Wonder_(film)

<i>Wonder</i> (film)

Wonder (film)

2017 American comedy-drama film by Stephen Chbosky

Not to be confused with The Wonder (film).

Wonder is a 2017 American coming-of-age family drama film directed by Stephen Chbosky, who co-wrote the screenplay with Steven Conrad and Jack Thorne. It is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio and stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Mandy Patinkin, and Daveed Diggs.

Quick Facts Wonder, Directed by ...

The film, which follows a boy named August Pullman or Auggie as his family calls him, with Treacher Collins syndrome as he tries to fit in. The film was released in the United States on November 17, 2017 by Lionsgate. It received positive reviews from critics and audiences, with many praising Tremblay and Roberts' performances, Chbosky's direction, writing, musical score and faithfulness to Palacio's novel of the same name; the film was a box office success, grossing $306 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. At the 90th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. A spin-off and prequel film, White Bird, will release in October, 2024, with Bryce Gheisar reprising his role.

Plot

August "Auggie" Pullman is a 10-year old boy living in Brooklyn with his mother, Isabel; father, Nate; older sister, Via; and dog, Daisy. He was born with a rare medical facial deformity, mandibulofacial dysostosis, and has undergone 27 surgeries in order to see, smell, speak and hear. As a result, Auggie wears an astronaut helmet when going out in public.

For most of his life, Auggie has been home-schooled by Isabel, but as he approaches fifth grade, his parents decide to enroll him at Beecher Prep, a private middle school. When the school year begins, Auggie is ostracized, but he soon forms a close friendship with his classmate, Jack Will, whom he had previously met during a tour of the school.

For Halloween, Auggie dresses as Ghostface from last year when Daisy ruins the planned Boba Fett costume. He walks through school upbeat and confident due to the anonymity of his costume. However, as he enters his homeroom, he overhears Jack, who does not recognize him, joining Julian and his friends Amos, Miles, and Henry, who bulled Auggie, in making fun of him behind his back, with Jack saying "[he] would kill [himself] if [he] looked like Auggie." He feigns sick, forcing his mother to abandon her mother-daughter day with Via to pick him up, as Nate is at work. Though she is hurt, Via convinces Auggie to go trick-or-treating with her, as she has been rejected by her own best friend, Miranda. Afterwards, Auggie begins to avoid Jack.

Auggie forms a new friendship with another classmate, Summer Dawson, confiding in her about his split with Jack. When Jack eventually asks Summer why Auggie is avoiding him, she only says "Ghostface". He soon realizes his mistake, and resolves to make it up to him by being his partner for the science fair instead of partnering with Julian and Amos. When Julian confronts Jack about it in the hallway and calls Auggie a “freak”, they get into a fight, which is broken up by their homeroom teacher, Mr. Thomas Browne, and another teacher. Outraged, Julian ends his friendship with Jack. Jack is suspended for two days, and the principal, Mr. Lawrence Tushman, reads his letter about defending Auggie. Jack then apologizes to Auggie via Minecraft, telling him he said what he said only to gain favor with Julian's friend group, and they reconcile.

Meanwhile, Via, even though she loves her family, has been feeling left out as her parents tend to spend more time looking after Auggie since he was born. She signs up for the drama club after meeting Justin, who she soon begins a relationship with. She is selected as Miranda's understudy for the lead in the school's production of Our Town, but on opening night, learning Via's family is in attendance while her own is not, Miranda feigns illness to let Via take her place. She gives a moving performance, earning a standing ovation, and she and Miranda reconcile.

Auggie's popularity and circle of friends grows over the year, but Julian and his friends bully him until Mr. Browne notices. The principal confronts Julian and his parents with evidence, including hate notes and a class picture with Auggie photoshopped out. Julian's mother admits she deleted Auggie from the picture, defends Julian's actions, and insists students should not be exposed to Auggie. Despite her threats to pull funding, Julian is suspended for two days, forcing him to miss the nature retreat. As they leave, his mother declares he will not be back in the fall and Julian apologizes.

At the nature retreat, Auggie and Jack are threatened by a trio of seventh graders from a nearby school, but Amos, Miles, and Henry defend them.

At the graduation ceremony, Auggie thanks Isabel for enrolling him in school, and she tells him "You really are a wonder, Auggie." He is given the Henry Ward Beecher Medal for his strength and courage throughout the school year.

Cast

Production

Development

On November 27, 2012, it was announced that Lionsgate was developing a feature film adaptation of R. J. Palacio's debut novel Wonder, and were in talks with John August to write the screenplay.[4] Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman produced the film.[4]

On May 8, 2013, Jack Thorne was hired to adapt the novel after August had departed from the project.[5] In October 2014, John Krokidas was reported to be directing the film,[6] though in April 2015, Paul King was hired to direct instead. Steven Conrad was writing the script at that time.[7]

Casting

On April 14, 2016, Jacob Tremblay was cast to play the lead role, Auggie Pullman, while Julia Roberts was in talks to play Auggie's mother.[8] On May 5, 2016, Roberts' casting was confirmed, and Stephen Chbosky was set as the film's director.[9]

On June 27, 2016, Owen Wilson joined to play Auggie's father.[10] On July 11, 2016, newcomer Noah Jupe joined the cast as Auggie's best friend at school,[11] and on July 15, 2016, Daveed Diggs was cast as Mr. Browne, an English teacher at the school.[12]

On August 19, 2016, Sônia Braga joined the cast, portraying the role of Roberts's character's mother.[13]

Special effects

Tremblay's prosthetic makeup, designed and created by Arjen Tuiten, took an hour and a half to apply. It consisted of a skull cap with prosthetic ears attached, a facial prosthetic that covered Tremblay's face, and a wig to tie it all together.[14]

Filming

Filming took place in several locations in British Columbia, Canada, and Coney Island, New York, from October 18 to December 13, 2016.

Music

Marcelo Zarvos composed the film's score.[15] Bea Miller composed a song for the film, "Brand New Eyes". It was released on August 3, 2017. Wonder author R. J. Palacio has often credited Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder", from her 1995 album Tigerlily, as the inspiration for her best-selling book. At Merchant's invitation, the song was featured on the soundtrack. The song is played during the film's end credits.[16]

Release

Lionsgate had initially scheduled Wonder to be released in the United States on April 7, 2017.[17][18] On February 13, 2017, it was announced that the release date had been pushed back to November 17, 2017.[19] Wonder had its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on November 14, 2017.[20]

Reception

Box office

Wonder grossed $132 million in the United States and Canada, and $173 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $306 million, against a production budget of $20 million.[3] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film made a net profit of $55.3 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[21]

In the United States and Canada, Wonder opened alongside Justice League, The Star, and Roman J. Israel, Esq. and was initially projected to gross around $9 million from 3,096 theaters in its first weekend.[22] However, after grossing $740,000 from Thursday night previews and receiving a large number of group ticket sales, weekend projections were upped to $15 million.[23] Weekend projections were again increased, this time to $28 million, after the film made $9.4 million on its first day. The film went on to debut to $27.5 million,[24] finishing second at the box office, behind Justice League.[25] In its second weekend, the film dropped just 17.7%, grossing $22.7 million and finishing third at the box office.[26]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 192 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Wonder doesn't shy away from its bestselling source material's sentiment, but this well-acted and overall winsome drama earns its tugs at the heartstrings."[27] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, one of approximately 100 films in the history of the service to receive the grade.[25]

Some reviewers criticized the decision to cast an actor without the same condition as Auggie as undermining the film's message.[29][30] In August 2021, during Edinburgh TV Festival's MacTaggart Lecture, co-writer Jack Thorne, while not specifically citing Wonder, acknowledged that he had failed to stand up for disabled talent on projects involving the subject, and sought to rectify this through pushing for new disability initiatives like 'Underlying Health Condition', which launched in December 2021.[31]

Accolades

More information Award, Date of ceremony ...

Follow-ups

Sequel/prequel film

Main article: White Bird (film)

White Bird: A Wonder Story, a spin-off sequel/prequel war drama film to Wonder based on R. J. Palacio's graphic novel of the same name, starring Gillian Anderson and Helen Mirren, with Bryce Gheisar reprising his role as Julian Albans, began production in February 2021 in the Czech Republic.[47] Described as a "companion piece" to the original film,[48] the film follows Julian as his Parisian grandmother tells him stories of her childhood as a young Jewish girl living in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, when she was hidden from the Nazis by a classmate and his family. Initially scheduled to be released on September 16, 2022,[49] the film's release date was ultimately delayed to October 14, 2022[50] before the film was removed from the release schedule in September,[51] and actual sole delayed to August 2023 release.[52] However Lionsgate pushed the release to an unspecified date, in July 2023, as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike, in the fourth quarter of 2023.[53] In December 2023, Lionsgate scheduled the film for release on October 4, 2024.[54]

Musical adaptation

It was announced on April 9, 2019 that a musical adaptation of the film is in the works for Broadway. Jill Furman (Hamilton) will produce, R. J. Palacio will adapt the novel for the stage production.[55]

See also

References

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