Season of the Witch (2011 film)
Season of the Witch | |
---|---|
Directed by | Dominic Sena |
Written by | Bragi F. Schut |
Produced by | Alex Gartner Charles Roven |
Starring | Nicolas Cage Ron Perlman Stephen Campbell Moore Claire Foy Stephen Graham Ulrich Thomsen Robert Sheehan Christopher Lee |
Cinematography | Amir Mokri |
Edited by | Mark Helfrich Dan Zimmerman |
Music by | Atli Örvarsson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Relativity Media Rogue |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 95 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $40 million[2] |
Box office | $91.6 million[1] |
Season of the Witch is a 2011 American
Development on the film began in 2000 when the spec script by screenwriter Bragi F. Schut was purchased by MGM. The project moved from MGM to Columbia Pictures to Relativity Media, where the film was finally produced by Charles Roven and Alex Gartner. Filming took place primarily in Austria, Hungary, and Croatia. Season of the Witch was released on January 7th 2011, in the United States, Canada, and several other territories.
Plot
In 13th century Villach, three women are accused by a priest of witchcraft, and are first hanged before being drowned. The priest performs a ritual on the three women using a book inscribed from the Key of Solomon so they can never return to life, but one of the women takes on a demonic appearance, sets the book on fire, and hangs the priest.
In the 14th century, German
Traveling through
Both knights agree under the condition that she be given a fair trial and the charges of desertion against them be dropped. The Cardinal agrees, and they are accompanied by the priest Debelzaq, the altar boy Kay von Wollenbart, Johann, the captain of the Cardinal's Guard, and Hagamar, a well-traveled
The group camps for the night, and when Johann decides to give up the mission and to convince the others to do the same, Anna attacks him, grabs his key to her cage, and escapes. The search for her leads the group to a mass grave, where Johann begins having visions of his dead daughter calling to him until he accidentally impales himself on Kay's drawn sword. When Anna is recaptured, she explains that she only ran away for fear of Debelzaq. They cross an old, crumbling suspension bridge, where Anna saves Kay from falling, grabbing him with unnatural strength. The group enters the dark forest, where Hagamar attempts to kill Anna, only to be stopped by the others. Anna appears to summon packs of wolves, which chase the group and kill Hagamar. An enraged Behmen tries to kill her, but is stopped by Debelzaq and Felson, who point to their destination on a nearby summit.
At the monastery, the men discover that all the monks have succumbed to the plague. They locate the ancient Book of Solomon filled with the holy rituals used to defeat evil. Debelzaq begins speaking the ritual used on witches, just as Anna, in a demonic voice, begins recounting Behmen's horror at Crusader cruelties. Realizing that she is not a witch, but has been possessed by a demon, he frantically performs an
As the men search for it, they realize it is not trying to escape, but to destroy the book so that nothing can kill it. They find a room where the monks were making copies for others to use. The demon destroys the copies and possesses the dead monks to use as weapons. The three men fight the monks' possessed corpses, as Debelzaq continues the exorcism ritual. The demon snaps Debelzaq's neck and incinerates Felson. As Kay continues the ritual, weakening it, Behmen fights the demon and is mortally wounded. Kay finishes the exorcism ritual and the demon is consumed by holy fire. Behmen asks Kay to keep Anna safe just before he dies. After their fallen friends are buried, Anna asks Kay to tell her about the men who saved her. They both leave the monastery, with the Book of Solomon safely in Kay's possession.
Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Behmen
- Ron Perlman as Felson
- Stephen Campbell Moore as Debelzaq
- Claire Foy as The Girl (Anna)
- Stephen Graham as Hagamar
- Ulrich Thomsen as Johan Eckhardt
- Robert Sheehan as Kay Von Wollenbart
- Christopher Lee as Cardinal D'Ambroise
Production
Development and filming
Screenwriter Bragi F. Schut wrote Season of the Witch as a spec script; in 2003, the script won Schut the Nicholl Fellowship, the single most prestigious award for an unproduced screenplay.[6] The script was placed on the open market in 2000. Numerous studios bid on the script, and producers Charles Roven and Alex Gartner collaborated with the studio MGM to place a winning bid.[7] MGM could not find traction to produce the film, and in 2003–2004 the studio "was essentially obtained by a number of concerns." Columbia Pictures earmarked several properties for themselves, including Season of the Witch.[8] The producers worked with director Dominic Sena to perform location shooting throughout Europe. They sought a 14th-century castle to use as a setting for the story; castles visited in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic could not fit the period.[7] With the film yet to be produced, the project eventually moved to Relativity Media, and Sena was officially attached to direct.[8] Business and creative discussions led to avoiding too much violence or gore in the film so a broader audience could see it. Actor Nicolas Cage was considered for the starring role but was unavailable during the time of the location shooting. Cage eventually became available in 2008 and was cast in the role.[7] He explained his interest, "I wanted to make movies that celebrated actors like Christopher Lee and Vincent Price, and the great Roger Corman classics that are unafraid to explore the paranormal and the supernatural."[9]
The crew began production immediately after Cage finished Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009). The film had a budget of approximately US$40 million, and much of the budget was covered by Relativity with pre-sales to distributors outside the United States.[2] Filming took place in Austria, Hungary and Croatia. Most of the principal photography took place in practical locations, with several days committed to filming on greenscreen.[10] Scenes were filmed at Burg Kreuzenstein and on the Loser mountain. Principal photography was completed by April 2009,[11] but the cast and crew re-gathered a few months later to film additional battle sequences, filming on greenscreen to save on travel.[10]
Casting
Cage stars as Behman of Bleibruck, a
Perlman plays Felson, a knight who is Behmen's best friend and fellow combatant during the Crusades. Perlman said of choosing the role, "I love the character. I'm actually more comfortable being a sidekick, because I don't get blamed if it is a complete disaster. I really liked ... his mindset, I liked his irreverence. In the world of seriousness, he's a guy who thinks it's all bullshit. He's just in it for the whores and the sword fights."[13] Perlman described Felson's religion, "Whereas Behmen has a very well-articulated idea of his relationship to country and church and spirituality and God, Felson has none. He doesn't bother to spend any time thinking about that."[9]
Foy appears in her feature-film debut as the young woman who is accused of being a witch. Known for her titular role in the British miniseries
Visual effects
For Season of the Witch, Tippett Studio designed the demon that manifests in the film's denouement. The art directors researched woodcuts and other artwork for classic demonic appearances. The filmmakers requested an entity "lithe and feminine", and the visual effects crew designed a demon that had "cloven feet, a dog ankle, and a fawn leg". Designing visual effects for the demon's wings was the biggest challenge since wings tend to get in the way or do not move convincingly. The filmmakers also requested holes in the demon's wings. The crew designed holes that appeared worn instead of ripped, since ripped holes would require an added billowing effect.[16]
The demon was also designed to have dark gray skin, which presented the crew a challenge in the film's dark settings. Tippett's Blair Clark said, "We played the skin like a rotten mummy: nothing too moist, with a lot of wear marks on it". The crew's final visual effects shot was the death of the demon, and they researched previous films and terminology for how demons' deaths have been designed. They drew inspiration from Hellboy (2004), where they focused on the buildup to the demon's death. Clark said, "We built it over a series of shots so it doesn't just happen in one shot. We had little patches on the demon that start to crack and result in a glow that looks like it's burning from within".[16]
Release
Season of the Witch in January 2010 had been rated PG-13 by the
The film had its world premiere in New York City on January 4, 2011.[22] The film was released commercially on January 7, 2011 in several territories.[1] Pre-release polling had indicated young men were the core demographic for the film, though more women than expected expressed interest in the film.[2] Experts anticipated that the film would gross US$10–12 million on its opening weekend in the United States and Canada.[23] The film was released in 2,816 theaters in the two territories. It grossed $10.6 million,[1] ranking third at the box office after True Grit and Little Fockers, which were both released at the end of 2010.[24] Relativity Media's exit polling showed that the audience was 52% male and that 61% were 25 years old and up.[25] The Los Angeles Times reported that an "unusually high" 69% of the audience was nonwhite.[26] Entertainment Weekly noted that the racial diversity of Season of the Witch's audiences was common for supernatural thrillers; the breakdown was 36% Hispanic, 31% Caucasian, 14% Asian, 10% African-American, and 9% "other".[27][28] The film was the second release by Relativity and performed better than its first release, The Warrior's Way (2010). The opening weekend was not the lowest of Nicolas Cage's career to that point; it was better than The Wicker Man (2006), Next (2007) and Bangkok Dangerous (2008).[25]
Home media
Reception
Box office
Season of the Witch grossed $24.8 million in the United States and Canada and $66.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $91.6 million.[1]
Critical response
Season of the Witch received mostly negative reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 11%, based on 125 reviews, with an average rating of 3.80/10. The site's consensus reads, "Slow, cheap-looking, and dull, Season of the Witch fails even as unintentional comedy".[30] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[31] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[26][28]
Associated Press film critic Christy Lemire called Season of the Witch "a supernatural action thriller that's never actually thrilling" and added that "the scenery is drab, the battles are interchangeable, and no one seems particularly interested in being here".[32] According to the Los Angeles Times, critics said that Cage was the primary reason that "this swords-and-sorcery romp is a collosal [sic] waste of time".[33]
Andrew Barker of
Writing for
Accolades
The film earned a
References
- ^ a b c d e "Season of the Witch (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
- ^ a b c Fritz, Ben (January 6, 2011). "Movie projector: Small openings for 'Season of the Witch,' 'Country Strong' mean 'Fockers' and 'Grit' will battle at top". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011.
- ^ Buchanan, Jason. "Season of the Witch (2011)". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ComingSoon.net. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^ Collett-White, Mike (January 4, 2011). "Hard-Working Nicolas Cage Stars in Crusade Thriller". abcnews.go.com. Reuters.
- ^ "Notable Fellows". Oscars.org. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
- ^ CraveOnline. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Exclusive: Ron Perlman, Robert Sheehan & Charles Roven Talk Season of the Witch". dreadcentral.com. January 4, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^ a b Ditzian, Eric (January 7, 2011). "'Season Of The Witch' Explores 'The Paranormal,' Nic Cage Says". mtv.com. MTV. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Radish, Christina (January 3, 2011). "Nicolas Cage Interview, Season of the Witch". collider.com. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^ Siegel, Tatiana (April 7, 2009). "Larry Charles to direct 'Discontent'". Variety.
- ^ a b Dawson, Angela (January 5, 2011). "Cage gets to live out fantasies in new roles". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- ^ Collett-White, Mike (January 6, 2011). "A Minute With: Ron Perlman on Season of the Witch, Hellboy". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- ^ Vanairsdale, S.T. (January 3, 2011). "Claire Foy on Season of the Witch, Dream Roles and Why Nicolas Cage Isn't Crazy". movieline.com. Movieline. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^ "Exclusive Interview: Claire Foy Casts Spells In 'Season of the Witch'". iamrogue.com. Rogue Network. December 30, 2010. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- ^ a b Desowitz, Bill (January 11, 2011). "Demonizing Season of the Witch". awn.com. Animation World Network. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
- ^ McNary, Dave (February 12, 2010). "Lionsgate's 'Witch' springs out of March". Variety. Archived from the original on Jan 17, 2023.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (October 6, 2010). "Relativity dates 'Season of the Witch'". Variety.
- ^ Stewart, Andrew (December 5, 2010). "'Tangled' tops 'Potter' at weekend B.O." Variety.
- ^ "MPAA ratings: Jan. 13, 2010". The Hollywood Reporter. January 13, 2010.
- ^ Subers, Ray (November 16, 2010). "MPAA Ratings: 'True Grit,' 'Source Code,' 'Drive Angry'". boxofficemojo.com. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^ Schaefer, Stephen (January 5, 2011). "'Season' greetings". Variety.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 6, 2011). "Nicolas Cage's 'Season of the Witch' Poised for Modest Box-Office Opening". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Stewart, Andrew (January 9, 2011). "'Grit' fights to top of weekend B.O." Variety.
- ^ a b Gray, Brandon (January 9, 2011). "Weekend Report: 'True Grit' Captures Lead". boxofficemojo.com. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ a b Fritz, Ben (January 10, 2011). "Company Town: 'True Grit' is No. 1 for the weekend". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
didn't impress the audience that did come, with attendees giving it an average grade of C+
- ^ Young, John (January 9, 2011). "Box office report: 'True Grit' (finally) finishes first with $15 mil". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (January 9, 2011). "'True Grit' Dethrones 'Fockers' to Top Weekend Box Office With $15 Million". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Woodward, Tom (April 28, 2011). "Fox Home Entertainment has revealed details on the Nicolas Cage movie". DVD Active. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
- ^ "Season of the Witch Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
- ^ "Season of the Witch". Metacritic. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- sandiegouniontribune.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
- ^ Day, Patrick Kevin (January 7, 2011). "Critical Mass: 'Season of the Witch'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ Barker, Andrew (January 6, 2011). "Season of the Witch". Variety. Archived from the original on January 10, 2011.
- Time Out London(2107).
- ^ Kermode, Mark (26 June 2011). "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (April 27, 2012). "'Season of the Witch': Nicolas Cage's ludicrous medieval mashup". Salon.com. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
External links
- Season of the Witch at IMDb
- Season of the Witch at AllMovie