Ouija
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStiles White
Written byJuliet Snowden
Stiles White
Produced byJason Blum
Michael Bay
Andrew Form
Bradley Fuller
Bennett Schneir
StarringOlivia Cooke
Shelley Hennig
Daren Kagasoff
Douglas Smith
Bianca A. Santos
CinematographyDavid Emmerichs
Edited byKen Blackwell
Music byAnton Sanko
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • October 24, 2014 (2014-10-24)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[2]
Box office$21.3 million[3]

Ouija is a 2014 American supernatural horror-thriller film directed by Stiles White and co-written by White and Juliet Snowden.[4] The film stars Olivia Cooke, Daren Kagasoff, Douglas Smith and Bianca A. Santos. Ouija was released on October 24, 2014.[5] It is the first Hasbro property adaptation produced by Platinum Dunes and Blumhouse Productions, as well as Hasbro's first horror film.

Plot

A girl named Debbie (Shelley Hennig) is mysteriously killed after recording herself playing with an ancient Ouija board, which leads her best friend, Laine (Olivia Cooke), and their close group of friends to investigate this board. They later find out that some things aren't meant to be played with, especially the 'other side'.

Cast

Production

Development

On May 28, 2008, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Platinum Dunes' Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Bradley Fuller are producing a film based on Hasbro's supernatural board game Ouija, with Universal Pictures also attached.[10] On February 2, 2009, Fuller stated that the film would be a big movie like Pirates of the Caribbean.[11] On November 1, 2009 Universal set Adam Horowitz and Richard Jefferies to write the script for the film.[12] On October 27, 2010, Deadline reported that three directors were in talks to direct the film, Pierre Morel, Sylvain White, and Scott Stewart.[13] Universal is planning for a 2012 Thanksgiving of $80-$100 million budgeted film.[13] On December 18, 2010, two directors, McG and Breck Eisner, were again on board to direct the film.[14] On January 4, 2011, TheWrap confirmed that Universal was in talks with McG to direct the supernatural action-adventure, with a release date set for 2012.[15] On April 19, 2011 Evan Spiliotopoulos was set to rewrite the script already written by Horowitz & Jefferies, while McG was set to direct the film.[16] On June 16, 2011 screenwriter Simon Kinberg was set to work on the film's script.[17] On August 23, 2011, it was confirmed that Universal had officially dropped the Hasbro board-game adaptation,[18] the reason being the high budget.[19]

Later on October 17, 2011, a news report confirmed that Hasbro's CEO Brian Goldner told THR that the Ouija film's script is in good shape and was then being polished, but the film would be made with a lower budget, like Disney did with The Lone Ranger.[20] On November 29, 2011 THR reported that Marti Noxon would be working on the script of the board game adaptation.[21] On March 5, 2012 THR confirmed that Universal and Hasbro were back in business on Ouija, still without director and writer, and were set to release the film in 2013 with Blumhouse Productions' Jason Blum also on board to produce the low-budgeted film.[22] On July 16, 2012, Universal hired Juliet Snowden and Stiles White to rewrite and direct the project for a 2013 release.[4]

Casting

On December 4, 2013 Daren Kagasoff was added to the cast of the film.[8] On December 6, 2013 Douglas Smith and Olivia Cooke joined the cast of the film to play the lead roles.[6] On December 11, 2013 four more joined the cast of the film, Bianca A. Santos, Erin Moriarty, Ana Coto and Vivis Colombetti, and filming was set to begin in Los Angeles that week.[7] On December 13, 2013 Matthew Settle was added to the cast of the film, playing Anthony Morris, father of Elaine Morris (Cooke's character).[9]

Filming

Filming began in mid-December 2013 in Los Angeles.[7]

Release

Universal released the film in the United States on October 24, 2014.[5]

Reception

Box office

In North America, Ouija was released to 2,858 theatres and earned $20,006,000 on it's opening weekend (including it's $911,000 gross on Thursday preview nights and $8.3 million on it's opening day).[23][24][25] at an average of $7,000 per theatre debuting at number one at the box office ahead of

[26] The film played 75% under-25 years old and 61% female on it's ipening weekend. [27]

Critical reception

Ouija received negative reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 10% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 49 reviews with an average score of 3.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Slowly, steadily, although no one seems to be moving it in that direction, the Ouija planchette points to NO."[28] Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 20 critics, considered to be "generally unfavorable reviews". [29]

References

  1. ^ "OUIJA (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  2. ^ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-movie-projector-ouija-john-wick-st-vincent-fury-20141023-story.html
  3. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ouija.htm
  4. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (July 16, 2012). "U recruits pair to rewrite, helm 'Ouija'". variety.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Universal Dates Crimson Peak, Ouija, Pitch Perfect 2 and More!". comingsoon.net. January 30, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Kit, Borys (December 6, 2013). "'Bates Motel' Actress to Star in Universal's 'Ouija'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Ford, Rebecca (December 11, 2013). "Universal's 'Ouija' Adds 'The Fosters,' 'Red Widow' Actresses". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Daren Kagasoff Joins 'Ouija'". deadline.com. December 4, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Matthew Settle Joins 'Ouija' Cast". deadline.com. December 13, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (May 28, 2008). "Michael Bay conjures 'Ouija' movie". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  11. ^ Chen, David (February 2, 2009). "Producer Brad Fuller Says Ouija Board Movie Will Be A Big, Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-Like Adventure". slashfilm.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  12. ^ Chen, David (November 1, 2009). "Tron Legacy Writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz To Write Ouija Board Film". slashfilm.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Fleming Jr, Mike (October 27, 2010). "'Ouija' Conjures Up Directing Candidates". deadline.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  14. ^ Kit, Borys (December 18, 2010). "McG, Breck Eisner Vying to Direct Universal's 'Ouija'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  15. ^ Sneider, Jeff (January 4, 2011). "McG in Talks to Direct 'Ouija' for Universal & Hasbro". thewrap.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  16. ^ Kit, Borys (April 19, 2011). "Evan Spiliotopoulos to Pen Universal's 'Ouija'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  17. ^ "Ouija Gets Writer Simon Kinberg". movieweb.com. June 16, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  18. ^ Lussier, Germain (August 23, 2011). "Universal Says Goodbye To 'Ouija'". slashfilm.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  19. ^ Kit, Borys (August 24, 2011). "Universal Scraps 'Ouija' Movie as Studios Eye Budgets Closely". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  20. ^ "Hasbro CEO Says 'Ouija' Board Moves to "Yes"". bloody-disgusting.com. October 17, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  21. ^ Kit, Borys (November 29, 2011). "'Fright Night' Writer to Pen 'Ouija' Screenplay". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  22. ^ Kit, Borys (March 5, 2012). "Hasbro's 'Ouija' Movie Returns to Universal, Set for 2013 Release". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  23. ^ Anita Busch (October 24, 2014). "'Ouija' Box Office Starts With $911K, 'John Wick' $870K – B.O. Late Nights". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  24. ^ Anita Busch (October 26, 2014). "'Ouija' Says Yes To No. 1, 'John Wick' No. 2 With A Bullet, 'St. Vincent,' Superb Exit Polls – B.O. Weekend". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  25. ^ "author = Pamela McClintock". The Hollywood Reporter. October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  26. ^ Maane Khatchatourian (October 26, 2014). "'Ouija' Scares Up Box Office Win Ahead of Keanu Reeves' 'John Wick'". Variety. Retrieved October 27, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Scott Mendelson (October 26, 2014). "Box Office: 'Ouija' Summons $20M Weekend, Keanu Reeves' 'John Wick' Nabs $14M". Forbes. Retrieved October 27, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "Ouija (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  29. ^ "Ouija Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 24, 2014.

External links

Michael Bay
Platinum Dunes
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