Blu-ray includes a commentary track that features Wright and Shinya Arino. It also includes footage of Wright and Michael Cera's publicity tour through Japan and a roundtable discussion with Japanese film critic Tomohiro Machiyama. It was released on September 2, 2011.[57]
In its first week of release, the DVD sold 190,217 copies, earning $3,422,004 in revenue.[58] It reached the top of the UK Blu-ray charts in its first week of release.[59]
The film was widely released in North America on August 13, 2010, opening in 2,818 theaters.[5][6] The film finished fifth on its first weekend of release with a total of $10.5 million,[5][7][24] and by its second weekend of release had dropped to the bottom of the top ten.[60] The Wall Street Journal described this as "disappointing"[7] while Ben Fritz of the Los Angeles Times noted that the film appeared to be a "major financial disappointment".[3] Universal acknowledged their disappointment at the opening weekend, saying they had "been aware of the challenges of broadening this film to a mainstream audience"; regardless, the studio's spokeman said Universal was "proud of this film and our relationship with the visionary and creative filmmaker Edgar Wright.... Edgar has created a truly unique film that is both envelope pushing and genre bending and when examined down the road will be identified as an important piece of filmmaking."[24]
In the UK, the film opened in 408 cinemas, finishing second on its opening weekend with £1.6 million,[61] dropping to fifth place by the next weekend.
Response to the film post-premiere has been very positive. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 81% based on 217 reviews, with an average score of 7.5 out of 10. Rotten Tomatoes' consensus is that "its script may not be as dazzling as its eye-popping visuals, but Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is fast, funny, and inventive".[62]
Metacritic has assigned an average score of 69, based on 38 reviews, which indicates generally favorable reviews.[63] David Edelstein of New York magazine wrote that "The film is repetitive, top-heavy: Wright blows his wad too early. But a different lead might have kept you laughing and engaged. Cera doesn't come alive in the fight scenes the way Stephen Chow does in the best (and most Tashlin-like) of all the surreal martial-arts comedies, Kung Fu Hustle."[64]
At a test screening, director Kevin Smith was impressed by the film saying "That movie is great. It's spellbinding and nobody is going to understand what the fuck just hit them. I would be hard pressed to say, 'he's bringing a comic book to life!' but he is bringing a comic book to life." Smith also said that fellow directors Quentin Tarantino and Jason Reitman were "really into it".[65] Singer for the band Sister and writer for Now, Carla Gillis, also commented on the film.[66] Gillis was the singer of the now-disbanded Canadian group Plumtree, and their single "Scott Pilgrim" that inspired O'Malley to create the character and the series.[66] In an interview describing the film and the song that inspired it, Gillis felt the film carried the same positive yet bittersweet tone of the song.[66]
After premiere screenings at the San Diego Comic-Con International, the film received positive reviews. Variety gave the film a mixed review, referring to the film as "An example of attention-deficit filmmaking at both its finest and its most frustrating" and that "anyone over 25 is likely to find director Edgar Wright's adaptation of the cult graphic novel exhausting, like playing chaperone at a party full of oversexed college kids."[1] The Hollywood Reporter wrote a negative review, stating that "What's disappointing is that this is all so juvenile. Nothing makes any real sense...[Michael] Cera doesn't give a performance that anchors the nonsense." and "Universal should have a youth hit in the domestic market when the film opens next month. A wider audience among older or international viewers seems unlikely."[67]
IGN gave the film a positive rating of 8/10 calling the film "funny and offbeat" as well as noting that the film is "best suited for the wired generation and those of us who grew up on Nintendo and MTV. Its kinetic nature and quirky sensibilities might be a turnoff for some."[68]
Nick Schager of Slant Magazine gave the film a positive review of three and a half stars out of four, calling Edgar Wright an "inspired mash-up artist, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World may be his finest hybridization to date".[69] A. O. Scott made the film his "critics pick", stating "There are some movies about youth that just make you feel old, even if you aren't...Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has the opposite effect. Its speedy, funny, happy-sad spirit is so infectious that the movie makes you feel at home in its world even if the landscape is, at first glance, unfamiliar."[70]
After its premiere in Japan, several notable video game, film and anime industry personalities have praised Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, among them Hironobu Sakaguchi, Goichi Suda, Miki Mizuno, Tomohiko Itō, Rintaro Watanabe and Takao Nakano.[71]
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2010.[72]
The film also appeared, unranked, on the following critics' top ten lists.
The film received four nominations at the 2010 Satellite Awards held on the 19th of December at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City. It won in two categories; Best film - Comedy or Musical and Best Actor - Musical or Comedy for Michael Cera. The film also made the final short list for a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards but did not receive a nomination.
| Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Category | Name | Outcome | |
| Artios Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature - Comedy | Robin D. Cook and Jennifer Euston | Nominated | |
| Austin Film Critics Association Awards | Best film | Nominated | ||
| Central Ohio Film Critics Association | Best Picture | Nominated | ||
| Best Overlooked Film | Nominated | |||
| Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | Best Director | Edgar Wright | Nominated | |
| Best Ensemble | Overall casting | Nominated | ||
| Empire Awards | Best Film | Nominated | ||
| Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Nominated | |||
| Best Director | Edgar Wright | Won | ||
| GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Film - Wide Release | Nominated | ||
| Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form | Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright | Nominated | |
| Sierra Awards | Best Art Direction | Nominated | ||
| Best Costume Design | Laura Jean Shannon | Nominated | ||
| Best Song | Beck for "We Are Sex Bob-Omb" | Nominated | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Nominated | |||
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Editing | Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright | Nominated | ||
| SFX Awards | Best Film Director | Edgar Wright | Won | |
| San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Best Editing | Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss | Won | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Awards[74] | Best Film - Musical or Comedy | Won | ||
| Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Michael Cera | Won | ||
| Best Art Direction and Production Design | Nigel Churcher and Marcus Rowland | Nominated | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright | Nominated | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best Fantasy Film | Nominated | ||
| Scream Awards | The Ultimate Scream | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Edgar Wright | Nominated | ||
| Best Scream-Play | Nominated | |||
| Best Villain | Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman, Shota Saito, Keita Saito and Jason Schwartzman as The League of Evil Exes | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Ellen Wong | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kieran Culkin | Nominated | ||
| Fight Scene of the Year | Final Battle: Scott Pilgrim and Knives vs. Gideon Graves | Won | ||
| Best Comic Book Movie | Won | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Action Actor | Michael Cera | Nominated | |
| Choice Movie: Action Actress | Mary Elizabeth Winstead | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie: Action | Nominated | |||
| Utah Film Critics Association Awards | Best Director | Edgar Wright | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay | Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright | Nominated | ||
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