document_title: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

question_text: who is the letter from in mockingjay part 2

text: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

text: Plot[edit]

text: Katniss Everdeen is recovering after being attacked by Peeta Mellark, who has been brainwashed by the Capitol.

text: Despite her intention to kill President Snow, Katniss' request is declined by Alma Coin, as she is too valuable to risk losing. However, Katniss volunteers to be sent to District 2, the final district still controlled by the Capitol. District 13’s air force launches a full-scale bombing on a mountain nicknamed The Nut, which houses the Capitol’s main weaponry and air force, with few survivors. Although Katniss manages to convince the district to join the rebellion, she is shot by the one of the survivors who is then gunned down; Katniss survives the gunshot wound due to her bulletproof Mockingjay suit.

text: At the wedding of Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta, Katniss is convinced by Johanna Mason to sneak aboard a supply ship leaving for the Capitol. Unable to bring her back, Coin has her assigned to the “Star Squad”, which is led by Boggs and includes Gale, Finnick, Cressida, Messalla, Castor, Pollux, Leegs 1 and 2, Mitchell, and Homes. They will follow in relative safety behind the actual invasion of the Capitol, providing video of their incursion for propaganda purposes. Boggs carries a holographic map (the “Holo”) to help them evade known booby-trapped “pods” which line the streets of the Capitol. Coin also sends Peeta to join the squad, even though he has not fully recovered from the Capitol’s conditioning.

text: As they venture deeper into the Capitol, Boggs accidentally triggers a land mine and is fatally wounded, giving the Holo to Katniss before dying. The squad triggers another pod which releases a flood of lethal black tar. Peeta momentarily succumbs to his conditioning and attacks Katniss, killing Mitchell in the process. The group takes shelter in an abandoned building, where Jackson, the second-in-command, attempts to commandeer the Holo, until Katniss says that she is under secret orders from Coin to kill Snow. Katniss and most of the group escape just before a squad of Peacekeepers arrive and destroy the building, killing the Leegs twins after they had earlier stayed behind. The Capitol then broadcasts a message with Caesar Flickerman announcing Katniss’s death before Snow starts to make a speech against the rebellion, which is interrupted by Coin, who delivers an impassioned eulogy for her to rally the rebels.

text: Castor decides to have them go through the sewers to avoid getting detected by the Capitol's forces, having Pollux show the way down. The team manages to avoid further pods, but they are attacked by a horde of genetically engineered creatures called “mutts” when Snow finds out that they are still alive. Jackson, Castor, and Homes are killed as the squad flees through the sewers. Finnick fights off the mutts with his trident and pocket-knife to allow the rest of the team to escape, but they overwhelm him and Katniss is forced to set the Holo’s self-destruct, killing Finnick and the remaining mutts. While running from pursuing Peacekeepers, Messalla is melted by a pod. The surviving team members reach the surface and take refuge in a shop, where Tigris, a former Hunger Games stylist and rebel sympathizer, hides them in her basement.

text: As rebel forces gain ground, Snow invites fleeing Capitol citizens into his mansion for protection. Katniss and Gale join the crowd, posing as refugees. As rebels arrive and attack, Peacekeepers capture Gale and herd Capitol children toward the palace gates. A hovercraft with Capitol markings flies overhead and drops small parcels into the crowd. The parcels explode, killing and injuring many people. A team of rebel medics attempt to help the injured, including Katniss’s sister Prim. As Katniss rushes forward, a second wave of bombs detonate, killing Prim and knocking Katniss unconscious.

text: Upon recovering, Katniss learns the Capitol has been conquered and that Snow is captured. Katniss confronts Snow in his greenhouse. He explains to her that Coin ordered the airstrikes on the mansion using Capitol aircraft to make it appear that he would kill their children and to lead his soldiers to side with the rebels. When Katniss tells Snow she believes he is lying, he reminds her of their promise only to be honest with each other before the Quarter Quell; she then realizes the attack matches a technique Gale had developed earlier; bombing an area, then again to kill medics and survivors. When Gale cannot assure to Katniss that the bombing method was not of his design, Katniss abandons him in shock. Coin declares herself as the interim President of Panem and invites the remaining Hunger Games victors to vote on a proposal to have another Hunger Games using the children of the Capitol as a symbolic gesture to satisfy the districts. Peeta, Beetee and Annie disagree with the idea, while Johanna and Enobaria agree. Katniss votes yes in exchange for the right to publicly execute Snow and to avenge her sister’s death, having realized that Snow was telling the truth about Coin in the process. Haymitch considers the situation and then swings the vote in favor.

text: At the execution, Katniss kills Coin instead of Snow, thus avenging Prim. A riot ensues and, after Peeta stops her from committing suicide via pills, Katniss is taken into custody while witnessing Snow get beaten to death by charging rebels. Once it is all over, Katniss receives a letter from Plutarch Heavensbee on her actions and is assured that she will eventually be pardoned by the newly appointed President of Panem for her crime and will be able to return to District 12 once the dissension quiets. At District 12 she is joined by Peeta, who has recovered from his condition. Commander Paylor is elected the new President of Panem, and Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch bond over their shared trauma.

text: In the epilogue years later, Katniss and Peeta play with their two children, and Katniss realizes she made the right choice when she tells her infant that "there are much worse games to play."

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen[8]
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark[9]
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne[9]
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy[10]
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket[11]
Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin[12]
Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow[13]
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee[14]
Willow Shields as Primrose Everdeen[15]
Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair[16]
Natalie Dormer as Cressida[17]
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman[18]
Jena Malone as Johanna Mason[19]
Jeffrey Wright as Beetee Latier[20]
Mahershala Ali as Boggs[21]
Wes Chatham as Castor[22]
Michelle Forbes as Lieutenant Jackson[23]
Elden Henson as Pollux[22]
Patina Miller as Commander Paylor[24]
Evan Ross as Messalla[25]
Stef Dawson as Annie Cresta[26]
Paula Malcomson as Mrs. Everdeen[27]
Meta Golding as Enobaria[28]
Gwendoline Christie as Commander Lyme[29][30]
Omid Abtahi as Homes[31]
Eugenie Bondurant as Tigris
Misty and Kim Ormiston as Leeg 1 and Leeg 2[32]
Joe Chrest as Mitchell
Sarita Choudhury as Egeria
Robert Knepper as Antonius
Theodore and Bear Lawrence as the Everdeen/Mellark children

text: Production[edit]

text: Pre-production[edit]

text: On July 10, 2012, Lionsgate announced that the film adaptation of Mockingjay would be split into two parts; The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, released on November 21, 2014, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, released November 20, 2015.[33] On November 1, 2012, Francis Lawrence, director of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, announced that he would return to direct both final films in the series.[34] Talking about direction for last two parts Francis explains, "I felt a different kind of pressure," he explains. "[On 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'], I had to prove myself a little bit as the new guy in the game. It was a relief that it was received well by the fans. Even though I was relieved, it was only momentary; it sort of set the bar higher for the next one!."[35]

text: On December 6, 2012, Danny Strong announced that he would write the third and fourth films.[36] On February 15, 2013, Lionsgate approved the script for Part 1 and gave Strong permission to write that of Part 2.[37] In August, Hemsworth confirmed that shooting of the film would begin the following month.[38]

text: The film's production began on September 16, 2013, in Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.[39] Studio Babelsberg co-produced and oversaw production services for the film.[40] On November 13, 2013, producer Nina Jacobson revealed that Peter Craig was also hired to write the adaptations.[1] The film carried a production budget of $160 million with a further $55 million spent on promotion and advertisements, and $13.9 million in television advertisements.[41]

text: Casting[edit]

text: All the principal cast such as Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Liam Hemsworth as Gale, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, Willow Shields as Prim, Paula Malcomson as Mrs Everdeen and Stanley Tucci as Caesar,[42] return to reprise their roles.[29] Julianne Moore also returned to reprise her role as President Alma Coin, along with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died during the filming in February 2014, as Plutarch. He had nearly completed his scenes,[43] and his two remaining scenes were rewritten to compensate for his absence.[44] Regarding Hoffman's scenes, Lawrence commented that, "He had two substantial scenes left and the rest were appearances in other scenes. We had no intention of trying to fake a performance, so we rewrote those scenes to give to other actors… The rest, we just didn’t have him appear in those scenes. There’s no digital manipulation or CG fabrication of any kind."[45] One of the changed scenes saw the character of Plutarch sending Katniss a letter in prison, read by Haymitch, rather than coming himself to talk to her after her arrest for assassinating President Coin, explained as him being unable to see her for political reasons after her actions, which he nonetheless supports.

text: On August 26, 2013, it was announced that actress Stef Dawson had joined the cast to portray Annie Cresta.[26] Lionsgate announced on September 13, 2013, that Julianne Moore joined the cast to play President Alma Coin.[12] The same month, Lily Rabe, Patina Miller, Mahershala Ali, Wes Chatham, and Elden Henson were announced to have joined the cast.[21][24][22] to reprise their roles of Commander Lyme, Commander Paylor, Boggs, Castor, and Pollux, respectively.[46] During this time, there was also a casting call for extras.[47] Rabe subsequently had to leave the film due to a scheduling conflict with the 2014 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing.[48] On April 4, 2014, it was announced that she would be replaced by Gwendoline Christie to portray Lyme.[29]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography began on September 23, 2013, in Atlanta, and concluded on June 20, 2014, in Berlin, Germany;[49] the two parts were filmed back-to-back.[6] In October 2013, filming took place in Rockmart, Georgia.[50] After the cast and crew took a break to promote The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, filming resumed on December 2, 2013. On December 14, 2013, shooting was held at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta.[51] On December 18, shooting began at Caldwell Tanks in Newnan, Georgia.[52]

text: Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2014. He had completed filming his scenes for Part 1 and had a week left of shooting for Part 2; Lionsgate thereafter released a statement affirming that since the majority of Hoffman's scenes had been completed, the release date for Part 2 would not be affected.[53][54] It was initially announced that Hoffman would be digitally recreated for a major scene involving his character that had not been shot,[55][56] but Francis Lawrence later stated that he had rewritten Hoffman's two remaining scenes to compensate for the actor's absence, and there would be "no digital manipulation or CG fabrication of any kind".[57] In a scene near the end of the film which was to have shown Plutarch speaking with Katniss in detention, Woody Harrelson's character instead reads her a letter from him.[58]

text: Filming in Atlanta completed in mid-April 2014,[59] and production moved to Europe.[60][61] On May 9, filming took place in Noisy le Grand, Paris.[62] It is the same location where Brazil (1985) was filmed 30 years earlier.[63] Toward the end of May, the cast and crew shot scenes at several locations in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany. In Rüdersdorf, Brandenburg, the crew shot scenes for the portrayal of District 8 in an old cement factory. Hemsworth was injured on the set and was brought to a doctor in the Berlin borough Mitte.[64] Scenes for District 2 were shot at Berlin Tempelhof Airport.[65] Scenes for the underground approach on the Capitol were filmed in the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Japan. A German casting agency sought 1,000 ethnically diverse extras (African, Asian, Southern-European, and Turkish) and "lived faces" to shoot scenes at the Babelsberg Film Studio.[66]

text: Music[edit]

text: Score[edit]

text:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Film score by James Newton Howard

Released
December 4, 2015[67]

Genre
Soundtrack

Label
Republic

James Newton Howard chronology

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Original Motion Picture Score
(2014)The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Original Motion Picture Score2014
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2015)
Concussion
(2015)Concussion2015

text: The film score was released on December 4, 2015. James Newton Howard returned to compose the film score; unlike the previous films in the series, there is no additional pop companion album with songs inspired by the film.[68] Jennifer Lawrence performed "Deep in the Meadow",[69] a lullaby that she sang in the first film.[70]

text:
No.
Title
Length

1.
"Prim Visits Peeta"
1:25

2.
"Send Me to District 2"
2:09

3.
"Go Ahead, Shoot Me"
4:58

4.
"Stowaway"
3:36

5.
"Your Favorite Color Is Green"
2:25

6.
"Transfer Command"
8:31

7.
"Your Next Step"
2:30

8.
"The Holo"
3:46

9.
"Sewer Attack"
8:00

10.
"I Made It Up"
1:28

11.
"Mandatory Evacuation"
3:14

12.
"Rebels Attack"
5:17

13.
"Snow’s Mansion"
5:16

14.
"Symbolic Hunger Games"
2:08

15.
"Snow’s Execution"
1:57

16.
"Plutarch’s Letter"
3:01

17.
"Buttercup"
1:09

18.
"Primrose"
3:16

19.
"There Are Worse Games to Play/Deep in the Meadow/The Hunger Games Suite" (featuring Jennifer Lawrence)
9:41

Total length:
60:13

text: Marketing[edit]

text: Along with the film's first teaser poster,[71] Lionsgate released a teaser trailer on March 18, 2015, titled The Hunger Games Franchise Logo — Remember, featuring the transformation of the Mockingjay, along with notable quotes from the previous three movies, as well as a quote from the new film.[72] The teaser was also played at screenings of Lionsgate's The Divergent Series: Insurgent. Scott Mendelson of Forbes noted the similarity of the teaser with that of The Dark Knight's (2008) teaser, which also features just an animated logo of the film and select dialogue.[73] On June 1, a new teaser poster for the film, featuring a vandalised statue of President Snow, was revealed on the viral site TheCapitol.PN. On June 9, the teaser trailer for the film was released.[74] A series of different posters, featuring the main cast with red Mockingjays painted on their faces, was released in July by Lionsgate.

text: Later in July 2015, Lionsgate released a motion and teaser poster and propaganda video, followed by the film's official trailer. In August, a poster was released stating "100 days until The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2". However, it was taken down shortly thereafter, as the text on the poster appeared to resemble a swear word due to layout.[75] However, another "bold and beautiful" poster was released depicting Katniss standing on the shoulder of a fallen President Snow statue.[76]

text: In October 2015, the first official clip and the final trailer were released,[77] followed by the film's theatrical posters.[78][79] In October, fan sites revealed the first two TV spots.

text: "The Mockingjay App" was revealed on October 20.

text: In certain parts of Israel, the poster which depicted the image of Katniss (Lawrence) aiming her bow and arrow was removed over concerns her image would offend ultra-conservative Jewish audiences. Instead, a fiery mockingjay in the poster's background replaced Lawrence in marketing materials in multiple locations in Israel including Bnei Brak and West Jerusalem. Lionsgate did not comment on the Israeli marketing campaign.[80] In Jerusalem, public posters with the image of a female are often torn down, while Bnei Brak does not allow posters with female images.[81]

text: Release[edit]

text: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 premiered in Los Angeles, at the L.A. Live, complex on November 16, and in New York City on November 18. It premiered internationally in Berlin on November 4, in London November 5, in Paris November 9, in Madrid November 10, and in Beijing November 12.[82][83][84] Due to the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, Lionsgate scaled down its L.A. premiere, cancelling press interviews on the red carpet (which was scheduled to last two hours). The stars mostly greeted fans and took a few photos before heading into the screening in Downtown Los Angeles.[82] Mockingjay – Part 2 was released on November 20, 2015 in the United States and Canada.[85] The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2D, Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D, which would have made it the only film of the series to be globally released in 3D formats; the previous film was released in 3D in China.[86] It is the third film in the franchise to be released in IMAX, following the first and the second film with the exception of the third film.[87] However, the decision to release the film in 3D and IMAX 3D in North America was revoked. Director Francis Lawrence discussed the decision, stating, "I love the 3D format and I know that Mockingjay Part 2 will play perfectly in 3D and 2D internationally – but I'm pleased that we're maintaining the 2D only (and IMAX) formats domestically. It is the best of all worlds!". It was nevertheless released in 3D formats in overseas markets, including China.[88] The film was also released in the Dolby Vision format in Dolby Cinemas, which is the first ever for Lionsgate.[89][90]

text: Internationally, it was released day-and-date across 87 countries, starting from November 18, in certain markets like Belgium, Brazil, France and the Netherlands and on November 19 in Australia, Germany, Russia, Italy, and the United Kingdom, followed by China, Mexico, Japan, the United States, Canada, and 19 other markets, on November 20, as part of the biggest movie rollout ever by Lionsgate.[91] The only big territories where the film did not open on the same weekend are Spain, Greece and India, which released the movie on November 27.[92]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was released on Digital HD on March 8, 2016, and was followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on March 22, 2016.[93] It topped the home video sales chart for the week ending on March 27, 2016.[94] The entire Hunger Games series was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on November 8 2016[95]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 fell short of expectations at the box office.[96] It grossed a total of $281.7 million in the USA & Canada and $371.7 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $653.4 million.[5] Its worldwide opening of $247.2 million is the twenty-seventh-biggest of all time.[97] It is the lowest-grossing film in The Hunger Games film series,[98] and the ninth highest-grossing film of 2015,[99] Lionsgate's co-chairman Rob Friedman blamed the impact of the November 2015 Paris attacks as well as Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens for the film's underwhelming performance in certain European countries and in the U.S. and Canada, further blaming the latter for cutting the film's North American gross by as much as $50–100 million.[100] However, according to Deadline.com, this is untrue given how Mockingjay – Part 2 had the lowest opening among the series and was already grossing behind Mockingjay – Part 1 by $32.7 million or 12% before The Force Awakens even opened.[101] Thus, the November attacks in Paris did not noticeably affect the European release of Mockingjay — Part 2.[102] And notably in China (where the film grossed a dismal $21.5 million), the studio blamed The Martian and Spectre for the film's underperformance there after facing competition with the two films along with Taiwanese film Our Times.[100][103] Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $134.3 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.[7]

text: North America[edit]

text: In North America, according to pre-release trackings, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was initially projected to earn around $120–125 million in its opening weekend.[104][105] However, estimates decreased to a mid-$110 million range once the film approached its opening day.[106][107] It made $16 million from its Thursday night preview which is the lowest among the franchise but the third-biggest of 2015,[108] and $45.5 million on its opening day.[109] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $102.7 million, finishing first at the box office but fell below expectations and becoming the lowest opening among the franchise.[110] Sources attributed to the franchise-low opening to heavy winter weather hitting areas such as South Dakota, Michigan, and Chicago as well as Lionsgate's decision to split the last novel into two separate pictures.[111] Still, it is the fourth film in the Hunger Games film series to open with more than $100 million, and is 2015's sixth-biggest opening, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Furious 7, and Minions.[112] IMAX comprised $8.5 million of the opening gross from 384 IMAX locations.[111] The low opening of the film led to the decline of Lionsgate stock the day after its opening weekend.[113] The film retained the top spot at the box office in the second weekend, declining 49.3% and grossing $52 million.[114] It topped the box office for the third consecutive weekend despite facing competition with the animated movie The Good Dinosaur and the horror comedy Krampus in its second and third weekend, respectively.[115] In total, it held the No. 1 spot in the North American box office for four consecutive weekends (even after facing competition with In the Heart of the Sea in its fourth weekend), becoming the first film since Furious 7 to top the box office for four straight weekends and the second film in The Hunger Games film series after 2012's The Hunger Games to achieve this feat.[116][117] Mockingjay – Part 2 grossed a total of $281 million, 17% less than Mockingjay – Part 1 and when compared with its two other prequels is the lowest.[5][118]

text: Outside North America[edit]

text: Outside North America, the film was released in a total of 92 countries.[119][120] It was projected by many box office analysts to surpass the openings of all the previous Hunger Games film, considering it was the last installment, and that its release date was the same in 87 markets, including China (the latter being a rare phenomenon). It was projected to gross around $165–185 million.[92] However, it ended up earning $144.5 million across 32,500 screens from 87 markets opening at No. 1 in 81 of them.[121][122] The underperformance was attributed to the 2015 Paris terror attacks which affected many parts of Europe and the rising value of the U.S. dollar.[123] Earning $62 million (down 57%) and $30.05 million (down 49%) in its second and third weekend, respectively, it topped the international box office for four consecutive weekends.[119][120][124]

text: The United Kingdom posted the highest opening with $17.1 million followed by China with $15.8 million, Germany ($15 million), Mexico ($8.9 million) France ($7.1 million), Australia ($6.8 million), Brazil ($6.8 million), Russia ($6.7 million), Venezuela ($5.6 million), and Italy ($4.3 million).[121] In China, it opened at No. 1 despite facing competition with Taiwanese film Our Times, and the continued run of Spectre and having an underperforming opening.[112][121] It fell precipitously by 88.6% in its second weekend, which is the worst second-weekend drop for any major Hollywood release in China of 2015.[125][126] Notably in France, the opening was above expectations considering cinemagoers being affected by the Paris terror attacks and the heightened state of alert in Belgium at that time.[121] It topped the United Kingdom and Ireland box office for four consecutive weekends which is a rare achievement and thereby becoming the first film since Les Misérables in 2013 to have four straight weeks of win at the UK box office.[127] It is the highest-grossing film of 2015 in Colombia with $36 million.[128] In terms of total earnings its largest markets are Germany ($43.7 million) and the United Kingdom ($43.1 million), and Colombia ($36 million).[129][130]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for action sequences and performances but criticism for splitting the book into two separate adaptations.[131] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 70%, based on 262 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With the unflinchingly grim Mockingjay Part 2, The Hunger Games comes to an exciting, poignant, and overall satisfying conclusion."[132] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[133] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[134]

text: Lawrence, Hutcherson, and Sutherland received praise for their performances. The supporting cast's performances, particularly Harrelson, Claflin, and Malone's, were also highly praised, but critics felt their appearances were too brief. Several critics also commented on the film's dark tone, even by comparison to its predecessors.[132][133] Manohla Dargis from The New York Times praised Lawrence's character saying, "Katniss is the right heroine for these neo-feminist times."[135] Stephen Whitty from New York Daily News said, "'Remember that line from the first 'Hunger Games' film: "May the odds be ever in your favor"? Yeah, well, that luck has run out'."[136]

text: Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly remarked, "With its political power struggles and prodigious body count, all rendered in a thousand shades of wintry greige, the movie feels less like teen entertainment than a sort of Hunger Games of Thrones."[137] Robbie Collin awarded the film four out of five stars and called the film "scorchingly tense". In his review for The Telegraph, he praised the film for "being intense" and lauded the performances of Lawrence and Hoffman."[138]

text: Benjamin Lee, writing for The Guardian, felt that "the decision to split the final chapter of the dystopian saga into two chapters looms large over a frustratingly-paced mixture of thrilling action and surprisingly dark drama." He praised Jennifer Lawrence's acting and Francis Lawrence's direction and commented, "The decision to turn a 390-page book into over four hours' worth of screen time (and a bonus payday) has resulted in a patchy end to a franchise that started so promisingly."[139] Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave the film four out of five stars. He praised the ending of the film as "genuinely powerful", and commented that "this might be the most downbeat blockbuster in memory, a film that starts out pitiless and goes downhill from there, save for a fleeting glimmer of hope in the final moments. It's a bold statement about the unforgiving nature of war, unashamedly political in its motives and quietly devastating in its emotional effect."[140]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Category
Recipient(s)
Result

Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Best Female Action Star
Jennifer Lawrence
Nominated

CLIO Key Art Awards
Theatrical: Audio/Visual Creative Content – Short Form

Silver

Theatrical: Audio/Visual Technique Motion Graphics

Won

Theatrical: Print Domestic One-Sheet

Silver

Theatrical: Print Motion Poster
Bird Logo Motion Poster
Silver

Theatrical: Print Motion Poster
The Revolution is About All of Us
Bronze

Costume Designers Guild Awards
Excellence in Fantasy Film
Kurt and Bart
Nominated

Critics' Choice Awards
Best Actress in an Action Movie
Jennifer Lawrence
Nominated

Empire Awards[141][142]
Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence
Nominated

Best Sci-Fi Fantasy

Nominated

Best Production Design

Nominated

Fan Choice Awards
Best Book-Adapted Movie

Won

Best Female Character
Katniss Everdeen
Nominated

Best Couple in a Movie
Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark
Won

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie

Won

Best Action Sequence
Squad 451 vs. Lizard Mutts
Won

Georgia Film Critics Association
Oglethorpe Award
Francis Lawrence, Peter Craig and Danny Strong
Nominated

Golden Trailer Awards[143]
Best Fantasy Adventure Trailer

Nominated

Best Motion/Title Graphics

Nominated

Best Fantasy Adventure TV Spot

Won

Best Music TV Spot

Nominated

Best Action Poster & Best Fantasy/Adventure Poster

Won

Best Billboard

Nominated

Most Original Poster

Nominated

Best Action Poster

Nominated

Hollywood Music in Media Awards
Best Original Score - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film
James Newton Howard
Won

Best Song/Score - Trailer
Dawn
Won

Outstanding Original Score

Nominated

Kid's Choice Awards[144]
Favorite Movie

Nominated

Favorite Movie Actress
Jennifer Lawrence
Won

MTV Movie Awards[145]
Best Action Performance
Jennifer Lawrence
Nominated

Best Hero
Jennifer Lawrence
Won

Ensemble Cast

Nominated

NewNowNext Awards
Next Must-See Movie

Won

Rembrandt Awards
Best International Film (Beste Buitenlandse Film)

Won

Saturn Awards[146]
Best Fantasy Film

Nominated

SFX Awards
Best Film

Won

Best SF or Fantasy Film

Nominated

Teen Choice Awards[147][148]
Choice Movie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Nominated

Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Jennifer Lawrence
Won

Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Josh Hutcherson
Nominated

Choice Movie: Chemistry
Josh Hutcherson & Jennifer Lawrence
Nominated

Choice Movie: Liplock
Josh Hutcherson & Jennifer Lawrence
Won

Choice Movie: Scene Stealer
Jena Malone
Won

Women Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Female Images in a Movie
Jennifer Lawrence
Won

text: Future[edit]

text: On August 8, 2017, Variety reported that Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer has interest in having spinoffs made for The Hunger Games, and wants to create a writers room to explore the idea.[149] When asked about the idea of Hunger Games spinoffs, Jennifer Lawrence said "I think it’s too soon. They’ve got to let the body get cold, in my opinion."[150]


document_title: The Five Heartbeats

question_text: who played big red in the five heartbeats

root

text: The Five Heartbeats

text: Plot[edit]

text: Donald "Duck" Matthews, Anthony "Choirboy" Stone, J.T. Matthews, Terrence "Dresser" Williams, and Eddie King Jr. perform at a Battle of the Bands contest as The Heartbeats. The group loses to Flash and the Ebony Sparks but pleases the crowd and is noticed by Jimmy Potter. Jimmy offers to manage the group, promising them $100 if they do not win the next month's Battle of the Bands contest. After the group loses, Jimmy pays them. When the owner of the club asks to hire them, they agree to let Jimmy manage them.

tag: p

text: Bird and The Midnight Falcons witness the Heartbeats rehearsing for a competition and are concerned they could lose; frontman Victor "Bird" Thomas asks his girlfriend to invite her friends and boo The Heartbeats while cheering The Falcons. The announcer, a cousin of one of the Falcons, forces The Heartbeats to use the house piano player. Duck grows frustrated with the house piano player and shoves him off the piano stool. Eddie leads the group in a number that results in Bird's girlfriend fainting in Eddie's arms. The Heartbeats win the contest and the interest of Big Red Davis, who owns Big Red Records. Big Red offers them a deal, but Jimmy and his wife Eleanor, aware of Big Red's corruption, decline. The group instead releases their first single on Jimmy's own independent label and searches for a record company they can trust, but no one else is interested aside from a label which wants to buy Duck's songs for a group they've already signed, The Five Horsemen, prompting The Heartbeats to sign with Big Red.

text: The group goes on the road, but the travel is marred by racism and poor living conditions. Dresser's girlfriend visits and reveals she is pregnant, and the group is faced with their first album cover featuring white people, despite the label having earlier approved a photo of the Heartbeats as the cover.

text: Throughout the mid to late 1960s The Five Heartbeats receive numerous awards, chart several hits, and are featured on magazine covers. Eddie abuses alcohol and cocaine, affecting his performance and prompting his girlfriend Baby Doll to break up with him. Convinced that Jimmy intends to replace him due to his deteriorating condition, he cuts a deal with Big Red to have Jimmy cut out of his contract. Jimmy threatens to go to authorities with information about bootlegged LPs, cooked books and payola that could have Big Red arrested, leading Red to have Jimmy killed. The group learns that Eddie's deceit caused the argument between Jimmy and Big Red. Big Red is convicted of Jimmy's murder, forcing the group to sign to a new record label, and a guilt-ridden Eddie to leave in disgrace. Duck later hears on the radio that Eddie was involved in an armed robbery and, after a shootout with the police, was in critical condition.

text: The Heartbeats add Flash as their lead singer. Duck comes to suspect his fiancé, Tanya Sawyer, is having an affair with Choirboy. He follows her to a hotel, only to discover that Tanya is meeting with J.T., not Choirboy. Tanya's relationship with J.T. predates her relationship with Duck, but she says she is now in love with Duck. J.T. urges Tanya to disclose the affair, but she refuses. At an awards ceremony celebrating their success, Flash announces he is going solo. Duck reveals that he knows about Tanya and J.T. and also leaves.

text: The film then skips ahead to the early 1990s. Choirboy, true to his nickname, has returned to singing in his father's church. After converting to Christianity, Eddie became clean and sober. He is now married to Baby Doll, sings in Choirboy's choir, and manages a group. He asks Duck to write songs for them, to which he agrees. J.T. has a wife and two children, including a son named "Duck". The brothers reconcile. The only member to have maintained a singing career is Flash, who transitioned from doo-wop to pop music, and is part of the group Flash and The Five Horsemen.

text: At a family gathering, Eleanor Potter, coming to terms with her husband's death, forgives Eddie. The Five Heartbeats reunite in front of their families and friends, trying to remember their old moves.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: The Five Heartbeats[edit]

text:
Robert Townsend as Donald "Duck" Matthews: Duck hails from a poor family. He is The Five Heartbeats' co-founder and brother of fellow Heartbeat's member J.T. Matthews, and originally was only the composer and musician for the group. He is a permanent vocalist after Bobby disappears. He serves as the movie's narrator, with the film beginning as he reminisces about the group's career.
Leon Robinson as J.T. Matthews: J.T. is the older brother of Duck. A womanizer; him and his brother Duck share a close and sometimes turbulent relationship.
Michael Wright as Eddie King, Jr.: Eddie comes from an area that features predominantly poor individuals, his own father believing his attempts to start a career in the music industry will be unsuccessful. Similar to David Ruffin, Eddie is the lead vocalist of the band and falls into a life of drugs that eventually leads to his expulsion from the group as well as emotional trauma. Eddie is one of the founding members of The Heartbeats and serves as the crowd pleaser whose voice leads to success in many of their performances.

Tico Wells as Anthony "Choirboy" Stone: Stone is given the nickname "Choirboy" (much to his chagrin) for his past as a choir boy in his father's church. Similar to Eddie, Stone's father does not support his decision to become a music artist fearing rock and jazz are "the devil's music." He becomes more of a womanizer as the group becomes more successful, but later goes back to being a part of his father's ministry after the group disbands.
Harry J. Lennix as Terrence "Dresser" Williams: The original choreographer of The Heartbeats, Dresser serves as the groups bass singer and one of the founding members. He is replaced by Ernest "Sarge" Johnson as the choreographer after Sarge out-dances Dresser.

tag: ul

text: Other characters[edit]

text:
Hawthorne James as Big Red Davis: Corrupt owner of the first record label The Five Heartbeats are signed to.
Chuck Patterson as Jimmy Potter: The Heartbeats' manager, Jimmy is responsible for giving the group the opportunity to perform at more publicized events and receive training from Ernest "Sarge" Johnson.
Diahann Carroll as Eleanor Potter: Jimmy Potter's wife, Eleanor along with her husband are the original supporters of The Five Heartbeats.
John Canada Terrell as Michael "Flash" Turner: Lead singer of Flash and the Ebony Sparks, the Heartbeats' only competition. When Eddie goes into a downward spiral, Flash is brought in as the new lead singer.
Roy Fegan as Victor "Bird" Thomas: Bird is the lead singer of Bird and The Midnight Falcons. Early in the film the character attempts to defeat The Five Heartbeats in a vocal contest. After Big Red orchestrates the murder of Jimmy Potter, Bird, who was previously attacked and intimidated by Big Red during a party, joins members of the Heartbeats in testifying against Red and helps to convict him of the murder.
Harold Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers as Ernest "Sarge" Johnson: Johnson is The Five Heartbeat's choreographer. Sarge is last seen in the hospital on his birthday.
Troy Beyer as Baby Doll: Eddie's girlfriend, who leaves him after he abuses drugs and alcohol. She later marries Eddie and they are shown singing together in a choir.
Theresa Randle as Brenda: Dresser's girlfriend, who later becomes his wife. She and Dresser have a daughter named Monica.
Lamont Johnson as Bobby Cassanova: Bobby and Eddie are the original co-lead singers of the group. Bobby is only seen in the movie's opening scenes when he and Eddie are caught cheating at a high-stakes poker game. Bobby gets shot in the leg and is replaced by Eddie as the lead singer.
Carla Brothers as Tanya Sawyer: Duck's love interest. His earlier attempts to win her heart are unsuccessful but they reconnect at a party for the group and later date. Tanya and Duck were set to be wed, but Duck's suspicion about Tanya and Choir Boy had him follow her to a hotel only to find out that his brother J.T. was the one seeing her. This led Duck to estrange himself from the Heartbeats and his brother for years.
Tressa Thomas as "Duck's Little Sister": Clara Matthews, Duck's little sister, was also his muse, often helping him compose and arrange songs for the group as they did household chores. She was instrumental in arranging the vocals for "We Haven't Finished Yet".

text: Other bands[edit]

text:
Bird and The Midnight Falcons portrayed by actors Roy Fegan, Gregory Alexander, Roger Rose, Jimmy Woodard: The group The Five Heartbeats compete against in their second onscreen performance. The Midnight Falcons attempt to cheat by ordering their girlfriends to deliberately cheer against The Heartbeats. They would later sign with Big Red Records along with the Five Heartbeats.
Flash and the Ebony Sparks portrayed by John Canada Terrell, Ron Jackson, Recoe Walker and Wayne "Crescendo" Ward: The Ebony Sparks defeat The Five Heartbeats in singing competitions—many of which are rigged—prior to their mainstream popularity. Flash later becomes the lead singer for the Five Heartbeats.

text: Production[edit]

text: After writing (along with Keenen Ivory Wayans), producing, directing, and starring in his first film Hollywood Shuffle, Robert Townsend had attained near-cult status among independent filmmakers due to his dedication to that film—a project which caused him to max out all his credit cards and spend nearly $100,000 of his own money raised through savings and various acting jobs in order to produce the film. When writing Townsend's first studio film The Five Heartbeats, Townsend and Wayans kept comedy an important aspect of the film, but also explored complex characters in a more dramatic way.[12] After extensive research with rhythm and blues-singing group The Dells, who were renowned for their four-decade career, Townsend used his film to depict a similar story, following the lives of three friends who aspire to musical stardom.[13] Given the setting of the film, he was able to tie in other elements, such as race relations, as well.[13] Due to the production's budgetary constraints, Townsend used little-known actors of the time, with the exceptions of Leon Robinson, Diahann Carroll and Harold Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers.[1]

text: Promotion[edit]

text: To promote the film prior to its release, Townsend, along with the other actors who portrayed the fictional musical quartet The Five Heartbeats (Leon Robinson, Michael Wright, Harry J. Lennix, and Tico Wells) performed in a concert with real-life Soul/R&B vocal group The Dells, one of many groups that inspired the film. The Dells sang and recorded the vocals as the actors lip synced.[14]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
The Five Heartbeats
(Music from the Motion Picture)

Soundtrack album by Various Artists

Released
April 2, 1991

Genre
R&B, soul

Label
Capitol[9][15]

tag: table

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

Allmusic
[16]

text: A soundtrack for the film was released by Virgin Records, featuring original music by various artists. Both "Nights like This" and "A Heart Is a House for Love" became top 20 hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart.[16] Many of the tracks are credited to fictional characters in the film as opposed to the actual vocalists.

text:
A Heart Is a House for Love - Billy Valentine/ The Dells
We Haven't Finished Yet - Patti LaBelle, Tressa Thomas, Billy Valentine
Nights like This - After 7
Bring Back the Days - U.S. Male
Baby Stop Running Around - Bird & The Midnight Falcons
In the Middle - Dee Harvey
Nothing but Love - The Dells with Billy Valentine
Are You Ready for Me - Dee Harvey
Stay in My Corner - The Dells
I Feel Like Going On - Andraé Crouch[15][16] (Eddie, Baby Doll and the L.A. Mass Choir)

tag: ol

text: Reception[edit]

text: The film grossed approximately $8,500,000[13][17] after being released in 862 theaters throughout North America. However, despite the film's moderate success, it was not well received by a majority of critics.[18] On Rotten Tomatoes The Five Heartbeats accumulated an average of 35%, although only 17 reviews were counted (6 of which were positive, the remaining 11 negative).[18]

text: Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times commented that:

text:
“
...at feature length, Townsend shows a real talent, and, not surprisingly, an ability to avoid most cliches, to go for the human truth in his characters...by the end we really care about these guys...There is one obligatory scene showing racial prejudice against the group, and it seems a little tacked on, as if the only purpose of the Southern trip was to justify the scene.[11]
”

text: Due to the nature of the film, music montages were often used to progress the plot; critics considered this a major flaw.[19]

text: The numerous musical performances in the film were highly acclaimed.[19] All Music complimented the Dells' lead singer Marvin Junior (who provided the singing voice for fictional character Eddie Kane Jr.) stating that he was "one of the most underrated voices in pop music."[15] Tressa Thomas' performance of "We Haven't Finished Yet," in particular, was given favorable attention by critics.[20][21] The film received an ASCAP award for Most Performed Songs in a Motion Picture for the song "Nights Like This."[22]

text: DVD releases[edit]

text: A DVD was released for the film in 2002, a special edition was also released in 2006 for the film's 15th Anniversary which includes additional content.[9]

text: Footnotes[edit]

text:
^ Jump up to: a b c d http://www.vh1.com/movies/movie/11969/castcrew.jhtml
Jump up ^ http://www.vh1.com/movies/movie/11969/details.jhtml
Jump up ^ http://www.vh1.com/movies/movie/11969/plot.jhtml
^ Jump up to: a b http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101891/
Jump up ^ http://search.ew.com/EWSearch/ew/search/search.html?search=the+five+heartbeats&x=0&y=0/
Jump up ^ https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/dvd/5948151/review/5948152/
Jump up ^ http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie/the-five-heartbeats/?pkw=PI&vendor=Paid%20Inclusion&OCID=iSEMPI
Jump up ^ http://search.ew.com/EWSearch/ew/search/search.html?search=the+five+heartbeats&x=0&y=0
^ Jump up to: a b c http://www.answers.com/topic/the-five-heartbeats
Jump up ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/five_heartbeats/?name_order=asc#mo
^ Jump up to: a b http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910329/REVIEWS/103290301/1023
Jump up ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=5YWgxVkJmT4C&pg=PA220&dq=the+five+heartbeats&lr=&sig=ACfU3U0Nl-quxN9UYyRjd5Q6i_fBRfUcNw#PPA220,M1
^ Jump up to: a b c http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/five_heartbeats/#
Jump up ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,313030,00.html
^ Jump up to: a b c https://www.allmusic.com/album/r84315
^ Jump up to: a b c http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,86336,00.html
Jump up ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fiveheartbeats.htm
^ Jump up to: a b http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/five_heartbeats/?name_order=asc#
^ Jump up to: a b http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/20018/five-heartbeats-15th-anniversary-special-edition-the/
Jump up ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thefiveheartbeatsrhinson_a0a9e7.htm
Jump up ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,313751,00.html
Jump up ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101891/awards


document_title: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

question_text: who sings twist and shout in ferris bueller's day off

question_tokens: who sings twist and shout in ferris bueller 's day off

text: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

text: Plot[edit]

text: In suburban Chicago, near the end of the high school year, senior Ferris Bueller fakes sickness to stay home. Throughout the film, Ferris frequently breaks the fourth wall to talk about his friends and give the audience advice on how to skip school. His parents believe him, though his sister Jeannie is not convinced. Dean of Students Edward R. Rooney suspects Ferris is being truant again and commits to catching him. Ferris convinces his friend Cameron Frye, who really is absent due to illness, to help get Ferris' girlfriend Sloane Peterson out of school by reporting that her grandmother has died. To trick Rooney, Ferris sways Cameron to let them use his father's prized 1961 Ferrari to collect Sloane. Cameron is dismayed when Ferris continues to use the car to drive them into downtown Chicago to spend the day, but Ferris promises they will return it as it was.

text: The trio leave the car with parking garage attendants who immediately take the car for a joy ride after they leave. Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane sightsee around the city, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Sears Tower, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and Wrigley Field, while narrowly dodging sight by Ferris' father. Cameron remains uninterested, and Ferris attempts to cheer him up by impromptu joining a parade float during the Von Steuben Day parade and lip-syncing Wayne Newton's cover of "Danke Schoen", as well as a rendition of The Beatles' "Twist and Shout" that excites the gathered crowds.

text: Meanwhile, Rooney investigates the Bueller home to try to prove Ferris' truancy, getting into several pratfalls. At the same time, Jeannie, frustrated that the entire school believes Ferris has come down with a deathly illness, skips class and returns home to confront him, only to hear someone outside trying to break-in. Rooney flees while she calls the police; when they arrive, they arrest her for filing a false report, and contact her mother to collect her. While waiting, she meets a juvenile delinquent, who advises her not to worry so much about Ferris. Mrs. Bueller arrives at the station, upset about having to forgo a house sale, only to find Jeannie kissing the delinquent, infuriating her more.

text: Ferris and his friends collect the Ferrari and depart for home, but shortly discover many miles have been added to the odometer, and Cameron becomes catatonic. Back at Cameron's garage, Ferris sets the car on blocks and runs it in reverse to try to take miles off the odometer without success. Cameron finally snaps, and lets out his anger against his controlling father by repeatedly kicking the car. This causes it to fall off the blocks and race in reverse through the back of the garage and into the ravine below. Ferris offers to take the blame, but Cameron asserts he will stand up against his father.

text: Ferris returns Sloane home and realizes his parents are due home soon. As he races on foot through the neighborhood, he is nearly hit by Jeannie driving their mother home. She speeds off trying to beat Ferris home. Ferris makes it home first, to find Rooney waiting for him outside. Jeannie races into the house as their mother talks to their father about her behavior today. Jeannie discovers Rooney threatening Ferris, and has a change of heart; she tells him that she was just helping to return Ferris from the hospital, and shows Rooney his wallet that she had found from his earlier break-in attempts. Rooney flees while Ferris thanks Jeannie and rushes back to his bedroom to greet his parents while feigning his waning illness. As they leave, Ferris reminds the audience, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

text: The defeated Rooney heads home and is picked up by a school bus, further humiliated by the students. In a post-credits scene, Ferris emerges from his room, telling the audience that "It's over" and to "go home".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller
Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye
Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson
Jennifer Grey as Jeannie Bueller
Jeffrey Jones as Edward R. Rooney
Lyman Ward as Tom Bueller
Cindy Pickett as Katie Bueller
Edie McClurg as Grace
Ben Stein as Economics Teacher
Del Close as English Teacher
Charlie Sheen as Garth Volbeck

text: Production[edit]

text: Writing[edit]

text: As he was writing the film in 1985, John Hughes kept track of his progress in a spiral-bound logbook. He noted that the basic storyline was developed on February 25. It was successfully pitched the following day to Paramount Studios chief Ned Tanen. Tanen was intrigued by the concept, but wary that the Writers Guild of America was hours away from picketing the studio.[5] Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week.[6] Editor Paul Hirsch explained that Hughes had a trance-like concentration to his script-writing process, working for hours on end, and would later shoot the film on essentially what was his first draft of the script. "The first cut of Ferris Bueller's Day Off ended up at two hours, 45 minutes. The shortening of the script had to come in the cutting room", said Hirsch.[7] "Having the story episodic and taking place in one day...meant the characters were wearing the same clothes. I suspect that Hughes writes his scripts with few, if any costume changes just so he can have that kind of freedom in the editing."[7]

text: Hughes intended the movie to be more focused on the characters rather than the plot. "I know how the movie begins, I know how it ends", said Hughes. "I don't ever know the rest, but that doesn't seem to matter. It's not the events that are important, it's the characters going through the event. Therefore, I make them as full and real as I can. This time around, I wanted to create a character who could handle everyone and everything."[8]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Hughes said that he had Broderick in mind when he wrote the screenplay, saying Broderick was the only actor he could think of who could pull off the role, calling him clever and charming.[9] "Certain guys would have played Ferris and you would have thought, 'Where's my wallet?'" Hughes said. "I had to have that look; that charm had to come through. Jimmy Stewart could have played Ferris at 15...I needed Matthew."[9] Other actors who were considered for the role included Jim Carrey, John Cusack, Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox.[10]

text: Sara surprised Hughes when she auditioned for the role of Sloane Peterson. "It was funny. He didn't know how old I was and said he wanted an older girl to play the 17-year-old. He said it would take someone older to give her the kind of dignity she needed. He almost fell out of his chair when I told him I was only 18."[11] Molly Ringwald had also wanted to play Sloane, but according to Ringwald, "John wouldn't let me do it: he said that the part wasn't big enough for me."[5]

text: Ruck had previously auditioned for the Bender role in The Breakfast Club which went to Judd Nelson, but Hughes remembered Ruck and cast him as the 17-year-old Cameron Frye.[12] According to Hughes, the character of Cameron was largely based on a friend of his in high school. "He was sort of a lost person. His family neglected him, so he took that as license to really pamper himself. When he was legitimately sick, he actually felt good, because it was difficult and tiring to have to invent diseases but when he actually had something, he was relaxed."[13] Ruck said the role of Cameron had originally been offered to Emilio Estevez who turned it down. "Every time I see Emilio, I want to kiss him", said Ruck. "Thank you!"[5] Ruck, then 29, worried about the age difference. "I was worried that I'd be 10 years out of step, and I wouldn't know anything about what was cool, what was hip, all that junk. But when I was going to high school, I didn't know any of that stuff then, either. So I just thought, well, hell—I'll just be me. The character, he's such a loner that he really wouldn't give a damn about that stuff anyway. He'd feel guilty that he didn't know it, but that's it."[12] Ruck was not surprised to find himself cast young. "No, because, really, when I was 18, I sort of looked 12", he said. "Maybe it's a genetic imbalance."[12]

text: Ruck and Broderick had previously acted together in the Broadway production of Biloxi Blues. Cameron's Mr. Peterson voice was an in-joke imitation of their former director Gene Saks.[5] Ruck felt at ease working with Broderick, often crashing in his trailer. "We didn't have to invent an instant friendship like you often have to do in a movie", said Ruck. "We were friends."[5]

text: Jones was cast as Rooney based on his role in Amadeus, where he played the emperor; Hughes thought that character's modern equivalent was Rooney.[13] "My part was actually quite small in the script, but what seemed to be the important part to me was that I was the only one who wasn't swept along by Ferris", recalls Jones.[14] "So I was the only one in opposition, which presented a lot of opportunities, some of which weren't even in the script or were expanded on. John was receptive to anything I had to offer, and indeed got ideas along the way himself. So that was fun, working with him."[14] "Hughes told me at the time — and I thought he was just blowing his own horn — he said, 'You are going to be known for this for the rest of your life.' And I thought, 'Sure'... but he was right."[15] To help Jones study for the part, Hughes took him to meet his old vice principal. "This is the guy I want you to pay close attention to," Jones explained to Hughes' biographer Kirk Honeycutt. While meeting him, the VP's coat momentarily flew open revealing a holster and gun attached to the man's belt. This made Jones realize what Hughes had envisioned."The guy was 'Sign up for the Army quick before I kill you!'" Jones exclaimed.[16]

text: Stein says he got the role of Bueller's Economics teacher through six degrees of separation.[17] "Richard Nixon introduced me to a man named Bill Safire, who's a New York Times columnist. He introduced me to a guy who's an executive at Warner Brothers. He introduced me to a guy who's a casting director. He introduced me to John Hughes. John Hughes and I are among the only Republicans in the picture business, and John Hughes put me in the movie", Stein said.[17] Hughes said that Stein was an easy and early choice for the role of the teacher: "He wasn't a professional actor. He had a flat voice, he looked like a teacher."[13]

text: Filming[edit]

text: "Chicago is what I am," said Hughes.[2] "A lot of Ferris is sort of my love letter to the city. And the more people who get upset with the fact that I film there, the more I'll make sure that's exactly where I film. It's funny—nobody ever says anything to Woody Allen about always filming in New York. America has this great reverence for New York. I look at it as this decaying horror pit. So let the people in Chicago enjoy Ferris Bueller."[2]

text: For the film, Hughes got the chance to take a more expansive look at the city he grew up in. "We took a helicopter up the Chicago River. This is the first chance I'd really had to get outside while making a movie. Up to this point, the pictures had been pretty small. I really wanted to capture as much of Chicago as I could, not just the architecture and the landscape, but the spirit."[2] Shooting began in Chicago on September 9, 1985.[18] In late October 1985, the production moved to Los Angeles, and shooting ended on November 22.[19] The Von Steuben Day Parade scene was filmed on September 28. Scenes were filmed at several locations in downtown Chicago and Winnetka (Ferris's home, his mother's real estate office, etc.).[20] Many of the other scenes were filmed in Northbrook, Illinois, including at Glenbrook North High School, on School Drive, the long, curvy street on which Glenbrook North and neighboring Maple Middle School are situated.[21] The exterior of Ferris's house is located at 4160 Country Club Drive, Long Beach, California.[20]

text: The modernist house of Cameron Frye is located in Highland Park, Illinois. Known as the Ben Rose House,[22] it was designed by architects A. James Speyer, who designed the main building in 1954, and David Haid, who designed the pavilion in 1974. It was once owned by photographer Ben Rose, who had a car collection in the pavilion. In the film Cameron's father is portrayed as owning a Ferrari 250 GT California in the same pavilion.[23] According to Lake Forest College art professor Franz Shulze, during the filming of the scene where the Ferrari crashes out of the window, Haid explained to Hughes that he could prevent the car from damaging the rest of the pavilion.[24] Haid fixed connections in the wall and the building remained intact. Haid said to Hughes afterward, "You owe me $25,000", which Hughes paid.[24] Other scenes were shot in Chicago, River Forest, Oak Park, Northbrook, Highland Park, Glencoe and Winnetka, Lake Forest and Long Beach, California. After Ben Rose's death in 2009 the house was offered for sale and was sold in 2014.

text: According to Hughes, the scene at the Art Institute of Chicago was "a self-indulgent scene of mine—which was a place of refuge for me, I went there quite a bit, I loved it. I knew all the paintings, the building. This was a chance for me to go back into this building and show the paintings that were my favorite." The museum had not been shot in, until the producers of the film approached them.[13] "I remember Hughes saying, 'There are going to be more works of art in this movie than there have ever been before,'" recalled Jennifer Grey.[5]

text: According to editor Paul Hirsch, in the original cut, the museum scene fared poorly at test screenings until he switched sequences around and Hughes changed the soundtrack.[25]

text: The piece of music I originally chose was a classical guitar solo played on acoustic guitar. It was nonmetrical with a lot of rubato. I cut the sequence to that music and it also became nonmetrical and irregular. I thought it was great and so did Hughes. He loved it so much that he showed it to the studio but they just went "Ehhh." Then after many screenings where the audience said "The museum scene is the scene we like least", he decided to replace the music. We had all loved it, but the audience hated it. I said, 'I think I know why they hate the museum scene. It's in the wrong place.' Originally, the parade sequence came before the museum sequence, but I realized that the parade was the highlight of the day, there was no way we could top it, so it had to be the last thing before the three kids go home. So that was agreed upon, we reshuffled the events of the day, and moved the museum sequence before the parade. Then we screened it and everybody loved the museum scene! My feeling was that they loved it because it came in at the right point in the sequence of events. John felt they loved it because of the music. Basically, the bottom line is, it worked.[25]

text: The music used for the final version of the museum sequence is an instrumental cover version of The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want", performed by The Dream Academy. A passionate Beatles fan, Hughes makes multiple references to them and John Lennon in the script. During filming, Hughes "listened to The White Album every single day for fifty-six days".[26] Hughes also pays tribute to his childhood hero Gordie Howe with Cameron's Detroit Red Wings jersey.[27] "I sent them the jersey", said Howe. "It was nice seeing the No. 9 on the big screen."[28]

text: Car[edit]

text: In the film, Ferris convinces Cameron to borrow his father's rare 1961 Ferrari GT California. "The insert shots of the Ferrari were of the real 250 GT California", Hughes explains in the DVD commentary. "The cars we used in the wide shots were obviously reproductions. There were only 100 of these cars, so it was way too expensive to destroy. We had a number of replicas made. They were pretty good, but for the tight shots I needed a real one, so we brought one in to the stage and shot the inserts with it."[13]

text: Prior to filming, Hughes learned about Modena Design and Development who produced the Modena Spyder California, a replica of the Ferrari 250 GT.[29] Hughes saw a mention of the company in a car magazine and decided to research them. Neil Glassmoyer recalls the day Hughes contacted him to ask about seeing the Modena Spyder:

text: The first time he called I hung up on him because I thought it was a friend of mine who was given to practical jokes. Then he called back and convinced me it really was him, so Mark and I took the car to his office. While we were waiting outside to meet Hughes this scruffy-looking fellow came out of the building and began looking the car over; we thought from his appearance he must have been a janitor or something. Then he looked up at a window and shouted, 'This is it!' and several heads poked out to have a look. That scruffy-looking fellow was John Hughes, and the people in the window were his staff. Turned out it was between the Modena Spyder and a Porsche Turbo, and Hughes chose the Modena.[29]

text: Automobile restorationist Mark Goyette designed the kits for three reproductions used in the film and chronicled the whereabouts of the cars today: [30]

text:
"Built by Goyette and leased to Paramount for the filming. It's the one that jumps over the camera, and is used in almost every shot. At the end of filming, Paramount returned it to Goyette, with the exhaust crushed and cracks in the body. "There was quite a bit of superficial damage, but it held up amazingly well", he said. He rebuilt it, and sold it to a young couple in California. The husband later ran it off the road, and Goyette rebuilt the front end for him. That owner sold it in the mid-90s, and it turned up again around 2000, but hasn't emerged since."[30]
"Sold to Paramount as a kit for them to assemble as their stunt car, they did such a poor job that it was basically unusable, aside from going backwards out the window of Cameron's house. Rebuilt, it ended up at Planet Hollywood in Minneapolis and was moved to Planet Hollywood in Cancun when this one was closed."[30]
"Another kit, supposed to be built as a shell for the out the window scene, it was never completed at all, and disappeared after the film was completed. Goyette thinks he once heard it was eventually completed and sold off, but it could also still be in a back lot at Paramount."[30]

text: One of the "replicars" was sold by Bonhams on April 19, 2010, at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon, United Kingdom for £79,600.[31][32]

text: The "replicar" was "universally hated by the crew", said Ruck. "It didn't work right." The scene in which Ferris turns off the car to leave it with the garage attendant had to be shot a dozen times because it would not start.[5] The car was built with a real wheel base, but used a Ford V8 engine instead of a V12.[33] At the time of filming, the original 250 GT California model was worth $350,000.[5] Since the release of the film, it has become one of the most expensive cars ever sold, going at auction in 2008 for $10,976,000 [34] and more recently in 2015 for $16,830,000.[35] The vanity plate of Cameron's dad's Ferrari spells NRVOUS and the other plates seen in the film are homages to Hughes's earlier works, VCTN (National Lampoon's Vacation), TBC (The Breakfast Club), MMOM (Mr. Mom), as well as 4FBDO (Ferris Bueller's Day Off).

text: Economic lecture[edit]

text: Ben Stein's famous monotonous lecture about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was not originally in Hughes's script. Stein, by happenstance, was lecturing off-camera to the amusement of the student cast. "I was just going to do it off camera, but the student extras laughed so hard when they heard my voice that (Hughes) said do it on camera, improvise, something you know a lot about. When I gave the lecture about supply-side economics, I thought they were applauding. Everybody on the set applauded. I thought they were applauding because they had learned something about supply-side economics. But they were applauding because they thought I was boring...It was the best day of my life", Stein said.[17]

text: Parade scene[edit]

text: The parade scene took multiple days of filming; Broderick spent some time practicing the dance moves. "I was very scared", Broderick said. "Fortunately, the sequence was carefully choreographed beforehand. We worked out all the moves by rehearsing in a little studio. It was shot on two Saturdays in the heart of downtown Chicago. The first day was during a real parade, and John got some very long shots. Then radio stations carried announcements inviting people to take part in 'a John Hughes movie'. The word got around fast and 10,000 people showed up! For the final shot, I turned around and saw a river of people. I put my hands up at the end of the number and heard this huge roar. I can understand how rock stars feel. That kind of reaction feeds you."[36][37]

text: Broderick's moves were choreographed by Kenny Ortega (who later choreographed Dirty Dancing). Much of it had to be scrapped though as Broderick had injured his knee badly during the scenes of running through neighbors' backyards. "I was pretty sore", Broderick said. "I got well enough to do what you see in the parade there, but I couldn't do most of Kenny Ortega's knee spins and things like that that we had worked on. When we did shoot it, we had all this choreography and I remember John would yell with a megaphone, 'Okay, do it again, but don't do any of the choreography,' because he wanted it to be a total mess." "Danke Schoen" was somewhat choreographed but for "Twist and Shout", Broderick said, "we were just making everything up".[5] Hughes explained that much of the scene was spontaneously filmed. "It just happened that this was an actual parade, which we put our float into—unbeknownst to anybody, all the people on the reviewing stand. Nobody knew what it was, including the governor."[13]

text: Wrigley Field[edit]

text: Wrigley Field is featured in two interwoven and consecutive scenes. In the first scene, Rooney is looking for Ferris at a pizza joint while the voice of Harry Caray announces the action of a ballgame that is being shown on TV. From the play-by-play descriptions, the uniforms, and the player numbers, this game has been identified as the June 5, 1985, game between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs.[18][38] The batter rips a foul ball into the left field stands, and as Rooney looks away from the TV briefly, the TV cameras show a close up of Ferris a moment after catching it. The scene in the pizza joint continues as Rooney tries to banter about the game with the guy behind the counter.

text: In the next scene, Sloane, Cameron, and Ferris are in the left field stands inside Wrigley. Ferris flexes his hand in pain after supposedly catching the foul ball. During this scene, the characters enjoy the game and joke about what they would be doing if they had played by the rules. All these "in the park" shots, including the one from the previous scene where Ferris catches the foul ball on TV, were filmed on September 24, 1985, at a game between the Montreal Expos and the Cubs. During the 1985 season, the Braves and the Expos both wore powder blue uniforms during their road games. And so, with seamless editing by Hughes, it is difficult to distinguish that the game being seen and described in the pizza joint is not only a different game but also a different Cubs' opponent than the one filmed inside the stadium.[39]

text: John Hughes had originally wanted to film the scene at the baseball game at Comiskey Park, as Hughes was a Chicago White Sox fan. However, due to time constraints, the location was moved to Wrigley Field at the last minute.

text: On October 1, 2011, Wrigley Field celebrated the 25th anniversary of the film by showing it on three giant screens on the infield.[40]

text: Deleted scenes[edit]

text: Several scenes were cut from the final film; one lost scene entitled "The Isles of Langerhans" has the three teenagers trying to order in the French restaurant, shocked to discover pancreas on the menu (although in the finished film, Ferris still says, "We ate pancreas", while recapping the day). This is featured on the Bueller, Bueller Edition DVD. Other scenes were never made available on any DVD version.[41] These scenes included additional screen time with Jeanie in a locker room, Ferris' younger brother and sister (both of whom were completely removed from the film), and additional/alternate lines of dialogue throughout the film, all of which can be seen in the original theatrical trailer. Hughes had also wanted to film a scene where Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron go to a strip club. Paramount executives told him there were only so many shooting days left, so the scene was scrapped.[5]

text: Music[edit]

text: Limited edition fan club soundtrack[edit]

text: An official soundtrack was not originally released for the film, as director John Hughes felt the songs would not work well together as a continuous album.[42] However, according to an interview with Lollipop Magazine, Hughes noted that he had sent 100,000 7" vinyl singles containing two songs featured in the film to members of his fan mailing list.[43]

text: Hughes gave further details about his refusal to release a soundtrack in the Lollipop interview:

text: The only official soundtrack that Ferris Bueller's Day Off ever had was for the mailing list. A&M was very angry with me over that; they begged me to put one out, but I thought "who'd want all of these songs?" I mean, would kids want "Danke Schoen" and "Oh Yeah" on the same record? They probably already had "Twist and Shout", or their parents did, and to put all of those together with the more contemporary stuff, like the (English) Beat—I just didn't think anybody would like it. But I did put together a seven-inch of the two songs I owned the rights to—"Beat City" on one side, and... I forget, one of the other English bands on the soundtrack... and sent that to the mailing list. By '86, '87, it was costing us $30 a piece to mail out 100,000 packages. But it was a labor of love.[43]

text: Songs in the film[edit]

text: Songs featured in the film include:

text:
"Love Missile F1-11" (Extended Version) by Sigue Sigue Sputnik
"Jeannie" (Theme from I Dream of Jeannie)
"Beat City" by The Flowerpot Men
"Main Title" by John Williams (From Star Wars)
"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" (instrumental) by The Dream Academy (a cover of a song by The Smiths)
"The Celebrated Minuet" by Luigi Boccherini (Performed by the Zagreb Philharmonic Chamber Studio)
"Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton
"Twist and Shout" by The Beatles
"Radio People" by Zapp
"I'm Afraid" by Blue Room
"Taking the Day Off" by General Public
"The Edge of Forever" by The Dream Academy
"March of the Swivelheads" (a remix of "Rotating Head") by The (English) Beat
"Oh Yeah" by Yello
"BAD" by Big Audio Dynamite
"Go Down Moses" credited to the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1871 (The dirge-like song that Cameron sings to himself while lying in his sick bed)

text: "Danke Schoen" is one of the recurring motifs in the film and is sung by Ferris, Ed Rooney, and Jeanie. Hughes called it the "most awful song of my youth. Every time it came on, I just wanted to scream, claw my face. I was taking German in high school—which meant that we listened to it in school. I couldn't get away from it."[13] According to Broderick, Ferris's singing "Danke Schoen" in the shower was his idea. "Although it's only because of the brilliance of John's deciding that I should sing "Danke Schoen" on the float in the parade. I had never heard the song before. I was learning it for the parade scene. So we're doing the shower scene and I thought, 'Well, I can do a little rehearsal.' And I did something with my hair to make that Mohawk. And you know what good directors do: they say, 'Stop! Wait till we roll.' And John put that stuff in."[44]

text: 2016 soundtrack[edit]

text:
Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Soundtrack album by various artists

Released
September 13, 2016

Genre
new wave

Length
76:47

Label
La-La Land Records

text: The soundtrack for the film, limited to 5,000 copies, was released on September 13, 2016 by La-La Land Records. The album includes new wave and pop songs featured in the film, as well as Ira Newborn's complete score, including unused cues.[45] Due to licensing restrictions, "Twist and Shout," "Taking The Day Off," and "March of the Swivelheads" were not included, but are available elsewhere. The Flowerpot Men's "Beat City" makes its first official release on CD with a new mix done by The Flowerpot Men's Ben Watkins and Adam Peters that differs from the original 7" fan club release.[45][46]

text:
No.
Title
Performer
Length

1.
"Love Missile F1-11 (Ultraviolence Mix)"
Sigue Sigue Sputnik
6:58

2.
"Oh Yeah"
Yello
3:08

3.
"Beat City"
The Flowerpot Men
3:37

4.
"B.A.D."
Big Audio Dynamite
5:47

5.
"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"
The Dream Academy
3:09

6.
"Danke Schoen"
Wayne Newton
2:35

7.
"Radio People"
Zapp
5:40

8.
"I'm Afraid"
Blue Room
4:51

9.
"The Edge of Forever"
The Dream Academy
4:21

text:
Original Score by Ira Newborn

No.
Title
{{{extra_column}}}
Length

10.
"Ferris in Bed"

0:57

11.
"Cameron in Bed/Ferris Goes Hawaiian"

1:44

12.
"I’ll Go (unused)"

1:02

13.
"Nurse"

0:11

14.
"Ferris on Line 2"

0:43

15.
"Bueller, Ferris Bueller"

0:08

16.
"Mom Checks on Ferris"

1:40

17.
"Jeannie Turns Ugly"

0:34

18.
"Rooney on Patrol"

1:26

19.
"Save It, Ferris (unused)"

0:40

20.
"Rooney Sneaks Around/Star Wars (Main Title)"

2:25

21.
"Going to Take a Stand (unused)"

3:30

22.
"Cameron Takes the Heat"

0:55

23.
"Oh Shauna Jeannie"

0:46

24.
"He’s Gonna Marry Me (unused)"

1:22

25.
"Dog Food Rooney/Ferris Goes to Bed"
Hollywood Studio Symphony
0:59

26.
"Mom, Dad and Ferris"

1:34

27.
"Ferris on Line 2 (alternate)"

0:41

text:
Alternate Score Cues

No.
Title
Length

28.
"Theme from Star Trek (unused)"
0:30

29.
"Cameron Takes the Heat (alternate)"
0:57

text:
Source Cues

No.
Title
{{{extra_column}}}
Length

30.
"Coughlin Bros. Mortuary"
Hollywood Studio Symphony
0:27

31.
"Celebrated Minuet"
Hollywood Studio Symphony
1:37

32.
"Ballpark Baloney"
Hollywood Studio Symphony
1:10

33.
"Polka Medley"
Hollywood Studio Symphony
3:18

text:
Bonus Tracks

No.
Title
Performer
Length

34.
"I’m Afraid (Instrumental Film Version)"
Blue Room
4:51

35.
"Twist and Shout (Marching Band Overlay)"

2:35

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical[edit]

text: The film largely received positive reviews from critics. It is "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, having an aggregated score of 81% (based on 62 critics' reviews), and an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's consensus reads "Matthew Broderick charms in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a light and irrepressibly fun movie about being young and having fun."[47] Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars, calling it "one of the most innocent movies in a long time,” and “a sweet, warm-hearted comedy."[48] Richard Roeper called the film "one of my favorite movies of all time. It has one of the highest 'repeatability' factors of any film I've ever seen ... I can watch it again and again. There's also this, and I say it in all sincerity: Ferris Bueller's Day Off is something of a suicide prevention film, or at the very least a story about a young man trying to help his friend gain some measure of self-worth ... Ferris has made it his mission to show Cameron that the whole world in front of him is passing him by, and that life can be pretty sweet if you wake up and embrace it. That's the lasting message of Ferris Bueller's Day Off."[49] Roeper pays homage to the film with a license plate that reads "SVFRRIS".[50] Conservative columnist George Will hailed Ferris as "the moviest movie," a film "most true to the general spirit of the movies, the spirit of effortless escapism."[51]

text: Essayist Steve Almond called Ferris "the most sophisticated teen movie [he] had ever seen," adding that while Hughes had made a lot of good movies, Ferris was the "one film [he] would consider true art, [the] only one that reaches toward the ecstatic power of teendom [sic] and, at the same time, exposes the true, piercing woe of that age." Almond also applauded Ruck's performance, going so far as saying he deserved the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor of 1986: "His performance is what elevates the film, allows it to assume the power of a modern parable."[52] The New York Times reviewer Nina Darnton criticized Mia Sara's portrayal of Sloane for lacking "the specific detail that characterized the adolescent characters in Hughes's other films", asserting she "created a basically stable but forgettable character."[53][54] Conversely, Darnton praised Ruck and Grey's performances: "The two people who grow in the movie—Cameron, played with humor and sensitivity by Alan Ruck, and Ferris's sister Jeanie, played with appropriate self-pity by Jennifer Grey—are the most authentic. Grey manages to play an insufferably sulky teen-ager who is still attractive and likable."[53]

text: National Review writer Mark Hemingway lauded the film's celebration of liberty. "If there's a better celluloid expression of ordinary American freedom than Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I have yet to see it. If you could take one day and do absolutely anything, piling into a convertible with your best girl and your best friend and taking in a baseball game, an art museum, and a fine meal seems about as good as it gets," wrote Hemingway.[55]

text: Others were less enamored with Ferris, many taking issue with the film's "rebel without a cause" hedonism. David Denby of New York Magazine, called the film "a nauseating distillation of the slack, greedy side of Reaganism."[56] Author Christina Lee agreed, adding it was a “splendidly ridiculous exercise in unadulterated indulgence,” and the film “encapsulated the Reagan era's near solipsist worldview and insatiable appetite for immediate gratification—of living in and for the moment....”[57] Gene Siskel panned the film from a Chicago-centric perspective saying “Ferris Bueller doesn't do anything much fun ... [t]hey don't even sit in the bleachers where all the kids like to sit when they go to Cubs games.”[58] Siskel did enjoy the chemistry between Jennifer Grey and Charlie Sheen. Ebert thought Siskel was too eager to find flaws in the film's view of Chicago.[58]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: Broderick was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1986 for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

text: American Film Institute recognition:

text:
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - Nominated
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” - Nominated.

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film opened in 1,330 theaters in the United States and had a total weekend gross of $6,275,647, opening at #2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off's total gross in the United States was approximately $70,136,369, making it a box office success.[1] It subsequently became the 10th-highest-grossing film of 1986.[59]

text: Rankings[edit]

text: As an influential and popular film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off has been included in many film rating lists. The film is number 54 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies", came 26th in the British 50 Greatest Comedy Films and ranked number 10 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Best High School Movies".[60]

text: Cultural impact[edit]

text: First Lady Barbara Bush paraphrased the film in her 1990 commencement address at Wellesley College: "Find the joy in life, because as Ferris Bueller said on his day off, 'Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!'" Responding to the audience's enthusiastic applause, she added "I'm not going to tell George ya clapped more for Ferris than ya clapped for George."[61]

text: Other phrases from Ferris Bueller's Day Off such as Stein's nasally-voiced "Bueller? ...Bueller? ...Bueller?" (while taking roll call in class), and "Anyone? Anyone?" (trying to probe the students for answers) as well as Kristy Swanson's cheerful "No problem whatsoever!" also permeated popular culture.[62] In fact, Stein's monotone performance launched his acting career.[63] In 2016, Stein reprised the attendance scene in a campaign ad[64] for Iowa Senator Charles Grassley; Stein intoned the last name of Grassley's opponent (Patty Judge), to silence, while facts about her missed votes and absences from state board meetings were listed. Stein then calls out "Grassley," which gets a response; Stein mutters, "He's always here."[65]

text: Broderick said of the Ferris Bueller role, "It eclipsed everything, I should admit, and to some degree it still does."[5] Later at the 2010 Oscar tribute to Hughes, he said, "For the past 25 years, nearly every day someone comes up to me, taps me on the shoulder and says, 'Hey, Ferris, is this your day off?'"[66]

text: Ruck says that with Cameron Frye, Hughes gave him "the best part I ever had in a movie, and any success that I've had since 1985 is because he took a big chance on me. I'll be forever grateful."[67] "While we were making the movie, I just knew I had a really good part", Ruck says. "My realization of John's impact on the teen-comedy genre crept in sometime later. Teen comedies tend to dwell on the ridiculous, as a rule. It's always the preoccupation with sex and the self-involvement, and we kind of hold the kids up for ridicule in a way. Hughes added this element of dignity. He was an advocate for teenagers as complete human beings, and he honored their hopes and their dreams. That's what you see in his movies."[67]

text: Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett, who play the parents, met on the set in 1986 and were married a short time after that. The two again played parents in the 1992 horror film Sleepwalkers.

text: Broderick starred in a television advertisement prepared by Honda promoting its CR-V for the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI. The ad pays homage to Ferris Bueller, featuring Broderick (as himself) faking illness to skip out of work to enjoy sightseeing around Los Angeles. Several elements, such as the use of the song "Oh Yeah", and a valet monotonously calling for "Broderick... Broderick...", appear in the ad. A teaser for the ad had appeared two weeks prior to the Super Bowl, which had created rumors of a possible film sequel.[68] It was produced by Santa Monica-based RPA and directed by Todd Phillips.[69] AdWeek's Tim Nudd called the ad "a great homage to the original 1986 film, with Broderick this time calling in sick to a film shoot and enjoying another day of slacking."[69] On the other hand, Jalopnik's Matt Hardigree called the spot "sacrilegious".[70][71]

text: The 2016 movie Deadpool's post-credit scene is an homage to Ferris Bueller's post-credit scene. Deadpool is dressed in a robe and talks directly to the audience in a hallway that looks similar to the one in the movie. Similar to Ferris, Deadpool says "You're still here? It's over. Go home." At the end of the scene, Deadpool leans back into the frame from behind a doorway, and makes the "Chicka-chickahhhh" sound from Ferris Bueller.[72]

text: An episode titled "Brian Finch’s Black Op" of the 2016 TV series Limitless paid homage to the movie.[73]

text: In March 2017, Domino's Pizza began an advertising campaign parodying the film, featuring actor Joe Keery in the lead role.[74]

text: The 2017 movie "Spider-Man: Homecoming also pays tribute to "Ferris Bueller".The scene involving Spider-Man chasing Herman Schultz and Jackson Brice has Spidey jumping and running through backyards to catch the criminals.One can also see "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" being played.

text: Music[edit]

text:
Yello – Oh Yeah excerpt

An excerpt from "Oh Yeah"

Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: The film's influence in popular culture extends beyond the film itself to how musical elements of the film have been received as well, for example, Yello's song "Oh Yeah". As Jonathan Bernstein explains, "Never a hit, this slice of Swiss-made tomfoolery with its varispeed vocal effects and driving percussion was first used by John Hughes to illustrate the mouthwatering must-haveness of Cameron's dad's Ferrari. Since then, it has become synonymous with avarice. Every time a movie, TV show or commercial wants to underline the jaw-dropping impact of a hot babe or sleek auto, that synth-drum starts popping and that deep voice rumbles, 'Oh yeah . . .'"[76] Concerning the influence of another song used in the film, Roz Kaveney writes that some "of the finest moments in later teen film draw on Ferris's blithe Dionysian fervour — the elaborate courtship by song in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) draws usefully on the "Twist and Shout" sequence in Ferris Bueller's Day Off".[77] The bands Save Ferris and Rooney were named in allusion to Ferris Bueller's Day Off.[78][79]

text: "Twist and Shout" charted again, 16 years after the Beatles broke up, as a result of its prominent appearance in both this film and Back To School (where Rodney Dangerfield performs a cover version) which was released the same weekend as Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The re-released single reached #23 in the U.S; a US-only compilation album containing the track The Early Beatles, re-entered the album charts at #197. The version heard in the film includes brass overdubbed onto the Beatles' original recording, which did not go down well with Paul McCartney. "I liked [the] film but they overdubbed some lousy brass on the stuff! If it had needed brass, we'd had stuck it on ourselves!"[75] Upon hearing McCartney's reaction, Hughes felt bad for "offend[ing] a Beatle. But it wasn't really part of the song. We saw a band [onscreen] and we needed to hear the instruments."[13]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: Broderick and Hughes stayed in touch for a while after production. "We thought about a sequel to Ferris Bueller, where he'd be in college or at his first job, and the same kind of things would happen again. But neither of us found a very exciting hook to that. The movie is about a singular time in your life."[44] "Ferris Bueller is about the week before you leave school, it's about the end of school—in some way, it doesn't have a sequel. It's a little moment and it's a lightning flash in your life. I mean, you could try to repeat it in college or something but it's a time that you don't keep. So that's partly why I think we couldn't think of another", Broderick added. "But just for fun", said Ruck, "I used to think why don't they wait until Matthew and I are in our seventies and do Ferris Bueller Returns and have Cameron be in a nursing home. He doesn't really need to be there, but he just decided his life is over, so he committed himself to a nursing home. And Ferris comes and breaks him out. And they go to, like, a titty bar and all this ridiculous stuff happens. And then, at the end of the movie, Cameron dies."[5]

text: Academic analysis[edit]

text: Many scholars have discussed at length the film's depiction of academia and youth culture. For Martin Morse Wooster, the film "portrayed teachers as humorless buffoons whose only function was to prevent teenagers from having a good time".[80] Regarding not specifically teachers, but rather a type of adult characterization in general, Art Silverblatt asserts that the "adults in Ferris Bueller's Day Off are irrelevant and impotent. Ferris's nemesis, the school disciplinarian, Mr. Rooney, is obsessed with 'getting Bueller.' His obsession emerges from envy. Strangely, Ferris serves as Rooney's role model, as he clearly possesses the imagination and power that Rooney lacks. ... By capturing and disempowering Ferris, Rooney hopes to ... reduce Ferris's influence over other students, which would reestablish adults, that is, Rooney, as traditional authority figures."[81] Nevertheless, Silverblatt concludes that "Rooney is essentially a comedic figure, whose bumbling attempts to discipline Ferris are a primary source of humor in the film".[81] Thomas Patrick Doherty writes that "the adult villains in teenpics such as ... Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) are overdrawn caricatures, no real threat; they're played for laughs".[82] Yet Silverblatt also remarks that casting "the principal as a comic figure questions the competence of adults to provide young people with effective direction—indeed, the value of adulthood itself".[81]

text: Adults are not the stars or main characters of the film, and Roz Kaveney notes that what "Ferris Bueller brings to the teen genre, ultimately, is a sense of how it is possible to be cool and popular without being rich or a sports hero. Unlike the heroes of Weird Science, Ferris is computer savvy without being a nerd or a geek — it is a skill he has taken the trouble to learn."[83]

text: In 2010, English comedian Dan Willis performed his show "Ferris Bueller's Way Of..." at the Edinburgh Festival, delving into the philosophy of the movie and looking for life answers within.[84]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was first released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1987, and then re-released on VHS in 1996. The film has been released on DVD three times; including the original DVD release October 19, 1999, the Bueller... Bueller edition January 2006, and the I Love the '80s edition August 19, 2008.[85] The original DVD, like most Paramount Pictures films released on DVD for the first time, has very few bonus features, but it does feature a commentary by Hughes. Though this is no longer available for sale, the director's commentary is available here.[86] The Bueller... Bueller re-release has several more bonus features, but does not contain the commentary track of the original DVD release. The I Love the '80s edition is identical to the first DVD release (no features aside from commentary), but includes a bonus CD with songs from the 1980s. The songs are not featured in the film. The Bueller... Bueller edition has multiple bonus features such as interviews with the cast and crew, along with a clip of Stein's commentaries on the film's philosophy and impact. The Blu-ray Disc release (which is a part of the Bueller... Bueller edition, with the same bonus material) was first released on May 5, 2009. A 25th anniversary edition for DVD and Blu-ray were both released on August 2, 2011.[85]

text: Television series[edit]

text: In 1990, a series called Ferris Bueller started for NBC, starring Charlie Schlatter as Ferris Bueller, Jennifer Aniston as Jeanie Bueller, and Ami Dolenz as Sloane Peterson. The series served as a prequel to the film. In the pilot episode, the audience sees Schlatter cutting up a cardboard cutout of Matthew Broderick, saying that he hated Broderick's performance as him. It was produced by Maysh, Ltd. Productions in association with Paramount Television. In part because of competition of the similar series on the Fox Television Network, Parker Lewis Can't Lose,[87] the series was canceled after the first thirteen episodes aired. Both Schlatter and Aniston later had success on other TV shows, Schlatter on Diagnosis: Murder and Aniston on Friends.