The Addams Family (2019 film)

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The Addams Family
The Addams Family (2019 film).png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay byMatt Lieberman
Story by
  • Matt Lieberman
  • Erica Rivinoja
  • Conrad Vernon
Based onThe Addams Family
by Charles Addams
Produced by
Starring
Edited byDavid Ian Salter
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • October 11, 2019 (2019-10-11) (United States)
Running time
86 minutes[3]
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$24 million[4]
Box office$203.7 million[4][5]

The Addams Family is a 2019 computer-animated supernatural black comedy film directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan and based on the characters created by Charles Addams. The film stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney.

The film was theatrically released in the United States and in Canada by United Artists Releasing and in international and in home media by Universal Pictures on October 11, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics for its narrative and screenplay, though the performances and animation were praised, and grossed $203 million on a $24 million budget. A sequel is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021.

Plot[]

An angry mob that disapproves of macabre nature disrupts the midnight wedding ceremony of Gomez and Morticia and drives them away with the rest of the Addams clan. During the chaos, Grandmama buys Fester time to evacuate Gomez, Morticia, and Thing. Gomez and Morticia decide to move to New Jersey, a place "no one would be caught dead in." There, Gomez, Morticia, and Thing find their "perfect" home in an abandoned asylum on a hill. They meet Lurch, an escaped mental patient whom they hit when Thing was driving their car, and immediately recruit him as their butler.

Thirteen years later, the Addams family continue to live their gloomy lives in isolation from the outside world. Gomez prepares his son Pugsley for his upcoming Mazurka, a rite of passage that every Addams family member takes. Morticia struggles to keep their daughter, Wednesday, from wanting to experience the world outside the mansion after a balloon and confetti appear on their property.

Elsewhere, reality TV host Margaux Needler, who is building a perfect planned community called "Assimilation" so her show will have a successful season finale, discovers the Addams family's household and becomes determined to rid the town of it when the family refuses to change. Wednesday then meets Margaux's neglected daughter Parker and convinces Morticia to let her attend junior high school. Pugsley struggles with the complicated traditions and pressure of his Mazurka, even with the guidance of Gomez and Uncle Fester. Grandmama arrives at the house for the event.

At school, Wednesday stands up for Parker and her twin friends Layla and Kayla from the school's bully Bethany and befriends them after she resurrects some dead frogs and commands them to attack Bethany. Later on, the two discuss their frustrations and change their dressing habits – Parker becomes more gothic and Wednesday dresses more colorfully – to the shock of both of their mothers, with Margaux vowing to destroy the Addamses. After an argument with Morticia, Wednesday decides to run away in secret and stay with Parker for a while, which Pugsley inadvertently tells Morticia.

As Cousin Itt arrives at the Addams household, Wednesday and Parker discover a secret room under Parker's house revealing that Margaux has planted hidden cameras in every house she designed in town. She has been spreading rumors about the Addamses through social media, claiming that they are freaks. Margaux catches the two and locks them in the attic, but Wednesday breaks them out. Margaux rallies the townsfolk to attack the mansion just as the entire Addams clan arrive for Pugsley's Mazurka.

During the Mazurka, Pugsley fails in front of the whole family, but Gomez admits he forgot to let him be who he is. The mob arrives flinging boulders, severely damaging the mansion and trapping the family inside. Pugsley uses his love of bombs and destruction to defend his family and manages to destroy the mob's trebuchet. Wednesday and Parker join in and help everyone out of the wreckage safely with help of the living tree Ichabod.

As Margaux tries to take control once more, her treachery is revealed by Parker. They see that the Addamses are not monsters, but a family, as Wednesday and Parker states that everyone is weird in their own unique way, revealing that Margaux has been spying on Assimilation's civilians. Margaux's agent Glenn carries a message from the network stating that her show is now cancelled for her crimes thanks to Parker live-streaming her tirade against the civilians with her phone. As Fester comes up with a compromise for Margaux, Assimilation's civilians realize the error of their ways.

After they work together to rebuild the mansion, the Addams family and Assimilation's civilians live in peace. Margaux becomes Fester's business partner, selling homes to the other members of the Addams clan, and Pugsley completes his Mazurka.

Cast[]

  • Oscar Isaac as Gomez Addams, Morticia's husband and Wednesday and Pugsley's father.
  • Charlize Theron as Morticia Addams, Gomez's wife and Wednesday and Pugsley's mother
  • Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams, Gomez and Morticia's daughter and Pugsley's older sister.
  • Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley Addams, Gomez and Morticia's son and Wednesday's younger brother.
  • Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, Gomez's older brother, Morticia's brother-in-law and Wednesday and Pugsley's uncle.
  • Snoop Dogg as Cousin Itt, Gomez and Fester's hairy cousin.
  • Bette Midler as Grandmama Addams, Gomez and Fester's mother.
  • Allison Janney as Margaux Needler, a sly and greedy reality TV show host and homemaking guru.
  • Conrad Vernon as
    • Lurch, the Addams Family's butler.
    • An unnamed priest that presides over Gomez and Morticia's wedding and is one of their relatives.
    • The spirit that haunts the abandoned asylum Gomez and Morticia move to demanding the place be left undisturbed.
    • Dr. Flambé, a demon-like relative of the Addams family whose head can light on fire.
  • Martin Short as Grandpa Frump, Morticia's late father whom she contacts through a séance.
  • Catherine O'Hara as Grandma Frump, Morticia's late mother whom she contacts through a séance.
  • Tituss Burgess as Glenn, Margaux's agent.
  • Jenifer Lewis as Great Auntie Sloom, Grandmama's strict and cold sister with a missing left eye and stilts under her dress, who judges Pugsley's Mazurka.
  • Elsie Fisher as Parker Needler, Margaux's neglected and rebellious daughter who befriends Wednesday.
  • Aimee Garcia as Denise, a camera operator who works for Margaux.
  • Scott Underwood as Mitch, a member of Margaux's film crew.
  • Mikey Madison as Candi, a barista that works in Assimilation.
  • Chelsea Frei as Bethany, a popular girl who frequently bullies and antagonizes Parker.
  • Pom Klementieff as Layla and Kayla, twin girls who are Parker's friends.
  • Deven Green as Ms. Gravely, a teacher at Parker's school.
  • Maggie Wheeler as Trudy Pickering, an inhabitant of Assimilation.
  • Harland Williams as Norman Pickering, an inhabitant of Assimilation and the husband of Trudy.
    • Williams also voices Ggerri.

Production[]

In 2010, after Illumination Entertainment acquired the rights to The Addams Family comics, they began work on the film at Universal Pictures as a stop-motion animation directed by Tim Burton and produced by Chris Meledandri.[6] After development stopped, however, in 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced that they would produce the animated film based on The Addams Family comics, with Pamela Pettler then writing the screenplay.[7][8] In June 2019, it was announced that Bron Creative is co-financing the film with MGM as part of a multi-picture co-financing agreement with the studio.[9] In October 2017, it was announced that the film would be directed and produced by Conrad Vernon. Additionally, Gail Berman, Alex Schwartz, and Alison O'Brien also produced the film. Matt Lieberman wrote the finished screenplay, with story by credit for Lieberman, Rivinoja, and Vernon. The film was animated by Cinesite Studios and Nitrogen Studios with Tabitha Shick overseeing it for MGM.[10][11] In December 2017, it was reported that Oscar Isaac was in talks to voice the role of Gomez Addams in the film.[12] In June 2018, Isaac was officially cast, alongside Charlize Theron, Allison Janney, Bette Midler, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard and Nick Kroll.[13] In July 2018, Aimee Garcia joined the voice cast.[14] In August 2018, Elsie Fisher was added as well.[15] In November 2018, Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short were added as Morticia's parents,[16] In August 2019, Snoop Dogg, Tituss Burgess, and Jenifer Lewis joined as Cousin Itt, Glenn, and Great Auntie Sloom, respectively.[17]

Music[]

Migos, Karol G, Snoop Dogg, and Rock Mafia recorded a song for the film called "My Family", which was released on September 13, 2019 and plays during the end credits; while Christina Aguilera released the song "Haunted Heart" from the film's soundtrack on September 27, 2019, which plays in the film's opening.[18] HeathisHuman created an updated version of Vic Mizzy's original theme song that plays at the film's ending.[19]

Marketing[]

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer launched the film with a global promotion partner campaign worth $150 million, their largest ever outside the 007 franchise.[20] They spent a total of $72 million on prints and advertisements for the film.[21]

Release[]

Theatrical[]

The film was theatrically released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer through United Artists Releasing in the United States on October 11, 2019 with Universal Pictures handling the international rights.[15] It was previously set for October 18, 2019[22][12] before being moved up to October 11, 2019 to avoid direct competition with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.[23]

Home media[]

The film was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment digitally on December 24, 2019, followed by a DVD and Blu-ray release on January 21, 2020.

Reception[]

Box office[]

The Addams Family grossed $100 million in the United States and Canada and $103 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $203 million.[4][5] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $76 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[21]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Gemini Man and Jexi and was projected to gross $28–30 million from 4,007 theaters in its opening weekend.[24] The film made $9.7 million on its first day including $1.25 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $30.3 million, finishing second behind holdover Joker.[25] It made $16.3 million in its second weekend, $12 million in its third and $8.2 million in its fourth, finishing fourth, third and sixth, respectively.[26][27][28]

Critical response[]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% and an average rating of 5.30/10, based on 156 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Addams Family's starry voice cast and eye-catching animation aren't enough to outweigh its saccharine handling of the delightfully dark source material."[29] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[30] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported that surveyed children and parents gave it 4 and 3.5 out of 5 stars, respectively.[25]

Accolades[]

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2019 HMMA Award Best Original Song – Animated Film
("Haunted Heart")		 Christina Aguilera (written and performed by)
Antonina Armato (written by)
Tim James (written by)		 Nominated
2021 Saturn Awards[31] Best Animated Film The Addams Family Pending

Sequel[]

Main article: The Addams Family 2

On October 15, 2019, it was announced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that a sequel is scheduled for release on October 22, 2021, with Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan reprising their roles as co-directors, and Cinesite Studios returning as animators.[20][32][33] On October 8, 2020, Bill Hader and Javon "Wanna" Walton joined the cast; Hader voices a new character named Cyrus, while Walton replaces Finn Wolfhard as the voice of Pugsley. It was also pushed forward two weeks to October 8, 2021.[34] On January 21, 2021, it was again pushed forward one week to October 1, 2021, allowing another MGM film, No Time to Die to take over the slot.[35] In July 2021, Wallace Shawn was revealed to have voiced a new character for the film.[36] In August 2021, the film shifted its release for a simultaneous premium video on demand rental and theatrical release on the October 1 date, in the United States and Canada, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.[37]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Mychael & Jeff Danna to Score Animated 'The Addams Family' Movie - Film Music Reporter".
  2. ^ Galuppo, Mia (February 5, 2019). "MGM, Annapurna Team for Distribution Label United Artists Releasing". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  3. ^ "The Addams Family (2019)". AMC Theatres. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "The Addams Family (2019)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Addams Family (2019)". The Numbers. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  6. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 18, 2010). "Tim Burton's Next 3D Animated Film? Da Da Da Da, Snap Snap: 'The Addams Family'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  7. ^ Eisenberg, Eric. "New Animated Addams Family Movie Is In The Works". CinemaBlend. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  8. ^ McNary, Dave (October 31, 2013). "'Addams Family' Reborn As Animated Movie At MGM". Variety. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  9. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (June 6, 2019). "Bron, MGM Ink Multipicture $100M Co-Financing Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  10. ^ Hipes, Patrick (October 12, 2017). "MGM's CG 'The Addams Family' Movie Gets Animated". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  11. ^ Trumbore, Dave (October 13, 2017). "Addams Family Animated Movie Hires Director Conrad Vernon". Collider. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b McNary, Dave (December 15, 2017). "Oscar Isaac in Talks to Voice Gomez Addams in Animated 'Addams Family'". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  13. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (5 June 2018). "'Addams Family' Movie Scares Up Charlize Theron, Bette Midler, Allison Janney & More For Voice Cast". Deadline Hollywood.
  14. ^ ""Lucifer" Star Aimee Garcia Joins 'The Addams Family'". IMDb.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "'Eighth Grade' Star Elsie Fisher Joins Animated 'Addams Family' Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  16. ^ Wakeman, Gregory (November 23, 2018). "Martin Short and Catherine O'Hara join the animated 'Addams Family' movie". Metro. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  17. ^ Trumbore, Dave (August 7, 2019). "Official Trailer and Images for 'The Addams Family' Bring the Title Terrors into the Light". Collider. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  18. ^ Moreland, Quinn (September 13, 2019). "Snoop Dogg and Migos Share New Song for The Addams Family: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  19. ^ The Addams Family (2019) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-01-22
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 15, 2019). "'The Addams Family 2' Is In The Works After Great $35M+ 4-Day Weekend, MGM/UAR Set Fall 2021 Release". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 13, 2020). "'The Addams Family' Snaps To No. 20 On Deadline's 2019 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  22. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 12, 2017). "'Sausage Party's' Conrad Vernon to Direct Animated 'Addams Family' Movie". Variety. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  23. ^ Pederson, Erik (March 6, 2019). "Universal Shifts Damon Lindelof's 'The Hunt' To October; 'Addams Family' Moves Up A Week – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  24. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 9, 2019). "'Joker' Breaks Tuesday October Record With $13.9M, Will Continue To Make Serious B.O. This Weekend With $42M+". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 13, 2019). "'Joker' $55M+ Scores 2nd Weekend October Record, 'Addams Family' Rich $30M+, 'Gemini Man' Still Not Dazzling $20M – Sunday B.O. Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
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  27. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 28, 2019). "'Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil' Tricks 'Joker' & Steals No. 1 With $19.37M After Dead Heat B.O. Battle". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  28. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 4, 2019). "How 'Terminator: Dark Fate' Conked Out With $27M+ & Why 'The Irishman' Is Not A Missed Strategic Opportunity – Box Office". Deadline. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  29. ^ "The Addams Family (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  30. ^ "The Addams Family (2019) Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  31. ^ "Saturn Awards Nominations 2021". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  32. ^ Ridgely, Charlie (November 6, 2019). "The Addams Family Directors Explain Their Approach to the Upcoming Sequel". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  33. ^ "'The Addams Family' Will be Back Soon!". Cinesite. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  34. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 8, 2020). "'The Addams Family 2': Bill Hader & Javon "Wanna" Walton Join Voice Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  35. ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 21, 2021). "James Bond: 'No Time To Die' Release Date Delayed to Fall". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  36. ^ Dick, Jeremy (July 2, 2021). "The Addams Family 2 Character Posters Take the Kooky Family on One Ooky Summer Vacation". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  37. ^ Jackson, Angelique (August 20, 2021). "MGM's 'Addams Family 2' Shifts Release Plan, Will Debut Theatrically and for Rental on Same Day". Variety. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.

External links[]

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