document_title: Rio Grande rift

question_text: what is currently happening in the rio grande rift zone

text: Rio Grande rift

text: Geology[edit]

text: The Rio Grande Rift represents the easternmost manifestation of widespread extension in the western U.S. during the past 35 million years. The rift consists of three major basins and many smaller basins, less than 100 km2. The three major basins (from northernmost to southernmost) are the San Luis, Española, and Albuquerque basins. Further south, the rift is defined by a network of smaller, less topographically distinct alternating basins and ranges. The distinction between these smaller basins and those of the Basin and Range Province becomes blurred in northern Mexico.[3]

text: Basin size generally decreases to the north in the rift, though the Española covers approximately 120 km north-south and 40 km east-west, and the San Luis is roughly 120 km by 80 km. These basins may contain smaller units within them, such as the Alamosa basin within the San Luis, which is bounded by the San Juan and Tusas mountains on the west and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the east.[4] The Albuquerque basin is the largest of the three basins, spanning 160 km north-south and 86 km east-west at its widest points. It is the oldest of the three major basins, and contains 7,350 m of Paleogene clastic sediments deposited on Precambrian basement. The southernmost Albuquerque basin contains pre-rift volcanic deposits, while the central and northern portions contain volcanics erupted during rifting.[3]

text: The southernmost Rio Grande Rift broadens, becoming more complex in structure and physiographically indistinguishable from the adjoining Basin and Range province.[5]

text: In cross-section, the geometry of the basins within the rift are asymmetrical half-grabens, with major fault boundaries on one side and a downward hinge on the other. Which side of the basin has the major fault or the hinge alternates along the rift. The alternation between these half-grabens occurs along transfer faults, which trend across the rift to connect the major basin-bounding faults and occur between basins or, in places, within basins. The Precambrian basement changes relief sharply in this area, from 8,700 m below sea level at the bottom of the Albuquerque basin to 3,300 m above sea level in the nearby Sandia Mountains, which flanks the Albuquerque basin to the east. Flanking mountains are generally taller along the east side of the rift (although some of this relief may be Laramide in origin).[1]  The thickness of the crust increases to the north beneath the rift, where it may be as much as 5 km thicker than it is in the south. The crustal thickness underneath the rift is on average 30–35 km, thinner by 10–15 km than the Colorado Plateau on the west and the Great Plains to the east.[6]

text: The rift is presently nearly tectonically quiescent,[clarification needed][citation needed] but significant deformation and faulting with offsets of many kilometers were responsible for its formation starting about 35 Ma.[7]  The largest-scale manifestation of rifting involves a pure-shear rifting mechanism, in which both sides of the rift pull apart evenly and slowly, with the lower crust and upper mantle (the lithosphere) stretching like taffy.[8][9][10]  This extension is associated with very low seismic velocities in the upper mantle above approximately 400 km depth associated with relatively hot mantle and low degrees of partial melting.[11] This intrusion of the asthenosphere into the lithosphere and continental crust is thought to be responsible for nearly all of the volcanism associated with the Rio Grande rift.

text: The sedimentary fill of the basins consists largely of alluvial fan and mafic volcanic flows. The most alkalic lavas erupted outside the rift.[12] The sediments that were deposited during rifting are commonly known as the Santa Fe Group. This group contains sandstones, conglomerates, and volcanics. Aeolian deposits are also present in some basins.[1][2]

text: The Rio Grande Rift is intersected in northern New Mexico by the NE-SW trending Jemez Lineament which extends well into Arizona, defined by aligned volcanic fields and several calderas in the area, including the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains. The significance of the Jemez Lineament is unclear; it is not obviously related to the formation of the Rio Grande rift, but may be a hotspot trail. Also on the Colorado Plateau but further north lies the San Juan volcanic field in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

text: The youngest eruptions in the rift region are in the Valley of Fires, New Mexico and are approximately 5,400 years old.[13][14]  The Socorro, New Mexico region of the central rift hosts an inflating mid-crustal sill-like magma body at a depth of 19 km that is responsible for anomalously high earthquake activity in the vicinity, including the largest rift-associated earthquakes in historic times (two events of approximately magnitude 5.8) in July and November 1906.[15][16][17]  Earth and space-based geodetic measurements indicate ongoing surface uplift above the "Socorro Magma Body". Archived from the original on 2010-06-15.  at approximately 2 mm/year.[18]

text: Geologic history[edit]

text: The Rio Grande rift's tectonic evolution is fairly complex.  The fundamental change in the western margin of the North American plate from one of subduction to a transform boundary occurred during Cenozoic time.  The Farallon plate continued to be subducted beneath western North America for at least 100 million years during Late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic time.  Compressional and transpressional deformation incurred by the Laramide Orogeny lasted until about 40 Ma in New Mexico.[20][21][22] This deformation may have been a result of the coupling between the subducting Farallon plate and the overlying North American plate. Crustal thickening occurred due to Laramide compression. After the Laramide Orogeny and until 20 Ma, a major period of volcanic activity occurred throughout the southwestern United States.  Injection of hot magmas weakened the lithosphere and allowed for later extension of the region.[23]

text: Cenozoic extension started about 30 million years ago (Ma).  There are two phases of extension observed: late Oligocene and middle Miocene.[24] The first period of extension produced broad,  shallow basins bounded by low-angle faults.  The crust may have been extended as much as 50% during this episode. Widespread magmatism in mid-Cenozoic time suggests that the lithosphere was hot,  the brittle-ductile transition was relatively shallow.[23] There is evidence that the  second period of extension began earlier in the central and northern Rio Grande Rift than in the south.[1]

text: It has been suggested that the Colorado Plateau acts as a semi-independent microplate [25] and one way of explaining the creation of the Rio Grande Rift is by the simple rotation of the Colorado Plateau 1-1.5 degrees in a clockwise direction relative to the North American craton.[1]


document_title: Production of Avengers: Infinity War and the untitled Avengers sequel

question_text: whats the logo at the end of the infinity war

root

text: Development[edit]

text: Since their early films, Marvel Studios had been planting the seeds for an Avengers film that adapted Jim Starlin's 1991 Infinity Gauntlet comic arc,[5] by introducing the powerful Infinity Stones as MacGuffins: the Space Stone as the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger; the Mind Stone inside Loki's Scepter in Marvel's The Avengers; the Reality Stone as the Aether in Thor: The Dark World; the Power Stone as the Orb in Guardians of the Galaxy; and the Time Stone within the Eye of Agamotto in Doctor Strange.[6] Additionally, the Infinity Gauntlet, a glove designed to house the stones, was introduced in Thor.[7] A different Infinity Gauntlet is briefly seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, in the possession of the villain Thanos, who covets the stones in the comics.[8] The first gauntlet was subsequently revealed to be a fake in Thor: Ragnarok.[7] Many fans expected Thanos to be the antagonist of the second Avengers film after making a brief appearance at the end of the first,[9] but Joss Whedon, the writer and director of the first two Avengers films, explained that "Thanos is more powerful. He is so powerful, he is not someone you can just try to out punch. Like in the comics, you want him to be threading through the universe and to save the big finale for the big finale."[10] While all non-Avengers films in the MCU were considered set-up for this storyline, laying "much of the groundwork", producer and president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige said that Black Panther in particular would be "a very important" link to the Avengers sequels in Phase Three of the MCU,[11][12] as was Thor: Ragnarok.[13]

tag: p

text: In July 2014, Feige stated that there were "some notions" to where Marvel would want to take a third Avengers film and that the studio was aiming for three years between Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015 and a sequel.[14] In October 2014, Marvel announced a two-part sequel to Age of Ultron, titled Avengers: Infinity War. Part 1 was scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018, and Part 2 was scheduled for May 3, 2019,[15][16] with the two films filming back-to-back.[17] In January 2015, Whedon stated that it was "very doubtful" that he would be involved with the two Infinity War films.[18] By April, Anthony and Joe Russo had reached a deal to direct both parts of Avengers: Infinity War, after directing Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War.[19][20] Whedon cited the series' increasing scale as to why he chose not to return, explaining, "Every movie I have ever made has been an ensemble piece of increasingly enormous proportions... That many balls in the air, it's only going to get bigger with Infinity War. I'm not going to be able to give it what I would need to."[21] At the end of the month, Chris Evans, who portrays Captain America in the MCU, revealed that filming was now scheduled to begin in late 2016 over nine months, lasting until August or September 2017,[22][20] after previously being scheduled to begin in late 2015.[17] By May 2015, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely had signed on to also return from the Captain America films, writing the screenplays for both parts of the film.[23] Anthony Russo described the two Avengers sequels as "the culmination of everything that has happened in the MCU" since Iron Man was released in 2008, bringing "an end to certain things, and in some ways... the beginning of certain things".[24]

text: Writing[edit]

text: Markus and McFeely began work on the scripts during the filming of Civil War when they would "go to the office, read comic books, write down ideas, put everything on the wall and just go 'These are all the characters we could have.'" Markus added, "We sent in literally 60 pages of unrelated ideas. Just like 'Here's some stuff that could happen in this insane movie.' Then we came back from Atlanta and everyone had a copy of that [document] and they'd circle this, 'This is cool, this is insane, this is cool, we're not allowed to do that,' and from there [we] pieced it together very slowly."[11] In January 2016, the duo had begun work on the screenplay for the first film,[25] and by July, they were working on the third draft of Infinity War and the second for its sequel, with Markus stating, much like how they were planned to be filmed, "On any given day, you're only working on one but that doesn't mean that next week, you aren't working on the other one."[26] By October, Thor: Ragnarok screenwriter Erik Pearson was flown from Ragnarok's set in Australia to Atlanta to assist Markus and McFeely, who were "just so crammed for time". Pearson felt the pair were comfortable allowing him to work on one film while they focused on the other given his previous Marvel work, including alongside them on the television series Agent Carter.[27]

text: The Russos and Markus and McFeely worked with all of the directors and writers of the other Phase Three films to keep continuity, talking "on an almost weekly basis".[11] Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson was "kept in the loop" on how the Avengers films use Strange through his close relationships with Feige and Joe Russo. Derrickson discussed the plot of both Avengers films with Joe, and gave notes on them, saying, "this is why this is great, this is so the way to do this... [and] no, this is why that'll never work..."[28] James Gunn, director and writer of the Guardians films and executive producer on these Avengers films, stated that he worked with the Russos, Marvel and Feige "to make sure that any of the characters I'm involved with that are in [Infinity War] are well taken care of and are as funny as they should be and as honest and truthful as they should be".[29][30] Gunn "came up with at least one hysterical riff" for the Guardians, according to Markus, and also chose "The Rubberband Man" by The Spinners as their opening song.[31][32] Gunn provided insight to a choice made by Markus and McFeely for Star-Lord that Gunn and Pratt felt the character would not make and did not alter the overall story. McFeely felt that "was a good example of how that kind of caretaking was a bonus to us". Some of the biggest rewrites to the script involved Thor, since Markus and McFeely originally intended him to be the "straight man" to the Guardians. His scenes had to be "revamped" after Hemsworth explained the funnier direction the character went in Thor: Ragnarok. That film's director Taika Waititi was brought in to consult with Markus and McFeely on the new tone of Thor's character,[31] while Pearson's involvement aided in keeping this continuity.[27]

text: After announcing the films, Feige said there was a possibility that characters from Marvel Television's MCU series could appear in the team up,[33][34] and actors such as Krysten Ritter, who plays Jessica Jones in the Netflix series of the same name, expressed interest in this.[35] Anthony Russo stated that this would be "complicated" due to the television series' serial nature of storytelling and the fact that Marvel Studios and Marvel Television have separate oversight.[36] The brothers later said that "the briefest consideration" to including television characters was made, but it was "practically impossible".[37][38] Joe added, "Our job is to focus on the Marvel film world and offer a satisfying climax."[38]

text: Joe felt the audience would not be disappointed in the number of characters in the films,[39] saying that "like 67 characters" who were previously introduced in the MCU had been place out on a board for consideration.[40][41] Characters were ultimately chosen based on the personal preferences of the creative team, as long as the "choices feel organic to the storytelling, and really, you have to sort of structure them in the way that they need to be there",[24] and included some characters Joe considered to be unexpected choices such as some who made smaller appearances previously in the MCU and "are really getting fleshed out" now.[42] Because of the number of characters, McFeely called writing Civil War "a walk in the park". He noted that characters who had not yet been cast were also in the scripts.[43] Joe Russo explained that they intended to focus on a "handful" of characters and build the story around their emotional arcs, with many of the other characters having ancillary roles.[44] He also said that the number of characters in Civil War prepared the brothers to "deal with probably triple the amount of characters in Infinity War", and that that the characters given main focus would shift between the two films.[11][1] Gunn said the Guardians of the Galaxy's roles in the films would not be the biggest part of the film, but would be integral due to their connection to Thanos.[45] The Russos wanted "a strong through line" from The Winter Soldier to Civil War and into the two films, saying, "We look at [Civil War] as setting the stage for Infinity War, how it starts and what condition everybody's in."[43] He described the concept of the films as "the Marvel universe [uniting] to battle the greatest threat to the world and universe that you've ever seen", with the brothers wanting to approach the cosmic elements of Infinity War with the same "fervor" that they gave to the more grounded films Winter Soldier and Civil War. Though they were unable to depict the films with naturalism given their science fiction content, they did want their films to have a psychological realism.[39] Anthony added that Infinity War would deal with the "themes of fate and destiny and the essence of what it means to be a hero".[46] Feige said the films would explore whether the visions the Avengers had in Age of Ultron were predictions of the future or just projections of their fears.[47] Anthony described the tone of the films as unique, given how they were melding the tones of all the individual MCU franchises,[1] and it was important for the brothers that both films were tonally different from each other as well, with different storylines and structures.[48]

text:
If you had stopped it before he snapped his fingers, or with four stones, that really is just a pause button. That really is just going, 'What's he going to do?' 'Will your hero stop dangling from the cliff?' And we wanted to put a much more definitive 'Yes, this happens. Deal with it,' tone at the end of it, rather than jerk you around.

—Co-screenwriter Christopher Markus on ending Infinity War with Thanos wiping out half the universe[49]

tag: div

text: Infinity War is set approximately two years after the events of Civil War, as the Russos always set "everything based on when the last movie came out".[1] In addition to Starlin's "Infinity Gauntlet", Markus and McFeely drew inspiration from Jonathan Hickman's "Infinity" comic (2013).[50] Infinity War was crafted like a 1990s heist film,[51] with the brothers looking at many films "that had that heist-style energy to them", as Infinity War "has that energy of the bad guy being one step ahead of the heroes",[42] with Thanos "on a smash-and-grab" to acquire all of the Infinity Stones.[51] The films 2 Days in the Valley and Out of Sight served as inspiration for the brothers.[1]

text: To handle the number of characters in the films, many are split into various smaller groups early on in Infinity War, which Anthony compared to "Nashville for super heroes. It's storytelling that is vignetted storytelling. It's to composite all of them under one story—everybody."[31][52] The grouping included: Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, and initially Bruce Banner and Wong;[31][53] Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, which ultimately split further to just Thor, Rocket, and Groot; Scarlet Witch and Vision; Thanos and Gamora; and Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Banner, and Black Panther.[31] Markus said that many discussions on character pairings were about whether to pursue and further develop pre-existing relationships or to introduce new ones, with him felling that new pairings had the emotional level of a first date while characters that have been together before and are now in a much more dire situation and they are together again, you can really get down into the meat of their relationship."[54]

text: Actor Robert Downey, Jr. said in Iron Man's grouping there was a desire "to keep a little bit of the Science Bros [Stark/Banner relationship] alive" despite Banner having his own journey, and to expand on the positive Stark/Parker relationship.[53] McFeely explained that the pairing of Strange and Stark came together because of the similarities between the characters being "guys with a vision but also an ego". To differentiate between the two, Markus and McFeely contrasted Stark's established story arc and drive to confront Thanos with Strange's more reluctant stance. Eventually adding Star-Lord provided "color" since Star-Lord also "thinks he's the smartest guy in the room ... only he isn't". Thor's teaming with Rocket and Groot made "a delightful group" according to McFeely. Markus added that Rocket was considered for many other pairs, but ultimately landed with Thor because he "is so powerful that it's fun to stick Rocket next to him. Rocket does not seem to have much he could help Thor with, but it brings out new things in Rocket that you wouldn't have expected."[31] Markus also talked about how he and McFeely were handling Thanos, a character that the audience knows is the threat of the films, yet until these films, had little scenes and screen time to divulge his history and motivations. He said, "We don't get an element of surprise [with his introduction]... You can count on a lot of scenes where we illuminate a lot about him very early [in the first film]",[55] with McFeely adding, "It is incumbent upon us to give him a real story, real stakes, real personality, and a real point of view."[56] The writers avoided the comic book storyline where Thanos tries to woo the female manifestation of Death, and instead paired him at times with Gamora, since "they had a lot of history we wanted to explore" and would add layers to Thanos that would avoid him becoming "the big mustache-twisting bad guy who wants ultimate power just to take over the world and sit on a throne". Captain America's group continues from the events of Civil War, showing he, Black Widow, and Falcon have been on the run, in part by their different appearances (Rogers with a beard and Romanoff with blond hair). The writers also did not dwell on the romance between Romanoff and Banner, as established in Age of Ultron, beyond including a "loaded look between the two", because "it didn't serve the Thanos plotline ... There were a lot of situations we wanted to follow up, but nobody in real life would be addressing those things with Thanos coming." The relationship between Scarlet Witch and Vision was implied to have "been building and flourishing" since the events of Civil War.[31]

text: Joe Russo described the second film as "more of an epic adventure in the classic sense, with huge emotional stakes".[57] Hope van Dyne / Wasp and Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel both only appear in the sequel, in order to preserves their debuts in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel, respectively, which were released between Infinity War and its sequel.[58][59] Other characters, such as Hawkeye and Ant-Man, were excluded in Infinity War for "a very specific story choice". Joe Russo said "we have a really interesting story cooked up for both of those characters, and part of that story required that they be under house arrest [in Infinity War]."[60] The Russos also revealed that, despite not appearing in Infinity War, the events of the film killed Betty Ross and Sif, previously portrayed in the MCU by Liv Tyler and Jaimie Alexander, respectively.[61]

text: Pre-production[edit]

text:
I think we started to hint at it at the end of Age of Ultron, that the team will be evolving. And one of the things we love in the comics is that the roster is always changing. That new people are coming on to the team... But the ideas and the ideals and things that make the Avengers the Avengers, still exist, and I think that's part of what this culmination will be ... It's not the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I think it is the end of part of it.

—Former executive producer Jeremy Latcham on how the films act as a culmination of all the preceding films of the MCU.[47]

text: In January 2016, the Russos stated that they were "breaking ground" on the films,[40] and in the middle of the month, revealed that filming would take place in Atlanta, Georgia, beginning in November 2016 and lasting until June 2017.[25] In April, Jon Favreau confirmed he would once again serve as executive producer on the films, having done so on the previous Avengers films after directing the first two Iron Man films.[62]

text: Speaking to the titles of the films, Feige said that "because they [have] such shared elements, it felt appropriate... to [subtitle the films] like that. But I wouldn't call it one story that's cut in half. I would say it's going to be two distinct movies."[63] Anthony Russo reiterated that the two Infinity War films were "very very different from one another. It's not a part one and part two scenario, necessarily. They're just two different expressions. I think it creates a misconception that we're shooting them at the same time."[11] As such, in early May 2016, the Russos revealed that they would retitle the two films, to further remove the misconception that the films were one large film split in two, with Joe stating, "The intention is we will change [the titles], we just haven't come up with [them] yet."[64] By late July, Marvel announced that Part 1 would simply be known as Avengers: Infinity War, while Part 2 was referred to as Untitled Avengers film until a title was chosen.[65] Anthony Russo stated that the title of the second film would not be revealed "for quite some time",[66] with Feige and the Russo brothers indicating the title was being withheld as it would give away plot details for Infinity War and the sequel.[67][57]

text: In June 2016, composer Alan Silvestri was revealed to be returning from The Avengers to score both films.[68] In October, Feige announced that filming would begin in January 2017.[69] Theoretical physicist Clifford Johnson consulted on the films, having previously done so on the second season of Agent Carter and Thor: Ragnarok.[70] Production designer Charles Wood also noted the films would be introducing "many, many, many new worlds" outside of Earth and others previously established in prior films.[71] Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, and Dave Bautista noted that the actors appearing in the films had not received scripts before the start of shooting, with Bautista specifically stating on January 22, 2017, that he had not received a script, despite beginning his filming on January 23.[72][73]

text: Casting[edit]

text: In June 2013, Robert Downey, Jr. signed on to return as Tony Stark / Iron Man for a third Avengers film,[74] and Josh Brolin signed a multi-film deal the following May, to play Thanos.[75] In July 2014, Feige stated that actors from previous MCU films were under contract to return to for a third Avengers film,[14] with Jeremy Renner stating that September he was signed on to reprise the role of Clint Barton / Hawkeye.[76]

text: After the announcement of Infinity War and its sequel, many established MCU actors were confirmed to be joining Downey and Brolin, including previous members of the Avengers Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine, Paul Bettany as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, and Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon.[77] Infinity War also sees the Avengers unite with the Guardians of the Galaxy, including Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord,[77] Pom Klementieff as Mantis,[78] Karen Gillan as Nebula,[79] Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot,[77] and Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket.[77] Sean Gunn served as the on-set stand-in actor for Rocket on both films.[80][81]

text: Additional actors reprising their roles in Infinity War from the various MCU franchises include Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange from Doctor Strange, with Benedict Wong as Wong;[82] Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man from Spider-Man: Homecoming, with Jacob Batalon as Ned,[83] Isabella Amara as Sally,[84] Tiffany Espensen as Cindy,[85] and Ethan Dizon as Tiny;[86] and Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther from Black Panther,[77] with Danai Gurira as Okoye, Letitia Wright as Shuri,[77] Winston Duke as M'Baku, and Florence Kasumba as Ayo;[87] as well as Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier from the Captain America films;[88] Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Idris Elba as Heimdall from Thor and Avengers films;[77][89] Iron Man supporting actress Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts,;[90] Benicio del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy;[91] William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, who first appeared in The Incredible Hulk;[92] and Kerry Condon as the voice of Iron Man's A.I. assistant F.R.I.D.A.Y.[93] Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders make uncredited cameos in the post-credits scene as Nick Fury and Maria Hill, who they respectively portrayed in several previous films.[94] Jon Favreau was to reprise his role as Harold "Happy" Hogan, but his scene did not make the theatrical cut of the film.[95]

text: In early January 2017, Peter Dinklage was in negotiations to appear in the films,[96] and was eventually cast in the role of Eitri.[97] At D23 Expo 2017, Marvel announced the inclusion of the "Children of Thanos", Thanos' henchmen in the film. Known collectively in the comics as the Black Order,[98][99] the actors playing the characters were soon revealed to be Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Ebony Maw,[100][101] Terry Notary as Cull Obsidian, Carrie Coon as Proxima Midnight,[102] and Michael James Shaw as Corvus Glaive.[103] Joe Russo explained that the Black Order was included in the film so that there were characters that the heroes "have to go through to get to" Thanos rather than have them challenge him "every step of the way". He added that Supergiant, a member of the comics version of the Black Order, was not included because "consolidation seemed like a smart thing ... they were starting to overlap each other". The Black Order in the film have altered powers which the Russos "felt were in better service of our storytelling".[104] Ross Marquand appears as Red Skull, the "Stonekeeper" guarding the Soul Stone. Marquand replaces Hugo Weaving, who had expressed reluctance to reprise the character from Captain America: The First Avenger.[97][105] Marquand, who is known for his celebrity impressions, said that Marvel was looking to "come as close to the iconic role that Hugo Weaving portrayed seven years ago and pay homage to it while also giving it a new flavor", and after Marquand attempted to "do a straight voice match to Hugo's performance", the Russo noted that the character would "sound a little different" from the last time he was seen, recommending Marquand add "this kind of ethereal almost ghost-like quality to his voice". Taking this direction, it took Marquand around 10 days to perfect the voice, which he felt melded Weaving's "iconic performance in The Matrix with the German accent he" used for the Red Skull.[106]

text: Actors expected to return for the sequel include: Downey,[107] Hemsworth,[108] Ruffalo,[33][34] Evans,[108] Johansson;[109] Cumberbatch,[110] Cheadle,[111] Holland,[112] Boseman;[113] Bettany,[114] Olsen,[115] Mackie,[116] Stan,[117] Hiddleston,[118] Klementieff,[119] Gillan,[79] Bautista,[120] Saldana,[121] Paltrow,[122] Brolin,[123] Pratt,[115] and Wright.[113] They will be joined by Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye,[124] Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne / Wasp,[58] Favreau as Happy" Hogan,[125] Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man,[126] Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel,[127] Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.[128][129][130] Stellan Skarsgård, who portrays Erik Selvig in the MCU, said he believed he would appear in one of the films as he had one more film left on his contract, and would not be appearing in Thor: Ragnarok.[131] By October 2017, Hiroyuki Sanada had been cast in an undisclosed role for the sequel.[132]

text: The Russos hoped to have another actor from their TV series Community make a cameo appearance, after Danny Pudi and Jim Rash appeared in The Winter Soldier and Civil War, respectively.[133] David Cross was invited to make a cameo appearance as Tobias Fünke in Infinity War, his character from the sitcom Arrested Development, which the Russo brothers had previously worked on; this was prevented by a scheduling conflict, but Fünke still appears in the film as a specimen in the Collector's collection, played by an uncredited extra.[134] Avengers co-creator Stan Lee makes cameo appearances in both films.[97][135] Starlin indicated he was interested in making a cameo appearance in the films.[136]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography for Avengers: Infinity War began on January 23, 2017,[137] at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia,[69] under the working title Mary Lou,[138] with Trent Opaloch serving as director of photography.[25] Additional filming occurred in Scotland, including in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Scottish Highlands,[139] with studio work taking place at Wardpark Studios in Cumbernauld.[140][141] Filming in Scotland began on February 28, 2017.[139] From March 18 through April 21, 2017, filming occurred in Old Town, Edinburgh on and around the Royal Mile, including High Street, Parliament Square, Cockburn Street, and Roxburgh Close and Old Fishmarket Close,[142] as well as Waverley Station.[143] Filming also took place at Durham Cathedral in Durham, England in early May 2017,[144] and in St Abbs.[145] Additional filming also occurred at St Giles' Cathedral and Inverness Castle.[145] In late June 2017, filming occurred in Downtown Atlanta,[146] as well as Atlanta's Central Park in early July,[147] before moving to Queens, New York in the middle of the month.[148] For Infinity War's final scene, the filmmakers partnered with Indochina Productions, a studio based in Thailand, to acquire footage of the Banaue Rice Terraces at Ifugao, Philippines.[149] Since Infinity War and Black Panther were filming simultaneously in Atlanta, both production teams worked together closely to ensure a unified presentation of Black Panther's home nation of Wakanda in both films.[150]

text: In April 2017, Feige stated that the films would not be filmed simultaneously as originally planned but rather back-to-back, and indicated that filming for the Infinity War sequel would commence in August 2017. He explained, "We're doing them one right after another. It became too complicated to cross-board them like that, and we found ourselves—again, something would always pay the price. We wanted to be able to focus and shoot one movie and then focus and shoot another movie."[151] The films were originally scheduled to be shot concurrently, with the Russos suggesting that "some days we'll be shooting the first movie and some days we'll be shooting the second movie. Just jumping back and forth."[25] Anthony Russo originally felt it made more sense to shoot the films simultaneously, due to financial and logistical reasons, considering the large number of cast members, even though each part is its own distinct film.[152] Dan T. Cathy, co-owner of Pinewood Atlanta, noted the films were "the largest film production ever with a [combined] $1 billion budget",[153] which Feige later stated was false;[154] the film had an estimated budget between $316–400 million,[2][3][4] still making it one of the most expensive films ever made.[155] In June 2017, Johansson commented on the amount of characters featured in the films, and felt the films would feature over 60, with at least 30 appearing together in one scene.[156] Filming of Infinity War concluded on July 14, 2017.[157]

text: Filming on the untitled sequel began on August 10, 2017,[158] also at Pinewood Atlanta Studios,[159] under the working title Mary Lou 2.[160] Also in August, additional filming occurred in The Gulch area of Downtown Atlanta, near the Five Points MARTA station, and in Piedmont Park.[161] Production on the untitled sequel wrapped on January 11, 2018,[162] although additional filming is scheduled to occur in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland in July 2018.[163]

text: The Russo brothers announced that both films would be shot using IMAX/Arri 2D cameras, thus marking the first time that a Hollywood feature film was shot entirely with IMAX digital cameras. The footage was digitally processed by IMAX and released in a 1.90:1 aspect ratio exclusively in IMAX theaters.[164][165] Joe Russo said that because many of the characters are tall, the "IMAX aspect ratio works for those types of characters, and the landscapes are stunning. There are some really exotic landscapes in the film, and to be able to put those on an IMAX screen, it's an incredible tool to have as a filmmaker to be able to exploit that scale of aspect ratio."[1] Opaloch noted that the production would use 12 of the IMAX/Arri cameras, and that Arri was working on lenses with additional focal lengths for the camera. They hoped they would be available by the start of filming, since the production would "need all the accessories and lenses", as it was "such a behemoth of a project".[166]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: Joe Russo stated in July 2017 that there were a couple of unfinished scenes for Infinity War that would be shot "in the next few months".[167] The first trailer for the film revealed the inclusion of the alien species Outriders, from the storyline Infinity.[168] In early March, Disney moved the release of Infinity War in the United States to April 27, 2018, to have it release the same weekend as some of its international markets.[169][170] While Infinity War features one post-credits scene, as with previous MCU films, the Russos considered not including one. Anthony noted that part of the reason for considering this "was because we knew the ending was a complicated ending, a difficult ending, and we wanted that ending to be very definitive. We didn't want to complicate it with other ideas." He felt the tag used, which shows Nick Fury signaling for Captain Marvel before fading away, put "a small button [on the ending] but that's it".[171]

text: Editing on the second film began a few weeks before the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp in July 2018, with Feige noting that the film would have a slightly longer time in post-production than some of their other films.[172] Reshoots for the second film are scheduled from mid-2018 until September 2018, occurring in Atlanta and New York City.[173] In June 2018, Feige indicated the title of the sequel would be revealed by the end of 2018.[174]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: Visual effects for Infinity War were created by Industrial Light & Magic,[176] Framestore,[177] Method Studios,[178] Weta Digital, Double Negative, Cinesite, Digital Domain, Rise, Lola VFX, and Perception.[179] Digital Domain worked on creating Thanos for the film, producing over 400 visual effects shots. The company created a new facial capture application called Masquerade, based on the concept of machine learning through computer algorithms, specifically for the film, beginning work on the system 3–4 months before filming began to develop and test it. They presented their results to Brolin, the Russos, and executives from Marvel ahead of filming to demonstrate the subtleties Brolin would be able to bring to the character, which helped inform Brolin how to portray the character.[175] Kelly Port, Digital Domain's VFX Supervisor, noted the design of Thanos took into account the versions that appeared in previous films, but were adjusted more toward's Brolin's features, which also helped with matching his performance to the digital character.[180] Weta Digital worked on the fight on Titan, where they also created a separate version of Thanos for their needs. Weta worked on 200 shots of him, along with their 250 other effects shots, that included the Titan environment and the other characters in the fight.[175]

text: Framestore created 253 shots for the film for the New York fight sequence in the first act of the film. Patric Roos, Framestore's VFX Supervisor, called their shots a "mix of full CG shots, plate shots, FX, set extensions, magic spells and a lot of character work". A portion of the fight sequence was shot in Atlanta, before moving to a fully CGI Washington Square Park. Framestore's Capture Lab spent a month in Manhattan and New Jersey shooting photo reference, LIDAR and gigapixel panoramas to capture the environments that had to be recreated digitally, capturing more than 250,000 photos and 15TB of data. For their work on the Black Order members, Framestore spent close to a year developing their models, working with Marvel Studios' visual development team to create animation vignettes to explore each member's personalities and character traits. Framestore also created Iron Man's new suit, the Mark 50, that is made up of singular nanobots which move around his body to form a suit, and was developed alongside Marvel for about two years, and Spider-Man's Iron Spider armor suit.[177] The models and textures for the Iron Spider suit were shared with fellow visual effects vendor Trixer in order for them to implement them in Spider-Man: Homecoming where it was first seen.[181] Framestore also worked on the Black Order's Q-Ship, and Doctor Strange's "Eldritch magic", which was updated from its first appearance in Doctor Strange.[177] Cinesite's work on the interior of the Q-Ship when Ebony Maw interrogates Strange consisted of 215 shots. The company also worked on the small fight between Iron Man, Spider-Man, Strange and the Guardians on the ship, which required full character animation, blaster and web effects, CGI daggers, Star-Lord's mask, Mantis' antennae, and damage to the Q-Ship.[182] The post-credit sequence, the opening scene in Central Park, the scene when Black Panther presents Bucky Barnes with his new arm, interior shots of the Quinjet, and an establishing shot of the planet Vormir were created by Rise, which totaled 26 shots. For the post-credit sequence, Oliver Schulz, Rise's VFX Supervisor, noted the company had done a similar fading effect for a previous commercial project, so those assets were used as a baseline. The company also received digital assets of Cobie Smulders and Samuel L. Jackson from The Winter Soldier for use in the scene. Schulz noted that part of the sequence's difficulty was because "at a later point in the process the decision was made to not move forward with the filmed plate of Nick Fury—instead we would do a camera takeover and switch to a full CG shot. This included a full CG arm crumbling away in close-up together with a full CG environment. Additionally were also the CG close-up pavement and the all CG pager—which reveals the illuminated Captain Marvel Logo at the end."[183]


document_title: Little Shop of Horrors (film)

question_text: what was the name of the plant from little shop of horrors

text: Little Shop of Horrors (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: A three-girl "Greek chorus"—Crystal, Ronnette, and Chiffon—introduce the movie, warning the audience that some horror is coming their way ("Prologue: Little Shop of Horrors"). Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) and his colleague, Audrey (Ellen Greene), work at Mushnik's Flower Shop in a run-down, rough neighborhood in New York City referred to as "Skid Row". They lament that they cannot escape the neighborhood ("Skid Row (Downtown)"). Struggling from a lack of customers, Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia) decides to close the store, but Audrey suggests he may have more success by displaying an unusual plant that Seymour owns. Immediately attracting a customer, Seymour explains he bought the plant, which he dubbed "Audrey II", from a Chinese flower shop during a solar eclipse ("Da-Doo"). Attracting business to Mushnik's shop, the plant soon starts dying, worrying Seymour. Accidentally pricking his finger, he then discovers Audrey II needs human blood to thrive ("Grow for Me").

text: Seymour takes Audrey II and is interviewed on the radio, and Audrey misses the broadcast due to being "hand-cuffed a little" by her sadistic, mean-spirited boyfriend Orin Scrivello (Steve Martin). The three girls suggest Audrey dump Orin and get another man to protect her, like Seymour, but Audrey states she doesn't deserve a nice guy. Despite this, Audrey has feelings for Seymour and secretly dreams of running off with him to the suburbs ("Somewhere That's Green"). Audrey II continues to grow rapidly and Seymour becomes a local celebrity ("Some Fun Now"). Seymour soon attempts to ask Audrey out, but she turns him down because she has a date with her boyfriend, revealed to be a dentist ("Dentist!"). After Seymour closes up shop, Audrey II begins to talk to Seymour, demanding more blood than Seymour can give. The plant proposes that Seymour murder someone in exchange for fame and fortune: Seymour initially refuses, but agrees after witnessing Orin beating Audrey ("Feed Me (Get It)").

text: After Orin finishes with his masochistic patient, Arthur Denton (Bill Murray), who requested "a long, slow, root canal", Seymour books an appointment with Orin and arms himself with a revolver; however, he cannot bring himself to use it. Orin, who abuses nitrous oxide, puts on a type of venturi mask to receive a constant flow of the gas. Accidentally breaking an intake valve and unable to remove the mask, Orin begs Seymour for help removing it, but Seymour does nothing. When Orin asks Seymour what he ever did to him, Seymour coldly replies "Nothing, it's what you did to her." Orin dies from asphyxiation and Seymour drags his body back to Audrey II. While dismembering the body to feed to the plant, Seymour is unknowingly witnessed by Mushnik, who flees in fear.

text: After feeding Orin's parts to Audrey II, which has grown to enormous size, Seymour discovers the police investigating Orin's disappearance. Audrey, feeling guilty about wishing Orin would disappear, is comforted by Seymour and the two admit their feelings for each other ("Suddenly, Seymour"). That night, Mushnik confronts Seymour about what he saw and holds Seymour at gunpoint, threatening to report him to the police. Mushnik then changes his mind, saying that since Seymour was "like a son" to him, he'll allow Seymour to leave town, blackmailing him into giving the plant to Mushnik. With no choice, Seymour steadily backs him towards the plant, which swallows Mushnik whole ("Suppertime").

text: Despite widespread success, Seymour worries about Audrey II's growth and unbridled appetite ("The Meek Shall Inherit"). Offered money and a contract for a botany TV show, Seymour plans to escape Skid Row with Audrey using the money, leaving the plant to starve. After Audrey accepts Seymour's marriage proposal, Audrey II catches Seymour leaving and demands another meal: Seymour agrees, but insists on meat from a butcher. While Seymour is gone, the plant telephones Audrey, coaxes her into the shop, and then tries to eat her, in the process revealing to her that he also ate Orin and Mr. Mushnik. Seymour, returning in time to save Audrey, escapes the store with her. Explaining that he fed the plant to become successful and win Audrey's heart, Seymour discovers she has always loved him. Approached by an executive named Patrick Martin (Jim Belushi) from a botanical company, Seymour is offered a contract to breed Audrey II and sell the saplings worldwide. Horrified by the idea, Seymour drives Martin away and realizes he must destroy Audrey II for the sake of humanity.

text: Returning to the shop, Seymour learns that Audrey II is actually an alien from outer space ("Mean Green Mother from Outer Space"). Audrey II traps Seymour and destroys the shop, but Seymour grabs an exposed electrical cable and electrocutes Audrey II. Leaving the destroyed shop, Seymour safely reunites with Audrey. The two wed and move to the suburbs: as they arrive at their new home, which is the one seen in Audrey's daydreams, a smiling Audrey II bud can be seen among the flowers in their front yard.

text: Original ending[edit]

text: During production, director Oz shot a 23-minute ending based on the off-Broadway musical's ending. However, after audiences at the preview screenings did not react positively to it, the ending had to be rewritten and re-shot for the theatrical release with a "happier ending."[3]

text: In the original ending, when Audrey is attacked by the plant, Seymour pulls her from its jaws but is too late to save her, as she is mortally wounded. As she is dying she tells him what the plant said about Orin and Mushnik, and then Seymour confesses that he fed them to the plant. Audrey requests that Seymour feed her to the plant too so that it will live and Seymour can earn the success he deserves ("Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)"). After fulfilling her dying wish, he attempts suicide by jumping off the roof of a building, only to be stopped by Patrick Martin. Martin offers to reproduce and sell Audrey IIs and has already grown a smaller Audrey II from one of the cuttings that he harvested earlier. He also warns Seymour that his consent is not necessary as plants are considered to be in the public domain. Realizing Audrey II is planning global domination, Seymour climbs down from the roof with the resolution to destroy the plant. Returning to the shop, he confronts and tries to kill Audrey II, who tears down the shop, fishes him from the rubble and eats him alive. The plant then spits out Seymour's glasses and laughs victoriously ("Mean Green Mother from Outer Space)".

text: The three chorus girls appear in front of a large American flag and tell how although Audrey II buds became a worldwide consumer craze, the buds grew into an army of monstrous plants who begin to take over the Earth.[4] Giant Audrey II plants are shown destroying cities, toppling buildings, as well as eating people. The United States Army attempts to fight the buds as they ascend the Statue of Liberty and Audrey II eventually bursts through the movie screen and presumably eats the viewers ("Finale (Don't Feed The Plants)").

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborn, a nerdy florist who loves "strange and interesting" plants. He is nice and well-intentioned, but is easily influenced: the plant, Audrey II, tricks him into feeding it humans.
Ellen Greene as Audrey, a kind, shy, friendly, and awkward coworker who is the object of Seymour's affections, but who is dating the sadistic Orin Scrivello.
Vincent Gardenia as Mr. Mushnik, the grumpy, stingy owner of Mushnik's Flower Shop.
Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello, DDS, a sadistic, nitrous oxide-addicted dentist and Audrey's violent, abusive boyfriend.
Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II, an evil and boisterous flytrap-like extraterrestrial plant with plans to take over the planet.
Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Campbell as Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon, the three mysterious girls who act as a Greek chorus and often provide back-up to the songs throughout the film.
Jim Belushi as Patrick Martin, a Licensing and Marketing executive from World Botanical Enterprises who offers Seymour a proposal to sell Audrey IIs worldwide. Belushi appears in the theatrical release after re-shoots, as actor Paul Dooley (who played Martin in the original ending) was unavailable to reprise his scenes for the re-shoots.
John Candy as Wink Wilkinson, the DJ for WSKID who puts on a radio show about "weird stuff" called "Wink Wilkinson's Weird World".
Christopher Guest as The First Customer, the first customer to enter the flower shop and notice Audrey II.
Bill Murray as Arthur Denton, a hyperactive masochist who visits Orin the dentist for "a long, slow root canal."
Miriam Margolyes as a Dental Nurse, Orin's cynical nurse/secretary who Orin frequently appears to enjoy hurting.
Stanley Jones as the Narrator, whose voice is heard reading the opening words.
Mak Wilson, Danny John-Jules, Danny Cunningham, Gary Palmer, and Paul Swaby as the doo-wop backup singers.
Jim Henson's daughter Heather Henson cameos as one of Orin's patients.
Vincent Wong as the Chinese Florist
Kerry Shale as Life magazine assistant
Audrey II was operated by John Alexander, Anthony Asbury, Don Austen, David Barclay, Michael Barclay, James Barton, Michael Bayliss, Marcus Clarke, Sue Dacre, Graham Fletcher, Brian Henson, Terry Lee, Christopher Leith, Toby Philpott, Mike Quinn, Paul Springer, William Todd-Jones, Ian Tregonnian, Robert Tygner, and Mak Wilson.

tag: ul

text: Musical numbers[edit]

text:
"Prologue: Little Shop of Horrors"– Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
"Skid Row (Downtown)"– Seymour, Audrey, Mushnik, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal, Company
"Da-Doo"– Seymour, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
"Grow for Me"– Seymour, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal (off-screen)
"Somewhere That's Green"– Audrey
"Some Fun Now"– Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
"Dentist!"– Orin, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
"Feed Me (Git It)"– Audrey II, Seymour
"Suddenly, Seymour"– Seymour, Audrey, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
"Suppertime"– Audrey II, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
"The Meek Shall Inherit"– Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal, Company
"Suppertime (Reprise)"– Audrey II, Audrey, Chiffon, Ronette and Crystal (off screen)
"Suddenly, Seymour (Reprise)"– Audrey, Seymour
"Mean Green Mother from Outer Space"– Audrey II, the Pods
"Little Shop of Horrors medley" (end credits)– Company

tag: ol

text:
"Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)"– Audrey, Seymour
"Mean Green Mother from Outer Space"– Audrey II, the Pods
"Finale (Don't Feed the Plants)"– Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal, Company

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: David Geffen was one of the original producers of the off-Broadway show and he began planning to produce a feature film adaptation. Originally Steven Spielberg was to executive produce the film and Martin Scorsese was to direct, but production was stalled when the original film's screenwriter and actor, Charles B. Griffith, filed a lawsuit.[5] Scorsese wanted to shoot the film in 3-D, but plans fell through and Scorsese's first 3-D film would be Hugo 25 years later.[citation needed] John Landis was also attached to the project for a time.[6]

text: Geffen then offered the film to Frank Oz, who was finishing work on The Muppets Take Manhattan around the same time. Oz initially rejected it, but he later had an idea that got him into the cinematic aspect of the project, which he did not figure out before. Oz spent a month and a half to restructure the script which he felt was stage-bound. Geffen and Ashman liked what he had written and decided to go with what he did. Oz was also studying the Off-Broadway show and how it was thematically constructed, all in order to reconstruct it for a feature film.[3]

text: The film differs only slightly from the stage play. The title song is expanded to include an additional verse to allow for more opening credits.[citation needed] The song "Ya Never Know" was re-written into a calypso-style song called "Some Fun Now", although some of the lyrics were retained.[citation needed]  Four other songs ("Closed for Renovation", "Mushnik and Son", "Now (It's Just the Gas)", as well as "Call Back in the Morning") were cut from the original production score. An original song written by Ashman and Menken, "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", was created for the film.

text: Casting[edit]

text: Greene was not the first choice for the role of Audrey. The studio wanted Cyndi Lauper, who turned it down. Barbra Streisand was also rumored to have been offered the part. Since Greene was the original off-Broadway Audrey, the role was given to her. "She's amazing," Oz said. "I couldn't imagine any other Audrey, really. She nailed that part for years off-Broadway."[3] The character of the masochistic dental patient, Arthur Denton, played in the original film by Jack Nicholson under the name "Wilbur Force", and cut from the stage version, was added back to the story and played by Bill Murray, who improvised all of his dialogue. It supposedly took Steve Martin six weeks to film all his scenes as Orin. He contributed ideas such as socking the nurse in the face (originally he was to knock her out using his gas mask) and ripping off the doll head.

text: Filming[edit]

text: All the scenes were filmed at Pinewood Studios in England, making use of every sound stage there, including the 007 Stage. Oz and his crew did not want to shoot on location as it would tamper with the fantastical mood of the film. Part of the giant 007 stage was used to film the 'Suddenly Seymour' number. But because of its size, the stage was impractical to heat properly and thus caused breath condensation to appear from the actor's lips. This was countered by having Ellen Greene and Rick Moranis put ice cubes in their mouths. This would be the first time Moranis and Martin starred in a film together, and they would later appear together in three more films: Parenthood, My Blue Heaven and L.A. Story.

text: As mentioned, additional sequences and songs from the original off-Broadway show were dropped or re-written in order for the feature version to be paced well. The notable change was for the "Meek Shall Inherit" sequence. As originally filmed, it detailed through a dream sequence Seymour's rising success and the need to keep the plant fed and impress Audrey. In the final cut, the dream sequence and much of the song is cut out. Oz said, "I cut that because I felt it just didn't work and that was before the first preview in San Jose. It was the right choice, it didn't really add value to the entire cut."[3] The full version of the song was included on the film's soundtrack album, as were the songs from the original ending. The sequence was deemed to be lost until in 2012 when it was rediscovered on a VHS workprint that contained alternate and extended takes and sequences.[7]

text: Operating the plant[edit]

text: The film's version of Audrey II was an extremely elaborate creation, using puppets designed by Lyle Conway.

text: While developing the mouth of the plant for the dialogue scenes and musical numbers, Oz, Conway and his crew were struggling to figure out how to make the plant move convincingly. "We kept trying and trying and it didn't work."[8] The solution presented itself while reviewing test footage of the puppet. When the film was run backwards or forward at a faster than normal speed, the footage looked much more convincing and lifelike.  They realized they could film the puppet at a slower speed, making it appear to move faster when played back at normal speed. "By slowing it down it looked it was talking real fast. We then went 'holy cow, look at that. We can do it.'"[8] The frame rate for filming the plant was slowed to 12 or 16 frames per second, depending on the scene, and frequent screen cuts were used to minimize the amount of screen time the puppet spent with human actors, and when interaction was totally necessary, the actors (usually Moranis) would pantomime and lip sync in slow motion.[8] The film was then sped up to the normal 24 frames per second and voices were reinserted in post-production. Levi Stubbs' recordings were run through a harmonizer when slowed down so that they were coherent for Moranis or Ellen Greene.

text: There are no blue screens or opticals involved in any of Audrey II's scenes, with the exception of the reshot ending where the plant is electrocuted, designed by Visual Effects supervisor Bran Ferren, and in some shots during the rampage in the original ending. The plant was made in six different stages of growth and there were three different versions of Mushnik's shop, making it possible for two units to work with different sized plants at the same time. Each of the talking plants had to be cleaned, re-painted and patched up at the end of each shooting day, which would take up to three hours depending on the size.  The "Suppertime" number uses two different sizes of Audrey II. When the plant is singing all alone in the shop, it is actually a smaller size: the same size as when it sang "Feed Me", but now standing on a scaled down set to make it look larger. The full size one that is seen to interact with Seymour and Mushnik was not provided with lip movement, but was built to swallow Mushnik's (mechanical) legs. During Audrey II's final stage of growth, 60 technicians were necessary to operate the one-ton puppet.[9]

text: The finale[edit]

text: Oz and Ashman wanted to retain the ending of the musical where Seymour and Audrey die and the plant succeeds and takes over the city of New York, but Geffen was actually against it. "He said you can't do that," Oz recounts. "But again he knew what Howard and I wanted to do, so he supported us."[3] A special effects team skilled in working with miniatures, and Special Visual Effects team, went to great lengths to create the finale. The model department was supervised by Richard Conway, known for his model work on Flash Gordon and Brazil. "It was all model stuff, that was the brilliant thing. He created the bridge, the buildings, several Audrey IIs and created all of it, all on tabletop. It's all old-fashioned, tabletop animation"[3] [although no stop motion animation was used in the film or in the ending]. The Visual Effects work was supervised by Bran Ferren (Altered States).

text: Reportedly the entire planned climax cost about $5 million to produce, and included elaborate special and visual effects.[citation needed] Oz said in an interview, "this was, I think, the most expensive film Warner Bros. had done at the time."[3] As the film was nearing completion, the excited studio set up a test screening in San Jose. Oz said, "For every musical number, there was applause, they loved it, it was just fantastic...  until Rick and Ellen died, and then the theatre became a refrigerator, an ice box. It was awful and the cards were just awful. You have to have a 55 percent "recommend" to really be released and we got a 13. It was a complete disaster." Oz insisted on setting another test screening in L.A. to see if they would get a different reaction. Geffen agreed to this, but they received the same negative reaction as before.[3] Oz later recounted, "I learned a lesson: in a stage play, you kill the leads and they come out for a bow—in a movie, they don't come out for a bow, they're dead. They're gone and so the audience lost the people they loved, as opposed to the theater audience where they knew the two people who played Audrey and Seymour were still alive. They loved those people, and they hated us for it."[10]

text: Oz and Ashman scrapped Audrey and Seymour's grim deaths and the finale rampage, and Ashman rewrote a happier ending, with Jim Belushi replacing Paul Dooley (who was unavailable for the re-shoot) as Patrick Martin. The musical number "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" was left mostly intact from the original cut, with new shots of Audrey observing from a window added in. A brief sequence from the "Mean Green Mother" number was also removed in which Seymour fires his revolver at Audrey II, only to discover that the bullets ricochet harmlessly off of the plant. In the happy ending, Audrey II is destroyed and Seymour, Audrey, and humanity survive. This happy ending is made somewhat ambiguous, however, with a final shot of a smiling Audrey II bud in Seymour and Audrey's front yard. Tisha Campbell was unavailable for the final appearance of the chorus girls in the yard and was replaced with a lookalike seen only from the waist down.[8]

text: "We had to do it," Oz recounted. "[and do it] in such a manner that the audience would enjoy the movie. It was very dissatisfying for both of us that we couldn't do what we wanted. So creatively, no, it didn't satisfy us and being true to the story. But we also understood the realities that they couldn't release the movie if we had that ending."[3] "We had to take [the workprint] apart, and we never made a dupe of [the original ending]." At the time, the only copies of it that were made to be viewed were VHS workprint tapes given to few crew members.[11] The scene in which Seymour proposes to Audrey originally contained the reprise of "Suddenly, Seymour". This scene was re-shot and the reprise was placed later in the new ending.[8] In the final theatrical cut, the only miniatures that are retained are the New York City streets passing behind Steve Martin's motorcycle ride at the beginning of "Dentist!"[8] "When we did re-shoot the ending, the crowd reaction went over 50 percent in our favor. Before it was a point where they hated it so much, Warner probably wouldn't even release the movie," Oz said.[11]

text: Release[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Little Shop of Horrors, after a delay needed to complete the revised ending, was released on December 19, 1986 and was anticipated to do strong business over the 1986 holiday season.[12] The film grossed $39 million at the box office,[13] which, from the viewpoint of the studio, was considered an underperformer. However, it became a smash hit upon its home video release in 1987 on VHS and Beta.

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively collected reviews to give it a score of 90% based on reviews from 48 critics, the general consensus states: "Remixing Roger Corman's B-movie by way of the Off-Broadway musical, Little Shop of Horrors offers camp, horror and catchy tunes in equal measure—plus some inspired cameos by the likes of Steve Martin and Bill Murray."[14] On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film has an 81% rating based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim" (14 positive reviews, 1 mixed, and no negative).[15] Richard Corliss of Time magazine said, "You can try not liking this adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical hit -- it has no polish and a pushy way with a gag -- but the movie sneaks up on you, about as subtly as Audrey II."[16]

text: In The New York Times, Janet Maslin called it "a full-blown movie musical, and quite a winning one".[17] Roger Ebert said in his review: "All of the wonders of Little Shop of Horrors are accomplished with an offhand, casual charm. This is the kind of movie that cults are made of, and after Little Shop finishes its first run, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it develop as one of those movies that fans want to include in their lives".[18] Oz's friend and Muppet colleague Jim Henson praised the film and said "the lip sync on the plant in that film is just absolutely amazing".[11]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The film was also nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Visual Effects (Lyle Conway, Bran Ferren, Martin Gutteridge), the other for Best Original Song (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman) for Audrey II's new number, "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space". "Mean Green" was the first Oscar-nominated song to contain profanity in the lyrics and thus had to be slightly censored for the show. It's also the first of only two songs sung by a villain to be nominated, the other being "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (which also featured profanity). "Mean Green" lost to "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun. It was also nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical (losing to Hannah and Her Sisters) and Best Original Score (Miles Goodman) during the 44th Golden Globe Awards. The Score went to Ennio Morricone for The Mission.

text: Home media[edit]

text: Little Shop of Horrors was the first DVD to be recalled for content.[4] In 1998, Warner Bros. released a special edition DVD that contained approximately 23 minutes of unfinished footage from Oz's original ending, although it was in black and white and was missing some sound, visual and special effects.[citation needed] Producer and rights owner David Geffen was not aware of this release until it made it to the stores. Geffen said, "They put out a black-and-white, un-scored, un-dubbed video copy of the original ending that looked like shit." As a result, the studio removed it from shelves in a matter of days and replaced it with a second edition that did not contain the extra material. Geffen wanted to theatrically re-release the film with the original ending intact.[19] Geffen also claimed to have a color copy of the original ending, while the studio had lower quality, black and white duplicates as their own color print was destroyed in a studio fire years earlier. But Geffen had not known, until after the DVD was pulled, that the studio did not know there was a colored copy of the original ending in existence.[3]

text: In November 2011, Oz held a Q&A session at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens during a Henson-themed exhibit. During the talk, he announced that the film would be released as a new special edition with the original ending restored.[20] Warner Bros. reconstructed and restored the ending in an alternate edit, with re-discovered color negatives of the sequence and the help of production notes from Oz and others on the film's creative team. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 9, 2012 with features returning from the original DVD.[21] It was initially subtitled as "The Intended Cut",[22] but changed to "The Director's Cut" once Oz began to support the release. The new edit was screened at the 50th New York Film Festival in the "Masterwork" line-up on September 29, 2012, alongside titles such as Laurence Olivier's Richard III and Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate.[23] Oz worried that the audience would react negatively at the 2012 screening; however, "the audience accepted Audrey and Seymour's deaths with applause and roared in glee during the plant rampage," says Oz.