The Box (film)
Encyclopedia
The Box is a 2009 American psychological horror
film based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson
, which was previously adapted into an episode of the 1980s iteration of The Twilight Zone
. The film is written and directed by Richard Kelly
and stars Cameron Diaz
and James Marsden
as a couple who receive a box from a mysterious man who offers them one million dollars if they press the button sealed within the dome on top of the box.
) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden
), a financially strapped couple, wake to find a package on the doorstep. Inside the package is a locked wooden box with a button and a note that reads: "Mr. Steward will call upon you at 5:00 pm". Promptly at five, Steward (Frank Langella
), a middle aged, facially disfigured man, arrives. He tells Norma that, if the button is pushed, he will give her one million dollars, but someone in the world, whom she does not know, will die. After much deliberation, Norma pushes the button on an impulse. Meanwhile, many miles away, the police are called to investigate a report of shots being fired, only to discover that the man who lived in the house, Jeffrey (Ryan Woodle), has killed his wife and fled, leaving his daughter locked in the bathroom. Steward then returns to give Norma and Arthur the money, informing them that they will not know the person who next receives the offer, leaving open the possibility that one of them, or their young son, may be killed.
At Norma's sister's wedding rehearsal dinner, there is a confusing and mysterious turn of events. Arthur wins a chance to select a present from a pool provided by the guests, and he sees a plain brown box that looks exactly like Steward's box. He opens it to find a photo of Steward before his disfigurement. Arthur asks Norma's father, a police officer, to run the license plate number of Steward's car.
After returning home, Arthur drives the babysitter home. She acts strangely, telling Arthur to "look into the light" to solve his problems. Her nose begins to bleed, and she passes out. Later, at a supermarket, Norma is approached by a woman who tells her to look up a certain call number in the library and not to trust anyone, but her own husband. The woman then passes out with a bloody nose. Norma's father tells Arthur that Steward's car is registered to the National Security Agency
(NSA) and allows Arthur to visit the house where Jeffrey killed his wife and left his daughter locked in the bathroom. There, Arthur finds pictures of Steward and a Human Resource Exploitation Manual along with a library call number.
Separately, Norma and Arthur visit the library. Arthur approaches a woman he learns is Steward's wife (Deborah Rush
), and she leads Arthur to a room that has three water coffins made of hovering water. Two lead to eternal damnation, while the other leads to salvation. Arthur enters one of the gateways. Norma is led by two women to Steward, who informs Norma that he was struck by lightning and can now communicate with "those who control the lightning". She wakes up and finds herself back at home in her bed. Above her, Arthur hovers within a rectangular water module that suddenly bursts.
Back at the NSA, the NSA Chief and Arthur's boss from NASA
are discussing Steward. They say he was struck by lightning and died shortly after; but, hours later in the morgue, a nurse heard Steward laughing. He was transferred to a military hospital where his body seemed to regenerate faster than normal, with cellular degeneration halting.
At the wedding reception of Norma's sister, their son Walter (Sam Oz Stone) is kidnapped. Arthur is forced to leave the reception at gunpoint by the wife-killer Jeffrey, who is, in fact, a former NASA employee. He reveals to Arthur that he had been forced to choose between his wife and his daughter. He also shows Arthur the Human Resource Exploitation Manual seen in the pictures earlier, which contains, among other things, a diagram of the three water portals. Meanwhile, NSA employees are seen rounding up large groups of people, including Walter, and leading them into enormous portals of water similar to the ones at the library. Steward is overseeing the process; by his side are several boxes, identical to the one he had given Norma. Through a discussion with one of his subordinates, the boxes are revealed to be part of an experiment, conducted by "those who control the lightning" to learn whether the majority of the human race is capable of putting other peoples' lives before personal gain. If the results of the test show that the majority of subjects push the button, the human race will be exterminated. Steward also reveals that all the test subjects are couples under 40 years of age with one child.
Arthur and Norma return home and find Steward, who offers them a final choice. Their son Walter is now deaf and blind, as a result of being taken underwater at a motel swimming pool, and locked in the upstairs bathroom. They can either live on with their million dollars and their disabled son, or Arthur can shoot Norma through the heart, at which point Walter's sight and hearing will be restored and the money will be placed in an interest-bearing bank account for Walter, to be given to him on his 18th birthday. The couple runs to the upstairs bathroom where they can hear their son struggling and calling for them, but he cannot hear them calling back to him. Norma refuses to see her son suffer, and begs Arthur to shoot her. Arthur agrees, and, as he shoots his wife, another couple far away pushes the button on their box. The police arrive and arrest Arthur, while Walter regains consciousness and calls out. As Arthur is taken from his home, Steward leaves the other couple's house. NSA agents and Arthur's boss arrive at Arthur's house. Arthur's boss assures Arthur that his son Walter will receive good care. Arthur is taken away and Walter is shown through an upstairs window in the home with his grandfather (Holmes Osborne
) standing behind him. The final scene shows Arlington Steward standing next to his car after delivering another box to an unsuspecting couple who have pushed the button.
wrote a script based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by author Richard Matheson
, which had previously been turned into a Twilight Zone
episode of the same name. The project had a budget of over $30 million provided by Media Rights Capital
. Kelly described his intent for the film, "My hope is to make a film that is incredibly suspenseful and broadly commercial, while still retaining my artistic sensibility." Actress Cameron Diaz
was cast in the lead role in June 2007. Most of the filming took place in the Boston, Massachusetts area, with scenes shot in downtown Boston
, South Boston, Waltham
, Ipswich, Winthrop
, Milton
, Medfield
, Quincy
, Kingston
, and North Andover, as well as other localities. Some filming took place on the Milton Academy
campus, and a large indoor set was built inside a former Lucent Technologies
building in North Andover to recreate a NASA
laboratory. The production crew also journeyed to NASA's Langley Research Center
in Hampton
, Virginia
, to shoot a number of scenes for the film. Richard Kelly's father had worked at NASA Langley in the 1970s and 80s. Filming also took place in Richmond, Virginia, including over head shots of the city, including 95 South passing the train station. Many background extras were reused in different scenes, and people with period correct 60s and 70s cars were encouraged to participate. Actor Frank Langella
was cast in October 2007, and production began on the film the following month. Prior to production, actor James Marsden
was cast a lead role opposite Diaz. Production concluded by February 2008. It was the second time Marsden and Langella worked together, the first being Superman Returns
.
and Regine Chassagne
of Canadian band Arcade Fire, and Owen Pallett
provided an original score for the film. Butler, Chassagne, and Pallett helped Kelly during the editing process by advising his decisions. As of November 2009, the soundtrack has not been released nor been set for release. Butler, Chassagne, and Pallett had planned on releasing the soundtrack after Arcade Fire's third album
release in August 2010, but as of June 3, 2011, the soundtrack is still unavailable.
on October 29, 2009. While it was originally scheduled to be released in the U.S.
on October 30, 2009, on July 31, 2009, it was announced the release date would be delayed to November 6, 2009.
The film opened with $7,571,417 in 2,635 theaters at an average of $2,873 per theater. It ranked number 6 at the box office coming in behind the newly released Disney's A Christmas Carol, The Men Who Stare at Goats
, and The Fourth Kind
. The film went on to gross $15,051,977 domestically and $32,924,206 worldwide.
It was released on DVD
and Blu-ray in the U.S. on February 23, 2010. The movie was also specially published as digital download.
reports that 46% of 133 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
of 5.1 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "Imaginative but often preposterous, The Box features some thrills but largely feels too piecemeal." Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of professional critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 33%, based on a sample of 15 reviews. Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 47 based on 24 reviews.
American film critic Roger Ebert
, of the Chicago Sun-Times
, gave the film three out of four stars overall saying, "This movie kept me involved and intrigued, and for that I'm grateful." Market research firm CinemaScore
reported that the film received very negative feedback. The Box received an F, for which CinemaScore President Ed Mintz blamed the film's ending and was quoted as saying "People really thought this was a stinker".
It is included in Keith Uhlich's top ten list for 2009.
Psychological horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot...
film based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
, which was previously adapted into an episode of the 1980s iteration of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
. The film is written and directed by Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly (director)
James Richard Kelly is an American film director and writer, best known for writing and directing the cult classic Donnie Darko in 2001.-Early life:...
and stars Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
and James Marsden
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
as a couple who receive a box from a mysterious man who offers them one million dollars if they press the button sealed within the dome on top of the box.
Plot
In 1976, Norma (Cameron DiazCameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
), a financially strapped couple, wake to find a package on the doorstep. Inside the package is a locked wooden box with a button and a note that reads: "Mr. Steward will call upon you at 5:00 pm". Promptly at five, Steward (Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
), a middle aged, facially disfigured man, arrives. He tells Norma that, if the button is pushed, he will give her one million dollars, but someone in the world, whom she does not know, will die. After much deliberation, Norma pushes the button on an impulse. Meanwhile, many miles away, the police are called to investigate a report of shots being fired, only to discover that the man who lived in the house, Jeffrey (Ryan Woodle), has killed his wife and fled, leaving his daughter locked in the bathroom. Steward then returns to give Norma and Arthur the money, informing them that they will not know the person who next receives the offer, leaving open the possibility that one of them, or their young son, may be killed.
At Norma's sister's wedding rehearsal dinner, there is a confusing and mysterious turn of events. Arthur wins a chance to select a present from a pool provided by the guests, and he sees a plain brown box that looks exactly like Steward's box. He opens it to find a photo of Steward before his disfigurement. Arthur asks Norma's father, a police officer, to run the license plate number of Steward's car.
After returning home, Arthur drives the babysitter home. She acts strangely, telling Arthur to "look into the light" to solve his problems. Her nose begins to bleed, and she passes out. Later, at a supermarket, Norma is approached by a woman who tells her to look up a certain call number in the library and not to trust anyone, but her own husband. The woman then passes out with a bloody nose. Norma's father tells Arthur that Steward's car is registered to the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(NSA) and allows Arthur to visit the house where Jeffrey killed his wife and left his daughter locked in the bathroom. There, Arthur finds pictures of Steward and a Human Resource Exploitation Manual along with a library call number.
Separately, Norma and Arthur visit the library. Arthur approaches a woman he learns is Steward's wife (Deborah Rush
Deborah Rush
Deborah Rush is an American actress.Rush has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off. She also acted in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot...
), and she leads Arthur to a room that has three water coffins made of hovering water. Two lead to eternal damnation, while the other leads to salvation. Arthur enters one of the gateways. Norma is led by two women to Steward, who informs Norma that he was struck by lightning and can now communicate with "those who control the lightning". She wakes up and finds herself back at home in her bed. Above her, Arthur hovers within a rectangular water module that suddenly bursts.
Back at the NSA, the NSA Chief and Arthur's boss from NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
are discussing Steward. They say he was struck by lightning and died shortly after; but, hours later in the morgue, a nurse heard Steward laughing. He was transferred to a military hospital where his body seemed to regenerate faster than normal, with cellular degeneration halting.
At the wedding reception of Norma's sister, their son Walter (Sam Oz Stone) is kidnapped. Arthur is forced to leave the reception at gunpoint by the wife-killer Jeffrey, who is, in fact, a former NASA employee. He reveals to Arthur that he had been forced to choose between his wife and his daughter. He also shows Arthur the Human Resource Exploitation Manual seen in the pictures earlier, which contains, among other things, a diagram of the three water portals. Meanwhile, NSA employees are seen rounding up large groups of people, including Walter, and leading them into enormous portals of water similar to the ones at the library. Steward is overseeing the process; by his side are several boxes, identical to the one he had given Norma. Through a discussion with one of his subordinates, the boxes are revealed to be part of an experiment, conducted by "those who control the lightning" to learn whether the majority of the human race is capable of putting other peoples' lives before personal gain. If the results of the test show that the majority of subjects push the button, the human race will be exterminated. Steward also reveals that all the test subjects are couples under 40 years of age with one child.
Arthur and Norma return home and find Steward, who offers them a final choice. Their son Walter is now deaf and blind, as a result of being taken underwater at a motel swimming pool, and locked in the upstairs bathroom. They can either live on with their million dollars and their disabled son, or Arthur can shoot Norma through the heart, at which point Walter's sight and hearing will be restored and the money will be placed in an interest-bearing bank account for Walter, to be given to him on his 18th birthday. The couple runs to the upstairs bathroom where they can hear their son struggling and calling for them, but he cannot hear them calling back to him. Norma refuses to see her son suffer, and begs Arthur to shoot her. Arthur agrees, and, as he shoots his wife, another couple far away pushes the button on their box. The police arrive and arrest Arthur, while Walter regains consciousness and calls out. As Arthur is taken from his home, Steward leaves the other couple's house. NSA agents and Arthur's boss arrive at Arthur's house. Arthur's boss assures Arthur that his son Walter will receive good care. Arthur is taken away and Walter is shown through an upstairs window in the home with his grandfather (Holmes Osborne
Holmes Osborne
Holmes Osborne is an American actor, best known for starring in Richard Kelly's films - Donnie Darko , Southland Tales and The Box . He's also played the father of Guy Patterson in the movie That Thing You Do!, and starred in the movie Bring it On. He has made appearances in TV shows such as...
) standing behind him. The final scene shows Arlington Steward standing next to his car after delivering another box to an unsuspecting couple who have pushed the button.
Cast
- Cameron DiazCameron DiazCameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
as Norma Lewis - James MarsdenJames MarsdenJames Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
as Arthur Lewis - Frank LangellaFrank Langella-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
as Arlington Steward - Gillian JacobsGillian JacobsGillian Jacobs is an American film, theatre and television actress, best known for her role as Britta Perry on the NBC comedy series Community.-Personal life:...
as Dana/Sarah Matthews - Deborah RushDeborah RushDeborah Rush is an American actress.Rush has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off. She also acted in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot...
as Clymene Steward - Sam Oz Stone as Walter Lewis
- Ryan Woodle as Jeffrey Carnes
- James RebhornJames RebhornJames Robert Rebhorn is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films and plays.-Personal life:...
as Norm Cahill - Holmes OsborneHolmes OsborneHolmes Osborne is an American actor, best known for starring in Richard Kelly's films - Donnie Darko , Southland Tales and The Box . He's also played the father of Guy Patterson in the movie That Thing You Do!, and starred in the movie Bring it On. He has made appearances in TV shows such as...
as Dick Burns - Celia WestonCelia WestonCelia Weston is an American actress of stage, film and television, and a character actress. Professionally, she may be best known for her role as Jolene Hunnicutt on Alice.-Life and career:...
as Lana Burns - Andrew LevitasAndrew LevitasAndrew Levitas is an American painter, sculptor, filmmaker, writer, producer, photographer, and actor,A mainstay at city theatres, museums, and galleries at a very young age, Andrew was surrounded by many of the brightest and most unusual artists of a generation...
as black ops Carson - John MagaroJohn MagaroJohn Robert Magaro is an American film, television and stage actor. He will star alongside James Gandolfini in Twylight Zones —the upcoming feature film debut of David Chase, creator of The Sopranos.-Life and career:...
as Charles - Bill Thorpe as NASA administrator
- Alissa Maurice as Suzanne Weller
- Sal Lizard as Santa Claus
Production
Director Richard KellyRichard Kelly (director)
James Richard Kelly is an American film director and writer, best known for writing and directing the cult classic Donnie Darko in 2001.-Early life:...
wrote a script based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by author Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
, which had previously been turned into a Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
episode of the same name. The project had a budget of over $30 million provided by Media Rights Capital
Media Rights Capital
Media Rights Capital II LP is an independent film, television and digital studio founded by Mordecai Wiczyk and Asif Satchu. MRC specializes in the creation of premium content. It has full in-house physical production, legal, finance and sales teams, and a complete marketing infrastructure...
. Kelly described his intent for the film, "My hope is to make a film that is incredibly suspenseful and broadly commercial, while still retaining my artistic sensibility." Actress Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
was cast in the lead role in June 2007. Most of the filming took place in the Boston, Massachusetts area, with scenes shot in downtown Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, South Boston, Waltham
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
, Ipswich, Winthrop
Winthrop, Massachusetts
The Town of Winthrop is a municipality in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Winthrop was 17,497 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is an oceanside suburban community in Greater Boston situated at the north entrance to Boston Harbor and is very close to Logan International...
, Milton
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
, Medfield
Medfield, Massachusetts
Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,024 according to the 2010 Census. Medfield is an affluent community about 17 miles southwest of Boston....
, Quincy
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, Kingston
Kingston, Massachusetts
Kingston is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. According to the 2010 Census, it had a population of 12,629.-History:Before European settlers arrived in Kingston it was within the tribal home to the Wampanoag people...
, and North Andover, as well as other localities. Some filming took place on the Milton Academy
Milton Academy
Milton Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered starting in 9th grade...
campus, and a large indoor set was built inside a former Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies
Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...
building in North Andover to recreate a NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
laboratory. The production crew also journeyed to NASA's Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center is the oldest of NASA's field centers, located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It directly borders Poquoson, Virginia and Langley Air Force Base...
in Hampton
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, to shoot a number of scenes for the film. Richard Kelly's father had worked at NASA Langley in the 1970s and 80s. Filming also took place in Richmond, Virginia, including over head shots of the city, including 95 South passing the train station. Many background extras were reused in different scenes, and people with period correct 60s and 70s cars were encouraged to participate. Actor Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
was cast in October 2007, and production began on the film the following month. Prior to production, actor James Marsden
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
was cast a lead role opposite Diaz. Production concluded by February 2008. It was the second time Marsden and Langella worked together, the first being Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
.
Music
In December 2008, it was announced that Win ButlerWin Butler
Win Butler is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire. His wife Régine Chassagne and his brother William Butler are both members of the band.-Life and career:...
and Regine Chassagne
Régine Chassagne
Régine Chassagne is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist musician and singer, and a founding member of the band Arcade Fire. She is married to co-founder Win Butler.-Life and career:...
of Canadian band Arcade Fire, and Owen Pallett
Owen Pallett
Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....
provided an original score for the film. Butler, Chassagne, and Pallett helped Kelly during the editing process by advising his decisions. As of November 2009, the soundtrack has not been released nor been set for release. Butler, Chassagne, and Pallett had planned on releasing the soundtrack after Arcade Fire's third album
The Suburbs (Arcade Fire album)
The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in August 2010. Coinciding with the announcement the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing two tracks from the album, “The Suburbs” and “Month of May”. The album debuted at #1 on the Irish...
release in August 2010, but as of June 3, 2011, the soundtrack is still unavailable.
Release
The film was first released in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on October 29, 2009. While it was originally scheduled to be released in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 30, 2009, on July 31, 2009, it was announced the release date would be delayed to November 6, 2009.
The film opened with $7,571,417 in 2,635 theaters at an average of $2,873 per theater. It ranked number 6 at the box office coming in behind the newly released Disney's A Christmas Carol, The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Men Who Stare at Goats (film)
The Men Who Stare at Goats is a 2009 comedy war film directed by Grant Heslov and written by Peter Straughan and released in theaters on November 6, 2009...
, and The Fourth Kind
The Fourth Kind
The Fourth Kind is a 2009 American mockumentary science fiction film starring Milla Jovovich, Charlotte Milchard, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, and Mia McKenna-Bruce. The title is derived from the expansion of J...
. The film went on to gross $15,051,977 domestically and $32,924,206 worldwide.
It was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray in the U.S. on February 23, 2010. The movie was also specially published as digital download.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from film critics. Review aggregator 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...
reports that 46% of 133 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
of 5.1 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "Imaginative but often preposterous, The Box features some thrills but largely feels too piecemeal." Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of professional critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 33%, based on a sample of 15 reviews. 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,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 47 based on 24 reviews.
American film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, gave the film three out of four stars overall saying, "This movie kept me involved and intrigued, and for that I'm grateful." Market research firm CinemaScore
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.-Background:...
reported that the film received very negative feedback. The Box received an F, for which CinemaScore President Ed Mintz blamed the film's ending and was quoted as saying "People really thought this was a stinker".
It is included in Keith Uhlich's top ten list for 2009.