The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010 film)
Encyclopedia
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a 2010 fantasy adventure film
produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
, directed by Jon Turteltaub
, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
, the team behind the National Treasure franchise
. The film is named after the The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment in Disney's Fantasia
(with one scene being an extensive reference to it), which in turn is based on the late 1890s symphonic poem
by Paul Dukas
and the 1797 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
ballad
.
Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage
) is a sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan
, fighting against the forces of evil, in particular his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina
), while searching for the person who will inherit Merlin
's powers. This turns out to be Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel
), a physics student, whom Balthazar takes as a reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling apprentice a crash course in the art and science of magic and sorcery, in order to stop Horvath and Morgana le Fay
(Alice Krige
) from raising the souls of the evil dead sorcerers ("Morganians") and destroying the world.
(James A. Stephens), Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina
), betrays him by joining forces with the evil sorceress Morgana le Fay (Alice Krige
). Morgana mortally wounds Merlin before another apprentice, Veronica Gorloisen (Monica Bellucci
), absorbs Morgana's soul into her own body. As Morgana tries to kill Veronica from within, the final apprentice, Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage
) stops her by imprisoning Morgana and Veronica in the Grimhold, a magic prison in the shape of a nesting doll. Before dying, Merlin gives Baltazhar a dragon ring that will identify the Prime Merlinean, Merlin's successor who will be the only one able to defeat Morgana. Throughout history Balthazar imprisons Morganians, sorcerers who try to release Morgana, including Horvath, into successive layers on the Grimhold while he searches for the successor.
In 2000, 10-year-old Dave Stutler (Jake Cherry
), encounters Balthazar in a Manhattan antique store. Hoping he is the successor, Balthazar gives him the dragon ring, which comes alive and wraps itself around Dave's finger. Dave accidentally opens the Grimhold, releasing Horvath. While battling for possession of the Grimhold, Balthazar and Horvath are imprisoned in an ancient Chinese urn with a ten-year lock. Dave is humiliated as he is discovered by his teacher and classmates with his pants wet due to a vase that broke in his lap, and as everyone enters the store, there is no trace of the battle, so it is believed Dave made it up.
Ten years later, Dave (Jay Baruchel
) is a physics student at New York University
and has made the reacquaintance of a childhood crush, Becky (Teresa Palmer
). The mystical urn opens, releasing Horvath and Balthazar. Horvath goes after Dave in search for the Grimhold, and Dave is eventually rescued by Balthazar, riding an animated steel eagle created out of a Chrysler Building
gargoyle.
Dave initially refuses to help Balthazar, but agrees to help as long as he is left alone once the Grimhold is found. They track the Grimhold to Chinatown
, where Horvath has released the next Morganian, Sun Lok (Gregory Woo). Dave defeats Sun Lok, and Balthazar retrieves the Grimhold. Dave finds that he wants to learn to use magic after all, and agrees to become Balthazar's apprentice. He also becomes romantically involved with Becky against Balthazar's wishes.
Horvath enlists celebrity magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell
) to help him retrieve the Grimhold. They attempt to kill Dave, but Balthazar saves him. Cued by Horvath, Dave demands to know the truth about Balthazar's quest. Balthazar reveals that Morgana is trapped in the Grimhold, as well as Veronica; if Morgana escapes she will attempt "The Rising", a spell that will raise sorcerers from the dead and use them to enslave mankind. Dave, as the Prime Merlinian, is the only one who can stop her.
After an incident involving out of control animated mops, Dave decides to give up on magic, but changes his mind when he meets Becky again. He returns to his laboratory just as Drake and Horvath try to kill Balthazar after stealing the Grimhold. Once that is done, Horvath uses the "parasite spell" to steal Drake's energy, and takes his magic ring. He releases the witch Abigail Williams
(Nicole Ehinger) and uses her to kidnap Becky. Once Abigail completes that, Horvath steals her energy and pendant as well. Horvath threatens to kill Becky, forcing Dave to surrender the Grimhold and his ring. Balthazar then goes after Horvath in Battery Park
, knowing that without the ring Dave will be killed.
Horvath releases Morgana, who still possesses Veronica's body, and she begins the spell as Horvath animates the Charging Bull
sculpture to attack Balthazar. With Becky's help, Dave reaches them in time to try to defeat Horvath and stop Morgana from completing the Rising, and Balthazar's eagle flies away with the bull.
Balthazar takes Morgana's soul from Veronica's body into his own, and then Morgana's spirit escapes his body. Morgana tries to incinerate them, but Dave stops her - proving he is the Prime Merlinian by using magic without the ring. The ethereal projection then shoots energy bolts that kill Balthazar before battling Dave, who destroys her after creating a Tesla coil
with the square's lamp posts. Balthazar is then revived after Dave jump-starts his heart, and reunites with Veronica. Dave and Becky kiss, and fly to France on Balthazar's eagle.
After the end credits, Horvath takes his hat from Balthazar's shop.
segment of the same name. On February 12, 2007, this film was announced by Disney. References to the original animation include the scene where Dave animates broomsticks to clean his laboratory, and having Mickey Mouse
's hat in the post-credits scene.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is set in New York City, and most scenes were shot on location, in places such as Washington Square Park
and Chinatown's Eldrige Street. Dave's laboratory was filmed in either an abandoned subway station located under the New York City Hall
or a studio recreation of it. In the early morning hours of May 4, 2009, a Ferrari F430
being driven during filming of a chase sequence, lost control and careened into the window of a Sbarro
restaurant in Times Square
, injuring two pedestrians, one of whom was struck by a falling lamppost. Filming resumed the following night, when yet another accident occurred. The two accidents were blamed on rain making the roads slick.
To make the magic more believable, it was decided to an emphasis of practical, on-set effects, such as making real fire, with fluids or flash powder being used for colored flames. To provide a lighting reference for the plasma bolts, the actors wore gloves with LED
displays to make them glow before adding the computer-generated shot. For floating objects, they were either thrown with wires or held by stuntment wearing green chroma key
suits.
reports that 42% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 163 reviews, with an average score of 5.2/10. The critical consensus is: It has a likeable cast and loads of CGI spectacle, but for all but the least demanding viewers, The Sorcerer's Apprentice will be less than spellbinding. Another review aggregate, Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating from 0-100 of top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 46. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter
has said that "The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a tired relic of summer-movie cliches, clearly beaten to death by far too many credited writers." Chicago Sun-Times
film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film two and a half stars out of four and wrote "This is a much better film than Airbender
, which is faint praise, but it's becoming clear that every weekend brings another heavily marketed action "comedy" that pounds tens of millions out of consumers before evaporating". In July 2010, Parade Magazine listed the film #1 on its list of "Biggest Box Office Flops of 2010 (So Far).
and Despicable Me
in the U.S.A. and Canada and gained another $8,928,216 on its first weekend overseas (in 13 countries) for a worldwide opening of $26,547,841. On October 28, 2010, The Sorcerer's Apprentice closed at the box-office in the United States and Canada with $63,150,991 and, as of December 12, 2010, it has earned $152,132,612 in other countries totaling up to $215,283,603 worldwide. Except the U.S.A. and Canada, other countries where it grossed more than $10 million were Russia
and the Commonwealth of Independent States
($13,630,194), France
and the Maghreb
region ($12,930,320) and Japan
($10,632,660). Its largest overseas weekend was August 13–15, during which it grossed $14,091,169 in 42 countries. It occupies the fourth place on the all-time chart of Sword and Sorcery movies in the U.S.A. & Canada
& the third place on the same chart worldwide.
. It was released on July 6, 2010.
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
, directed by Jon Turteltaub
Jon Turteltaub
Jonathan Charles "Jon" Turteltaub is an American film director and producer. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the USC School of Cinematic Arts...
, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, the team behind the National Treasure franchise
National Treasure (franchise)
National Treasure is a series of theatrical action-adventure mystery films distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a treasure hunter who, with the help of his father, Patrick Henry Gates , his girlfriend, Abigail Chase...
. The film is named after the The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment in Disney's Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
(with one scene being an extensive reference to it), which in turn is based on the late 1890s symphonic poem
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Dukas)
For the 2010 film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, see The Sorcerer's Apprentice .The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a symphonic poem by the French composer Paul Dukas, written in 1896-97. Subtitled "Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe," the piece was inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1797 poem of the...
by Paul Dukas
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions...
and the 1797 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
ballad
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the English name of a poem by Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas.-Story:...
.
Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
) is a sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, fighting against the forces of evil, in particular his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
), while searching for the person who will inherit Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
's powers. This turns out to be Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel
Jay Baruchel
Jonathan Adam Saunders "Jay" Baruchel is a Canadian actor. He has had a successful career in comedy films, and has appeared in supporting roles in such box office successes as Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, as well as starring in films like She's Out of My League, The Trotsky,...
), a physics student, whom Balthazar takes as a reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling apprentice a crash course in the art and science of magic and sorcery, in order to stop Horvath and Morgana le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
(Alice Krige
Alice Krige
Alice Maud Krige is a South African actress. Her first feature film role was as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire...
) from raising the souls of the evil dead sorcerers ("Morganians") and destroying the world.
Plot
In 740 AD, one of the three apprentices of MerlinMerlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
(James A. Stephens), Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
), betrays him by joining forces with the evil sorceress Morgana le Fay (Alice Krige
Alice Krige
Alice Maud Krige is a South African actress. Her first feature film role was as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire...
). Morgana mortally wounds Merlin before another apprentice, Veronica Gorloisen (Monica Bellucci
Monica Bellucci
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci is an Italian actress and fashion model.-Early life:Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci, who was born in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Pakistan...
), absorbs Morgana's soul into her own body. As Morgana tries to kill Veronica from within, the final apprentice, Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
) stops her by imprisoning Morgana and Veronica in the Grimhold, a magic prison in the shape of a nesting doll. Before dying, Merlin gives Baltazhar a dragon ring that will identify the Prime Merlinean, Merlin's successor who will be the only one able to defeat Morgana. Throughout history Balthazar imprisons Morganians, sorcerers who try to release Morgana, including Horvath, into successive layers on the Grimhold while he searches for the successor.
In 2000, 10-year-old Dave Stutler (Jake Cherry
Jake Cherry
Jake Cherry is an American teen actor who appeared as Nick Daley in Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and as Edie Britt's son Travers McLain in Desperate Housewives. His film debut was alongside Jennifer Aniston in Friends with Money...
), encounters Balthazar in a Manhattan antique store. Hoping he is the successor, Balthazar gives him the dragon ring, which comes alive and wraps itself around Dave's finger. Dave accidentally opens the Grimhold, releasing Horvath. While battling for possession of the Grimhold, Balthazar and Horvath are imprisoned in an ancient Chinese urn with a ten-year lock. Dave is humiliated as he is discovered by his teacher and classmates with his pants wet due to a vase that broke in his lap, and as everyone enters the store, there is no trace of the battle, so it is believed Dave made it up.
Ten years later, Dave (Jay Baruchel
Jay Baruchel
Jonathan Adam Saunders "Jay" Baruchel is a Canadian actor. He has had a successful career in comedy films, and has appeared in supporting roles in such box office successes as Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, as well as starring in films like She's Out of My League, The Trotsky,...
) is a physics student at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and has made the reacquaintance of a childhood crush, Becky (Teresa Palmer
Teresa Palmer
Teresa Palmer is an Australian actress. She made her film debut in the suicide drama 2:37. Palmer was seen in The Grudge 2 in 2006, in December Boys, alongside Daniel Radcliffe, and in the 2008 children's fantasy Bedtime Stories, with Adam Sandler...
). The mystical urn opens, releasing Horvath and Balthazar. Horvath goes after Dave in search for the Grimhold, and Dave is eventually rescued by Balthazar, riding an animated steel eagle created out of a Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at , it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State...
gargoyle.
Dave initially refuses to help Balthazar, but agrees to help as long as he is left alone once the Grimhold is found. They track the Grimhold to Chinatown
Chinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
, where Horvath has released the next Morganian, Sun Lok (Gregory Woo). Dave defeats Sun Lok, and Balthazar retrieves the Grimhold. Dave finds that he wants to learn to use magic after all, and agrees to become Balthazar's apprentice. He also becomes romantically involved with Becky against Balthazar's wishes.
Horvath enlists celebrity magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell
Toby Kebbell
Tobias Alistair P. "Toby" Kebbell is a British actor.-Life and career:Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born in South Elmsall, on the A638 between Doncaster and Wakefield, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottinghamshire...
) to help him retrieve the Grimhold. They attempt to kill Dave, but Balthazar saves him. Cued by Horvath, Dave demands to know the truth about Balthazar's quest. Balthazar reveals that Morgana is trapped in the Grimhold, as well as Veronica; if Morgana escapes she will attempt "The Rising", a spell that will raise sorcerers from the dead and use them to enslave mankind. Dave, as the Prime Merlinian, is the only one who can stop her.
After an incident involving out of control animated mops, Dave decides to give up on magic, but changes his mind when he meets Becky again. He returns to his laboratory just as Drake and Horvath try to kill Balthazar after stealing the Grimhold. Once that is done, Horvath uses the "parasite spell" to steal Drake's energy, and takes his magic ring. He releases the witch Abigail Williams
Abigail Williams
Abigail Williams was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 innocent people.-Salem Witch trials:...
(Nicole Ehinger) and uses her to kidnap Becky. Once Abigail completes that, Horvath steals her energy and pendant as well. Horvath threatens to kill Becky, forcing Dave to surrender the Grimhold and his ring. Balthazar then goes after Horvath in Battery Park
Battery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
, knowing that without the ring Dave will be killed.
Horvath releases Morgana, who still possesses Veronica's body, and she begins the spell as Horvath animates the Charging Bull
Charging Bull
Charging Bull, which is sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is a bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica that stands in Bowling Green Park near Wall Street in Manhattan, New York City...
sculpture to attack Balthazar. With Becky's help, Dave reaches them in time to try to defeat Horvath and stop Morgana from completing the Rising, and Balthazar's eagle flies away with the bull.
Balthazar takes Morgana's soul from Veronica's body into his own, and then Morgana's spirit escapes his body. Morgana tries to incinerate them, but Dave stops her - proving he is the Prime Merlinian by using magic without the ring. The ethereal projection then shoots energy bolts that kill Balthazar before battling Dave, who destroys her after creating a Tesla coil
Tesla coil
A Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricity. Tesla coils produce higher current than the other source of high voltage discharges, electrostatic machines...
with the square's lamp posts. Balthazar is then revived after Dave jump-starts his heart, and reunites with Veronica. Dave and Becky kiss, and fly to France on Balthazar's eagle.
After the end credits, Horvath takes his hat from Balthazar's shop.
Cast
- Jay BaruchelJay BaruchelJonathan Adam Saunders "Jay" Baruchel is a Canadian actor. He has had a successful career in comedy films, and has appeared in supporting roles in such box office successes as Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, as well as starring in films like She's Out of My League, The Trotsky,...
as David "Dave" Stutler, a highly intelligent college student who becomes Blake's apprentice.- Jake CherryJake CherryJake Cherry is an American teen actor who appeared as Nick Daley in Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and as Edie Britt's son Travers McLain in Desperate Housewives. His film debut was alongside Jennifer Aniston in Friends with Money...
as Young David "Dave" Stutler
- Jake Cherry
- Nicolas CageNicolas CageNicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
as Balthazar Blake, a thousand year old sorcerer based on the magician. - Alfred MolinaAlfred MolinaAlfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
as Maxim Horvath, an evil sorcerer and Balthazar's rival. - Alice KrigeAlice KrigeAlice Maud Krige is a South African actress. Her first feature film role was as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire...
as Morgana le FayMorgan le FayMorgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
, MerlinMerlinMerlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
and Balthazar's greatest enemy. - James A. Stephens as MerlinMerlinMerlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
, the legendary wizard killed in 740 AD by Horvath and Morgana. - Monica BellucciMonica BellucciMonica Anna Maria Bellucci is an Italian actress and fashion model.-Early life:Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci, who was born in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Pakistan...
as Veronica Gorloisen, a sorceress, and the love interest of Balthazar Blake. - Teresa PalmerTeresa PalmerTeresa Palmer is an Australian actress. She made her film debut in the suicide drama 2:37. Palmer was seen in The Grudge 2 in 2006, in December Boys, alongside Daniel Radcliffe, and in the 2008 children's fantasy Bedtime Stories, with Adam Sandler...
as Rebecca "Becky" Barnes, the love interest of Dave.- Peyton Roi List as Young Becky
- Toby KebbellToby KebbellTobias Alistair P. "Toby" Kebbell is a British actor.-Life and career:Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born in South Elmsall, on the A638 between Doncaster and Wakefield, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottinghamshire...
as Drake Stone, a celebrity illusionist, who joins forces with Horvath. - Gregory Woo as Sun Lok, a ChineseChinese peopleThe term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
wizard. - Nicole Ehinger as Abigail WilliamsAbigail WilliamsAbigail Williams was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 innocent people.-Salem Witch trials:...
, a witch in the second-to-last layer around the Grimhold, who was accredited for starting the Salem witch trialsSalem witch trialsThe Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
. - Robert CapronRobert CapronRobert Capron is American child actor who is best known for starring as Rowley Jefferson, Greg Heffley's best friend in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies. He started off with a role in Bride Wars and later had small parts in Hachiko: A Dog's Story and the Disney film The Sorcerer's Apprentice...
as Oliver Twistmeyer, Dave Stutler's best friend as a child. - Omar Benson MillerOmar Benson MillerOmar Benson Miller is an American actor.-Early life:Miller was raised in Long Beach and Anaheim, California, and graduated from San Jose State University.-Career:...
as Bennet Zurrow, Dave's roommate. - Ethan PeckEthan PeckEthan Gregory Peck is an American actor. He is best known for his work in the ABC Family network television series 10 Things I Hate About You, where he portrayed Patrick Verona, a role originated by Heath Ledger in the movie of the same name...
as Andre Dunlap - Sierra, Takoda, Samson, and Bandit from Howling Woods Farm as the wolves.
Production
The basic idea for the movie was mostly Nicolas Cage's, who wanted to explore a mystic world and play a character with magical powers, and following a suggestion by his producer friend Todd Garner, decided to make a feature length movie based upon the FantasiaFantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
segment of the same name. On February 12, 2007, this film was announced by Disney. References to the original animation include the scene where Dave animates broomsticks to clean his laboratory, and having Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
's hat in the post-credits scene.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is set in New York City, and most scenes were shot on location, in places such as Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
and Chinatown's Eldrige Street. Dave's laboratory was filmed in either an abandoned subway station located under the New York City Hall
New York City Hall
New York City Hall is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. The building is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as...
or a studio recreation of it. In the early morning hours of May 4, 2009, a Ferrari F430
Ferrari F430
The Ferrari F430 is a sports car that was produced by the Italian automaker Ferrari from 2004 to 2009, as a successor to the 360. It debuted at the 2004 Paris Motor Show...
being driven during filming of a chase sequence, lost control and careened into the window of a Sbarro
Sbarro
Sbarro is a bankrupt chain of pizza restaurants that specializes in traditional Italian cuisine, including its most popular menu item "pizza by the slice." Its headquarters is located in Melville, Huntington, New York.- History :...
restaurant in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, injuring two pedestrians, one of whom was struck by a falling lamppost. Filming resumed the following night, when yet another accident occurred. The two accidents were blamed on rain making the roads slick.
To make the magic more believable, it was decided to an emphasis of practical, on-set effects, such as making real fire, with fluids or flash powder being used for colored flames. To provide a lighting reference for the plasma bolts, the actors wore gloves with LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
displays to make them glow before adding the computer-generated shot. For floating objects, they were either thrown with wires or held by stuntment wearing green chroma key
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
suits.
Critical reception
The film has received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregate 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 42% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 163 reviews, with an average score of 5.2/10. The critical consensus is: It has a likeable cast and loads of CGI spectacle, but for all but the least demanding viewers, The Sorcerer's Apprentice will be less than spellbinding. Another review aggregate, 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
Normalization (statistics)
In one usage in statistics, normalization is the process of isolating statistical error in repeated measured data. A normalization is sometimes based on a property...
rating from 0-100 of top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 46. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
has said that "The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a tired relic of summer-movie cliches, clearly beaten to death by far too many credited writers." 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...
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...
gave the film two and a half stars out of four and wrote "This is a much better film than Airbender
The Last Airbender
The Last Airbender is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is a live-action film adaptation of the first season to the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender....
, which is faint praise, but it's becoming clear that every weekend brings another heavily marketed action "comedy" that pounds tens of millions out of consumers before evaporating". In July 2010, Parade Magazine listed the film #1 on its list of "Biggest Box Office Flops of 2010 (So Far).
Box office
The Sorcerer's Apprentice made an opening gross of $3,873,997 on its first day (Wednesday July 14, 2010). It finished at #3 on its first weekend with $17,619,622 behind InceptionInception
Inception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
and Despicable Me
Despicable Me
Despicable Me is a 2010 American computer-animated 3D comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment that was released on July 9, 2010 in the United States. The film features the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, and...
in the U.S.A. and Canada and gained another $8,928,216 on its first weekend overseas (in 13 countries) for a worldwide opening of $26,547,841. On October 28, 2010, The Sorcerer's Apprentice closed at the box-office in the United States and Canada with $63,150,991 and, as of December 12, 2010, it has earned $152,132,612 in other countries totaling up to $215,283,603 worldwide. Except the U.S.A. and Canada, other countries where it grossed more than $10 million were Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
($13,630,194), France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
region ($12,930,320) and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
($10,632,660). Its largest overseas weekend was August 13–15, during which it grossed $14,091,169 in 42 countries. It occupies the fourth place on the all-time chart of Sword and Sorcery movies in the U.S.A. & Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
& the third place on the same chart worldwide.
Home media
It has sold 1,288,735 DVD units (equivalent to $21,609,680) since its release in DVD. Adding in its box-office revenue, the film's earnings sum up to $236,893,283.Soundtrack
The score for this film was conducted and recorded by Trevor RabinTrevor Rabin
Trevor Charles Rabin is a South African born musician, best known as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British progressive rock band Yes from 1983–1994, and since then, as a film composer.- Early years :...
. It was released on July 6, 2010.