30 Days of Night (film)
Encyclopedia
30 Days of Night is a 2007 American horror film
based on the comic book
miniseries of the same name
. The film is directed by David Slade
and stars Josh Hartnett
, Melissa George
, and Danny Huston
. The story focuses on an Alaskan town beset by vampires as it enters into a thirty-day long polar night
.
30 Days of Night was originally pitched as a comic, then as a film, but was rejected. Years later Steve Niles
showed IDW Publishing
the idea and it took off. The film was produced on a budget of $30 million and grossed $75 million at the box office during its 6-week run starting on October 19, 2007. The sequel, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days
, was released on October 5, 2010 straight to home video. A prequel mini-series, 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails
, was released on FEARnet.com and FEARnet On Demand
in 2007.
is preparing for its annual "30 Days of Night", a period during the winter where there is no sun
. As the town gets ready, a stranger rows ashore from a large ship. Once in Barrow, he sabotages the town's communications and transport; Barrow's sheriff, Eben Oleson
, investigates. Eben learns that his ex-wife-to-be, Stella Oleson
, missed the last plane and must stay the 30 days. Although they try to avoid one another, when Eben confronts the stranger in the town diner, Stella helps to subdue him and take him to the station house.
At the jail, the stranger taunts the townsfolk, telling them that death is coming. Just then, vampire
s attack the local telecommunications center and power supply, rendering the town dark and cut off from the outside world. Eben goes to the telecommunications center and finds the operator's head impaled. Suspecting impending danger, Eben and Stella go through town, warning all the residents. The vampires, led by Marlow, slaughter most of the townspeople, while the remaining survivors congregate in the diner. As Eben and Stella recover ammunition and supplies, vampires attack but Beau Brower rescues them. Everyone takes shelter in a boarded-up house with a hidden attic. Marlow finds the stranger in the jail and snaps his neck.
Over the next week, Eben, his younger brother Jake, Stella, and seven other survivors stick it out in the attic. The vampires use Kirsten Toomey as bait and Eben leaves to help her but finds John Riis in a crawlspace. As vampires kill the girl, Eben attempts to help John. However, upon discovering that he is a vampire, Eben cuts off his head.
When a blizzard hits, Eben and the others use the whiteout
to go to the general store. There, a girl vampire attacks. The whiteout ends during the struggle preventing the survivors from going back to the attic. Eben decides that everyone should go to the police station and provides a diversion by running to his grandmother's house for an ultraviolet lighting system. He makes it to the house, jump-starts the generator, and turns the light on the vampires, wounding Marlow's lover, Iris, so badly he is forced to kill her to put her out of her misery. Eben escapes the house, but the vampires follow him. Beau rescues him, killing many vampires with his tractor. He crashes into a hotel and ignites a box of dynamite, trying to kill himself before the vampires can. Unsuccessful, Beau survives the blast and his skull is crushed under Marlow's feet. This allows Eben to reach the station.
Two weeks later, Stella and Eben see Deputy Billy Kitka signaling them with a flashlight and bring him back to the station. When the vampires first attacked, Billy had killed his wife and daughters so that they wouldn't die like the rest. He then tried to shoot himself but his gun jammed.
Eben, Stella and Billy find that the others have made for the utilidor
, a power station that still has power. They begin to sneak towards it and spot a girl, Gail Robbins, being pursued by the vampire Zurial. Stella helps the girl while Eben and Billy distract Zurial. Stella and Gail manage to hide under an abandoned truck; Eben and Billy both make it to the utilidor, where they find the other survivors, but the vampire Arvin gets inside. Arvin attacks Billy, ripping into his neck, but as he turns to Eben, Billy knocks Arvin into the gears of the utilidor's pump, shredding him, also accidentally shredding his own hand. Also due to the wounds the vampire inflicted, Billy begins to turn into a vampire, forcing Eben to cut off his head.
The sun is due to rise soon and the vampires prepare to burn the town to prevent any survivors from telling the world what happened. Realizing he cannot beat the vampires in his current state, Eben injects himself with infected blood from Billy so he can become a vampire. He engages Marlow in a vicious battle, and the fight ends when Eben punches all the way through Marlow's head, killing him. Leaderless and with the sun about to rise, the other vampires disappear.
Eben and Stella watch the sunrise together. While Stella rests on Eben's shoulder, they share one last kiss. Stella holds Eben tightly in her arms as the sun brightens the sky, and Eben dies, his body burning to ashes, while Stella looks at the sky, coming to grips with what has happened.
conceived of the story in the form of a comic but after meeting a lack of interest in initial pitches tried to pitch it as a film. When this did not work out Niles shelved the idea until he showed it to IDW Publishing
. IDW published the comic and Ben Templesmith
provided the artwork. When Niles and his agent, Jon Levin, shopped the comic around again as a potential film adaptation, Niles found that the idea "went shockingly well," with Sam Raimi
and Senator International picking up the property rights based on the original concept and Templesmith's unique mood and concepts for the vampires.
According to Raimi, the potential project was "unlike the horror films of recent years".
Following the publication of the 30 Days of Night comic book
miniseries
in 2002, studios, including DreamWorks
, MGM
and Senator International, bid in the $1 million range for rights to a potential vampire film based on the story. Director and producer Sam Raimi
expressed interest in adapting the miniseries and was negotiating a production deal with his producing partner Robert Tapert
to establish a label with Senator Entertainment, of which Senator International is the sales division. In July 2002, Senator International acquired the rights for 30 Days of Night in a seven figure deal with Raimi and Tapert attached as producers.
By October 2002, Niles was working on adapting 30 Days of Night for the big screen, keeping the film true to the miniseries, though fleshing out the characters more significantly in the adaptation process. In February 2003, Columbia Pictures
partnered with Senator International to work on 30 Days of Night, which was developing under Senator International's newly-established production company, Ghost House Pictures. Mike Richardson
, the Dark Horse Comics
publisher who supported the adaptation project from the beginning, after having turned down an offer to initially publish the project, was attached as executive producer. The following March, Richardson revealed that Steve Niles had turned in the initial draft for the 30 Days of Night screenplay. In March 2004, however, Columbia Pictures requested that Niles's initial screenplay to be rewritten in preparation for production. Sue Binder, the business manager of Ghost House Pictures, indicated that filming for 30 Days of Night was still at least a year away, as Ghost House planned to produce three films before the vampire thriller. The following May, Stuart Beattie
, one of the writers for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
, was rewriting Niles's 30 Days of Night draft for production. Niles was pleased with Beattie's faithfully rewritten script, which was submitted to the studio in October 2004.
In September 2005, it was announced that director David Slade
had signed on to 30 Days of Night, which would be distributed by Columbia Pictures mainly in North America and Mandate Pictures in international territories. In March 2006, Slade revealed that screenwriter Brian Nelson, who wrote the screenplay for Slade's previous film Hard Candy
, was writing a new draft of the 30 Days of Night script, replacing Beattie's draft. The director said that filming would begin in summer 2006 in Alaska and New Zealand
.
In June 2006, it was announced that Josh Hartnett
was cast as the husband of the married couple that serves as the town's sheriff team. Melissa George
joined the 30 Days of Night cast as the wife of Hartnett's character. Danny Huston
joined the cast as the leader of the vampires. Filming did not begin immediately, but in a September 2006 interview, executive producer Mike Richardson said that 30 Days of Night would be shot on 35 mm film
, though there had been discussion to shoot the film on Genesis
. In an interview prior to filming, Slade explained that the illustrations of the graphic novel's illustrator, Ben Templesmith, would be reflected in production design. Slade also considered Nelson's draft to be the most faithful to the graphic novel. He also stated his intention to make a "scary vampire film", of which he didn't think there were many. "The rest of them, they fall into all kinds of traps. We're going to try to do our best... and one of the ways we have to do it is be more naturalistic than the graphic novel, because it's very over-the-top," said Slade. There was also concern expressed that while the vampires needed to communicate, talking might lessen the effect. To counter this, a fictional vampire language, with click consonant
s, was constructed with the help of a professor of linguistics and the nearby University of Auckland. Slade explained "we designed this really simple language that didn't sound like any particular accent that you would be aware of, that was based around really simple actions, eating, hunting, yes, no, really basic, because that's what vampires do." Before the final fight scene Danny Huston (Marlow) says "kommen sie" which is German and translates to "come."
By February 2007, the production phase was completed, and a rough cut of the film was prepared. In April, composer Brian Reitzell
was hired to score the film.
, 50% of the 153 film critics gave the film positive reviews. On Metacritic
, the film received a score of 53 out of 100 from 29 reviews, considered to be mixed or average reviews.
To coincide with the film's release, a novelization by Tim Lebbon
was published by Pocket Star on September 25. It is one of six novels based on the franchise.
in the United States. DVD sales brought in $26,949,780 in revenue, from 1,429,600 sold DVD units. This does not include Blu-ray sales. The DVD is a single disc and includes eight featurettes, one of which is a full episode of the hit anime Blood+
. The UK Region 2 release is a two disc special edition, released in April 2008. Despite being exactly the same as the theatrical release, the BBFC re-rated the film from a 15 to an 18. Even though it still only has the eight featurettes on the second disc, it includes a bonus 30 Days of Night graphic novel.
was released on 5 October 2010. The script for the sequel was written by Steve Niles and Ben Ketai with Ketai also positioned as director. When filming began on October 20, 2009, Rhys Coiro
and Mia Kirshner
were named as leads, with Kirshner playing the lead vampire villain Lilith
. Other cast named included Harold Perrineau, Kiele Sanchez
, Diora Baird
, Rhys Coiro
, and Monique Ganderton
. Three days after filming began, Niles revealed that Kiele Sanchez
replaced Melissa George in the role of Stella Olemaun
. The sequel was produced on a lower budget, but being straight-to-video allowed the writers to more closely follow the comic book.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
based on the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
miniseries of the same name
30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book mini-series written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property....
. The film is directed by David Slade
David Slade
David Aldrin Slade is a British film director who began his career making music videos. His work includes videos for artists such as Aphex Twin, Rob Dougan, System of a Down, Stone Temple Pilots, Tori Amos, and Muse.-Life and career:...
and stars Josh Hartnett
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
, Melissa George
Melissa George
Melissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
, and Danny Huston
Danny Huston
-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
. The story focuses on an Alaskan town beset by vampires as it enters into a thirty-day long polar night
Polar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
.
30 Days of Night was originally pitched as a comic, then as a film, but was rejected. Years later Steve Niles
Steve Niles
Steve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Simon Dark, Mystery Society and Batman: Gotham County Line....
showed IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
the idea and it took off. The film was produced on a budget of $30 million and grossed $75 million at the box office during its 6-week run starting on October 19, 2007. The sequel, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days
30 Days of Night: Dark Days
30 Days of Night: Dark Days is a 2010 American horror film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name. It was directed by and written by Ben Ketai, alongside co-writer Steve Niles. It is a sequel to the 2007 film, 30 Days of Night...
, was released on October 5, 2010 straight to home video. A prequel mini-series, 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails
30 Days of Night: Blood Trails
30 Days of Night: Blood Trails is a 7-part miniseries that was released on FEARnet.com and FEARnet On Demand that acts as a prequel to the films 30 Days of Night and 30 Days of Night: Dark Days...
, was released on FEARnet.com and FEARnet On Demand
FEARnet
Fearnet is a cable channel, website and Video on Demand television service owned by Horror Entertainment LLC, a joint venture between Comcast, Lions Gate Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Entertainment...
in 2007.
Plot
Barrow, AlaskaBarrow, Alaska
Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the...
is preparing for its annual "30 Days of Night", a period during the winter where there is no sun
Polar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
. As the town gets ready, a stranger rows ashore from a large ship. Once in Barrow, he sabotages the town's communications and transport; Barrow's sheriff, Eben Oleson
Eben Olemaun
Eben Olemaun is a fictional character in the comic 30 Days of Night created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.-Character Bio:Eben Olemaun, the primary protagonist of 30 Days of Night, is the sheriff of the small town of Barrow, Alaska. When the vampires attack Barrow, Olemaun leads a small group...
, investigates. Eben learns that his ex-wife-to-be, Stella Oleson
Stella Olemaun
Stella Olemaun is a fictional character in the comic 30 Days of Night created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.-Character bio:Stella Olemaun is the wife of Eben Olemaun, the sheriff of the small town of Barrow, Alaska...
, missed the last plane and must stay the 30 days. Although they try to avoid one another, when Eben confronts the stranger in the town diner, Stella helps to subdue him and take him to the station house.
At the jail, the stranger taunts the townsfolk, telling them that death is coming. Just then, vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s attack the local telecommunications center and power supply, rendering the town dark and cut off from the outside world. Eben goes to the telecommunications center and finds the operator's head impaled. Suspecting impending danger, Eben and Stella go through town, warning all the residents. The vampires, led by Marlow, slaughter most of the townspeople, while the remaining survivors congregate in the diner. As Eben and Stella recover ammunition and supplies, vampires attack but Beau Brower rescues them. Everyone takes shelter in a boarded-up house with a hidden attic. Marlow finds the stranger in the jail and snaps his neck.
Over the next week, Eben, his younger brother Jake, Stella, and seven other survivors stick it out in the attic. The vampires use Kirsten Toomey as bait and Eben leaves to help her but finds John Riis in a crawlspace. As vampires kill the girl, Eben attempts to help John. However, upon discovering that he is a vampire, Eben cuts off his head.
When a blizzard hits, Eben and the others use the whiteout
Whiteout (weather)
Whiteout is a weather condition in which visibility and contrast are severely reduced by snow or sand. The horizon disappears completely and there are no reference points at all, leaving the individual with a distorted orientation...
to go to the general store. There, a girl vampire attacks. The whiteout ends during the struggle preventing the survivors from going back to the attic. Eben decides that everyone should go to the police station and provides a diversion by running to his grandmother's house for an ultraviolet lighting system. He makes it to the house, jump-starts the generator, and turns the light on the vampires, wounding Marlow's lover, Iris, so badly he is forced to kill her to put her out of her misery. Eben escapes the house, but the vampires follow him. Beau rescues him, killing many vampires with his tractor. He crashes into a hotel and ignites a box of dynamite, trying to kill himself before the vampires can. Unsuccessful, Beau survives the blast and his skull is crushed under Marlow's feet. This allows Eben to reach the station.
Two weeks later, Stella and Eben see Deputy Billy Kitka signaling them with a flashlight and bring him back to the station. When the vampires first attacked, Billy had killed his wife and daughters so that they wouldn't die like the rest. He then tried to shoot himself but his gun jammed.
Eben, Stella and Billy find that the others have made for the utilidor
Utilidor
A utilidor is a utility corridor built underground or aboveground to carry utility lines such as electricity, water and sewer. Communications utilities like fiber optics, cable television and telephone cables are also sometimes carried...
, a power station that still has power. They begin to sneak towards it and spot a girl, Gail Robbins, being pursued by the vampire Zurial. Stella helps the girl while Eben and Billy distract Zurial. Stella and Gail manage to hide under an abandoned truck; Eben and Billy both make it to the utilidor, where they find the other survivors, but the vampire Arvin gets inside. Arvin attacks Billy, ripping into his neck, but as he turns to Eben, Billy knocks Arvin into the gears of the utilidor's pump, shredding him, also accidentally shredding his own hand. Also due to the wounds the vampire inflicted, Billy begins to turn into a vampire, forcing Eben to cut off his head.
The sun is due to rise soon and the vampires prepare to burn the town to prevent any survivors from telling the world what happened. Realizing he cannot beat the vampires in his current state, Eben injects himself with infected blood from Billy so he can become a vampire. He engages Marlow in a vicious battle, and the fight ends when Eben punches all the way through Marlow's head, killing him. Leaderless and with the sun about to rise, the other vampires disappear.
Eben and Stella watch the sunrise together. While Stella rests on Eben's shoulder, they share one last kiss. Stella holds Eben tightly in her arms as the sun brightens the sky, and Eben dies, his body burning to ashes, while Stella looks at the sky, coming to grips with what has happened.
Cast
- Josh HartnettJosh HartnettJoshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
as Sheriff Eben Oleson - Melissa GeorgeMelissa GeorgeMelissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
as Stella Oleson - Danny HustonDanny Huston-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
as Marlow - Ben Foster as The Stranger
- Mark Boone JuniorMark Boone JuniorMark Boone Junior is an American actor perhaps best known for his roles as Bobby Munson in FX's Sons of Anarchy and in two films by Christopher Nolan, Memento and Batman Begins...
as Beau Brower - Mark RendallMark RendallMark Rendall is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for starring in the title role of the 2004 film, Childstar, as well as Mick in Season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ReGenesis. He played Bastian Bux in the TV series, Tales from the Neverending Story, and the title character in The...
as Jake Oleson - Amber SainsburyAmber SainsburyAmber Sainsbury is a New Zealand actress. She has starred in the Sky One UK television series Hex as Roxanne Davenport...
as Denise - Nathaniel LeesNathaniel LeesNathaniel Lees is a New Zealand born actor and theatre director of Samoan descent. He is known for his role as Captain Mifune in The Matrix trilogy and his role as "Uglúk" in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. He has also had roles on the TV series Young Hercules, Hercules: The Legendary...
as Carter Davies - Megan Franich as Iris
- Andrew Stehlin as Arvin
- Manu BennettManu BennettManu Bennett is an actor from New Zealand who has appeared in television series and movies.- Early life :Born in New Zealand, Bennett's mother was an Australian bikini model, his father a New Zealand singer. The family moved to Australia when Bennett was a few months old...
as Deputy Billy Kitka - Craig HallCraig Hall (actor)-Film:* Siren as Soldier* Savage Honeymoon as Dean Savage* The World's Fastest Indian as Antarctic Angel* King Kong as Mike* Perfect Creature as Dominic* Knife Shift as Shane...
as Wilson Bulosan - Elizabeth HawthorneElizabeth HawthorneElizabeth Hawthorne, ONZM, is a New Zealand-born actress who is best known for her role as Mrs. Macready in the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the Peter Jackson supernatural comedy The Frighteners. She played Judge Harriet Caldwell in the 2004 TV...
as Lucy Ikos - Jared TurnerJared TurnerJared Turner is a New Zealand actor, best known for his roles as teacher, Ben Maddox in Go Girls and as Ty Johnson on the television series, The Almighty Johnsons...
as Aaron - Kelson HendersonKelson HendersonKelson Henderson is a well versed Stage, TV & Film actor from New Zealand. He has appeared briefly in various shows but most famous are his roles in Power Rangers. He has both played and voiced roles for Power Rangers since 2004's Dino Thunder.Henderson was a guest at the Power Morphicon in June...
as Gabe - Abbey-May Wakefield as Little Girl Vampire
- Pua MagasivaPua MagasivaPua Magasiva is a Samoan New Zealand actor, who is perhaps known for his roles as Shane Clarke, the Red Ranger from Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, and Nurse Vinnie Kruse in New Zealand soap Shortland Street.-Biography:...
as Malekai Hamm - Joel TobeckJoel TobeckBorn in 1971 in Auckland, New Zealand, He is a well known actor in New Zealand and Australia with over 20 years acting experience.He comes from an acting background, his mother Liddy Holloway was a well known theatre and TV actress in New Zealand...
as Doug Hertz - Kate ElliottKate ElliottKate Elliott is the pen name of American fantasy and science fiction writer Alis A. Rasmussen .-Writing:Although Rasmussen's first novels The Labyrinth Gate and The Highroad failed to become bestsellers, additional publishers liked her manuscripts but wanted a fresh name unconnected with the...
as Vampire
Production
30 Days of Night author Steve NilesSteve Niles
Steve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Simon Dark, Mystery Society and Batman: Gotham County Line....
conceived of the story in the form of a comic but after meeting a lack of interest in initial pitches tried to pitch it as a film. When this did not work out Niles shelved the idea until he showed it to IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
. IDW published the comic and Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, which is credited with pioneering a new format for commercial comics, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve...
provided the artwork. When Niles and his agent, Jon Levin, shopped the comic around again as a potential film adaptation, Niles found that the idea "went shockingly well," with Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
and Senator International picking up the property rights based on the original concept and Templesmith's unique mood and concepts for the vampires.
According to Raimi, the potential project was "unlike the horror films of recent years".
Following the publication of the 30 Days of Night comic book
30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book mini-series written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property....
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
in 2002, studios, including DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
, MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and Senator International, bid in the $1 million range for rights to a potential vampire film based on the story. Director and producer Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
expressed interest in adapting the miniseries and was negotiating a production deal with his producing partner Robert Tapert
Robert Tapert
Robert Gerard Tapert , sometimes credited as Rob Tapert, Robert G. Tapert, or Rip Tapert, is an American film producer, best known for his co-founding of, and his subsequent work with, the Renaissance Pictures company....
to establish a label with Senator Entertainment, of which Senator International is the sales division. In July 2002, Senator International acquired the rights for 30 Days of Night in a seven figure deal with Raimi and Tapert attached as producers.
By October 2002, Niles was working on adapting 30 Days of Night for the big screen, keeping the film true to the miniseries, though fleshing out the characters more significantly in the adaptation process. In February 2003, Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
partnered with Senator International to work on 30 Days of Night, which was developing under Senator International's newly-established production company, Ghost House Pictures. Mike Richardson
Mike Richardson (publisher)
Mike Richardson is an American writer, film producer and the founder of Dark Horse Comics, a comic book publication company based in Milwaukie, Oregon.-Career:...
, the Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
publisher who supported the adaptation project from the beginning, after having turned down an offer to initially publish the project, was attached as executive producer. The following March, Richardson revealed that Steve Niles had turned in the initial draft for the 30 Days of Night screenplay. In March 2004, however, Columbia Pictures requested that Niles's initial screenplay to be rewritten in preparation for production. Sue Binder, the business manager of Ghost House Pictures, indicated that filming for 30 Days of Night was still at least a year away, as Ghost House planned to produce three films before the vampire thriller. The following May, Stuart Beattie
Stuart Beattie
Stuart Beattie is an Australian screenwriter and film director. He attended Knox Grammar School, in Sydney, Australia, where his mother, Sandra, was a languages teacher, and later Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.-Filmography:...
, one of the writers for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 adventure fantasy film based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, was rewriting Niles's 30 Days of Night draft for production. Niles was pleased with Beattie's faithfully rewritten script, which was submitted to the studio in October 2004.
In September 2005, it was announced that director David Slade
David Slade
David Aldrin Slade is a British film director who began his career making music videos. His work includes videos for artists such as Aphex Twin, Rob Dougan, System of a Down, Stone Temple Pilots, Tori Amos, and Muse.-Life and career:...
had signed on to 30 Days of Night, which would be distributed by Columbia Pictures mainly in North America and Mandate Pictures in international territories. In March 2006, Slade revealed that screenwriter Brian Nelson, who wrote the screenplay for Slade's previous film Hard Candy
Hard Candy (film)
Hard Candy is a 2005 psychological thriller film focusing on the confrontation between an assumed sexual predator and a not-so-innocent 14-year-old girl....
, was writing a new draft of the 30 Days of Night script, replacing Beattie's draft. The director said that filming would begin in summer 2006 in Alaska and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
In June 2006, it was announced that Josh Hartnett
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
was cast as the husband of the married couple that serves as the town's sheriff team. Melissa George
Melissa George
Melissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
joined the 30 Days of Night cast as the wife of Hartnett's character. Danny Huston
Danny Huston
-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
joined the cast as the leader of the vampires. Filming did not begin immediately, but in a September 2006 interview, executive producer Mike Richardson said that 30 Days of Night would be shot on 35 mm film
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
, though there had been discussion to shoot the film on Genesis
Genesis (Panavision)
The Genesis is Panavision's high-end digital movie camera, which uses a proprietary, full frame 35mm-width, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, 12.4-megapixel, RGB filtered CCD. It was first used by a feature crew to shoot Bryan Singer's Superman Returns and was shortly followed up thereafter by the World War I...
. In an interview prior to filming, Slade explained that the illustrations of the graphic novel's illustrator, Ben Templesmith, would be reflected in production design. Slade also considered Nelson's draft to be the most faithful to the graphic novel. He also stated his intention to make a "scary vampire film", of which he didn't think there were many. "The rest of them, they fall into all kinds of traps. We're going to try to do our best... and one of the ways we have to do it is be more naturalistic than the graphic novel, because it's very over-the-top," said Slade. There was also concern expressed that while the vampires needed to communicate, talking might lessen the effect. To counter this, a fictional vampire language, with click consonant
Click consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
s, was constructed with the help of a professor of linguistics and the nearby University of Auckland. Slade explained "we designed this really simple language that didn't sound like any particular accent that you would be aware of, that was based around really simple actions, eating, hunting, yes, no, really basic, because that's what vampires do." Before the final fight scene Danny Huston (Marlow) says "kommen sie" which is German and translates to "come."
By February 2007, the production phase was completed, and a rough cut of the film was prepared. In April, composer Brian Reitzell
Brian Reitzell
Brian Reitzell is a musician, composer, producer and music supervisor best known for his contributions to several film soundtracks. He was formerly the drummer for the punk band Redd Kross. He has also collaborated with the French electronica duo Air, having performed drums on their 2001 album 10...
was hired to score the film.
Release and reception
30 Days of Night was released in 2,855 cinemas in the United States and Canada on October 19, 2007. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $15,951,902, placing first in the box office. The film grossed $39,568,996 in the United States and Canada and $35,735,361 overseas. It has grossed $75,304,357 worldwide. On the review aggregation site Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 50% of the 153 film critics gave the film positive reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film received a score of 53 out of 100 from 29 reviews, considered to be mixed or average reviews.
To coincide with the film's release, a novelization by Tim Lebbon
Tim Lebbon
Tim Lebbon is a horror and dark fantasy writer, and a judge at the 2005 World Fantasy Convention.-Life and career:Lebbon was born in London. His short story "Reconstructing Amy" won the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction in 2001 and his novel Dusk won the 2007 August Derleth Award from the...
was published by Pocket Star on September 25. It is one of six novels based on the franchise.
Home video
30 Days of Night was released February 26, 2008 on DVD, Blu-ray and UMD for PlayStation PortablePlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
in the United States. DVD sales brought in $26,949,780 in revenue, from 1,429,600 sold DVD units. This does not include Blu-ray sales. The DVD is a single disc and includes eight featurettes, one of which is a full episode of the hit anime Blood+
Blood+
Blood+, pronounced as "Blood Plus", is an anime series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed by Junichi Fujisaku. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax, as well as on terrestrial networks such as MBS, TBS, and RKB on October 8, 2005. The final episode...
. The UK Region 2 release is a two disc special edition, released in April 2008. Despite being exactly the same as the theatrical release, the BBFC re-rated the film from a 15 to an 18. Even though it still only has the eight featurettes on the second disc, it includes a bonus 30 Days of Night graphic novel.
Sequel
A straight-to-video sequel entitled 30 Days of Night: Dark Days30 Days of Night: Dark Days
30 Days of Night: Dark Days is a 2010 American horror film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name. It was directed by and written by Ben Ketai, alongside co-writer Steve Niles. It is a sequel to the 2007 film, 30 Days of Night...
was released on 5 October 2010. The script for the sequel was written by Steve Niles and Ben Ketai with Ketai also positioned as director. When filming began on October 20, 2009, Rhys Coiro
Rhys Coiro
Rhys Coiro is an American film, television and stage actor. Coiro may be best known for his role on the HBO original series Entourage as Billy Walsh.-Personal life:...
and Mia Kirshner
Mia Kirshner
Mia Kirshner is a Canadian actress and social activist who works in movies and television series. She is best known for her portrayal of Jenny Schecter on The L Word and for her role in the 2006 crime film The Black Dahlia as Elizabeth Short.- Early life :Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario,...
were named as leads, with Kirshner playing the lead vampire villain Lilith
Lilith (30 Days of Night)
Lilith is a character from the 30 Days of Night franchise, first appearing in the original comic sequel, Dark Days. She is the wife of Vicente, and together they are referred to as the "elders". She claims to be the mother of all other vampires...
. Other cast named included Harold Perrineau, Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Michelle Sanchez is an American actress who stars in the A&E Network drama The Glades. Previously she starred as the second-eldest Sorelli sister, Anne, a therapist in her mid-twenties, in The WB's comedic ensemble drama, Related. She was cast as a co-star in the third season of the ABC...
, Diora Baird
Diora Baird
Diora Lynn Baird is an American actress and former model for Guess? who has appeared in films such as Wedding Crashers and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning .-Early life:...
, Rhys Coiro
Rhys Coiro
Rhys Coiro is an American film, television and stage actor. Coiro may be best known for his role on the HBO original series Entourage as Billy Walsh.-Personal life:...
, and Monique Ganderton
Monique Ganderton
Monique Ganderton is a Canadian stunt woman and actress who works in television and film.Ganderton was born in Edmonton, Alberta. She started out in modeling before moving to stunt work. She has doubled Tricia Helfer, Leelee Sobieski, Bridget Moynahan, Daryl Hannah, Rebecca Romijn, Famke Janssen...
. Three days after filming began, Niles revealed that Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Michelle Sanchez is an American actress who stars in the A&E Network drama The Glades. Previously she starred as the second-eldest Sorelli sister, Anne, a therapist in her mid-twenties, in The WB's comedic ensemble drama, Related. She was cast as a co-star in the third season of the ABC...
replaced Melissa George in the role of Stella Olemaun
Stella Olemaun
Stella Olemaun is a fictional character in the comic 30 Days of Night created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.-Character bio:Stella Olemaun is the wife of Eben Olemaun, the sheriff of the small town of Barrow, Alaska...
. The sequel was produced on a lower budget, but being straight-to-video allowed the writers to more closely follow the comic book.
See also
- 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails30 Days of Night: Blood Trails30 Days of Night: Blood Trails is a 7-part miniseries that was released on FEARnet.com and FEARnet On Demand that acts as a prequel to the films 30 Days of Night and 30 Days of Night: Dark Days...
- 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust is a 6-part miniseries that was released on FEARnet.com and FEARnet On Demand that acts as a sequel to the movie 30 Days of Night. Set one month after the events in the movie, the series focuses on Sara Maguire, a nurse who is attacked by a vampire and slowly...
- FrostbitenFrostbitenFrostbite is a Swedish comedy horror film from 2006 directed by Anders Banke.The film was produced outside the bigger Swedish films studios, which would be considered an independent film in America...
, a Swedish 2006 vampire film with similar theme.
External links
- Production video journals at Ghost House Pictures
- Steve Niles Interview for 30 Days of Night at UGO.com
- Official multiplayer game for the film
- Composer Brian Reitzell discusses his score for 30 Days of Night