Plot
Tessa Young begins her freshman year of college by moving into her dorm room with the help of her mother, Carol, and her boyfriend, Noah. During this process she meets her new roommate Steph and Steph's girlfriend Tristan. The day after, Tessa shares a brief encounter with Steph's friend, Hardin Scott. The following day Steph persuades Tessa to attend a party where she meets Steph's other friends: Zed, Molly, and Jace, and meets Hardin for the second time. The group play truth or dare, which reveals Tessa's virginity; she is dared to kiss Hardin but refuses. Later on at the party Hardin attempts to kiss Tessa, but she rejects his advances and leaves.
Cast
Josephine Langford as Tessa Young
Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Hardin Scott
Selma Blair as Carol Young
Inanna Sarkis as Molly Samuels
Shane Paul McGhie as Landon Gibson
Khadijha Red Thunder as Steph Jones
Pia Mia as Tristan
Samuel Larsen as Zed Evans
Dylan Arnold as Noah Porter
Jennifer Beals as Karen Scott
Peter Gallagher as Ken Scott
Casting
On May 8, 2018, Julia Goldani Telles and Hero Fiennes Tiffin were cast in the main roles of Tessa Young and Hardin Scott respectively. The actors were selected by the production team, including Todd herself, who was present at the castings and contributed to the casting decisions.In July 2018, Telles announced her exit from the film due to scheduling conflicts. In the same month, Josephine Langford was announced to play Tessa Young. Todd would later state that once she saw Langford, she "knew right away that was Tessa."Pia Mia was cast in the role of Tristan, a previously male character in the books.
Development
In 2013, author Anna Todd posted the first chapters of a fanfiction titled After on fanfiction- and fiction-publishing website Wattpad. The fanfiction's original storyline was based on the boyband One Direction, and featured the band's members Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, portrayed as students at Washington State University. The story followed Tessa Young, an "innocent good girl" who becomes involved in a relationship with "bad boy" Styles.
Within a month of publishing the first chapters, the story had acquired 544 million reads; Todd later landed a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish novelizations of the series, with the lead male character's name changed to Hardin Scott;the novels were subsequently released in 2014. The books gained media attention and became New York Times bestsellers.
Filming
Principal photography was due to begin in June 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. In early July, producer Jennifer Gibgot stated that shooting would begin on July 16, 2018, in Atlanta, Georgia shortly after Langford had been cast as Tessa.Principal photography was mainly conducted at Emory University, and production was completed on August 24 of the same year.
Box office
After grossed $12.1 million in the United States and Canada and $57.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $69.7 million against a production budget of $14 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Hellboy, Little and Missing Link, and was projected to gross $3–12 million from 2,138 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $2.9 million on its first day, including $550,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6 million, finishing eighth at the box office. In its second weekend, the film dropped 58% to $2.5 million, finishing 11th.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 18% based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Tepid and tired, After's fun flourishes are let down by its generic story." The film has a weighted average of 30 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."
Critics found the screenplay at fault, with Owen Gleiberman of Variety writing that After was an "innocuous teen pulp soap opera that flirts with 'danger' but, in fact, keeps surprising you with how mild and safe and predictable it turns out to be."John Fink of The Film Stage echoed this sentiment, commenting that "the talented cast is burdened by a dead on arrival screenplay that waters down what could have been an intoxicating tale of first love," though he noted the film was "beautifully shot" and "occasionally aesthetically pleasing."
Accolades
After won the 2019 Teen Choice Award in the category Choice Drama Movie and the 2019 E! People's Choice Award in the category The Drama Movie of 2019.
After-America is a 2019 romantic drama film directed by Jenny Gage and based on Anna Todd's 2014 novel of the same name. The screenplay is written by Susan McMartin, Tamara Honest and Jenny Gage. The film stars Josephine Langford and Tiffin Fiennes' Hero, as well as an inexperienced teenage girl who begins an affair with a mysterious student in her early months of college. Starring Selma Blair, Inanna Sarkis, Shane Paul McGee, Pia Mia, Khadija Red Thunder, Dylan Arnold, Samuel Larsen, Jennifer Bilsey Peter Gallagher.
AnneAnne Jacqueline Hathaway Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award", a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, and was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2015. Her films have grossed over $6.8 billion worldwide, and she appeared on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2009.
Hathaway graduated from Millburn High School in New Jersey, where she performed in several plays. As a teenager, she was cast in the television series Get Real (1999–2000) and made her breakthrough as the protagonist in her debut film, the Disney comedy The Princess Diaries" (2001). Hathaway made a transition to adult roles with the 2005 dramas Havoc and Brokeback Mountain". The comedy-drama The Devil Wears Prada (2006), in which she played an assistant to a fashion magazine editor, was her biggest commercial success to that point. She played a recovering addict with a mental illness in the drama Rachel Getting Married (2008), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She went on to star in the commercially successful romances Bride Wars" (2009), Valentine's Day (2010) and Love & Other Drugs (2010), and the fantasy film Alice in Wonderland" (2010).
In 2012, Hathaway starred as Selina Kyle in her highest-grossing film The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment in The Dark Knight". Also that year, she played Fantine, a prostitute dying of tuberculosis, in the musical romantic drama Les Misérables, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She then played a scientist in the science fiction film Interstellar (2014), the owner of an online fashion site in the comedy The Intern (2015), a haughty actress in the heist film Ocean's 8 (2018) and a con artist in the comedy The Hustle" (2019).
In addition to film roles, Hathaway has won a Primetime Emmy Award for her voice role in the sitcom The Simpsons, sung for soundtracks, appeared on stage, and hosted events. She supports several charitable causes. She is a board member of the Lollipop Theatre Network, an organization that brings films to children in hospitals, and advocates for gender equality as a UN Womengoodwill ambassador. Married to actor and businessman Adam Shulman, she has two sons with him.
Early life and background
Anne "Annie" Jacqueline Hathaway was born on November 12, 1982, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Her father Gerald is a labor attorney, and her mother Kate (née McCauley) is a former actress. Hathaway's maternal grandfather was WIP (AM) Philadelphia radio personality Joe McCauley. Her mother is of Irish descent, and her father has Irish, French, English, and German ancestry. She was named after Shakespeare's wife. She is the second of three children, following brother Michael and preceding brother Thomas. When she was six, her family moved to the Short Hills area of Millburn, New Jersey, where she was raised.
Entrance to the theater Paper Mill Playhouse with the poster to a play outside it
Paper Mill Playhouse where Hathaway appeared in several productions as a child
At age six, when Hathaway watched her mother perform in Les Misérables as Fantine, she instantly became fascinated with the stage, but her parents were not keen on allowing her to pursue an acting career. After this, Kate quit acting to raise Hathaway and her brothers. Hathaway was raised as Roman Catholic with what she considers "really strong values" and stated that she wished to be a nun during her childhood, but acting was always a high priority for her. Her relationship with the Catholic Church changed at age fifteen, after learning that her older brother, Michael, was gay. Her family left the church, converting to Episcopalianism because of its acceptance of homosexuality, but left that too. In 2009, Hathaway described her religious beliefs as "a work in progress".
Hathaway attended Brooklyn Heights Montessori School and Wyoming Elementary School in Millburn.She graduated from Millburn High School, where she played soccer and took part in many plays, including Once Upon a Mattress, in which she portrayed Winnifred. Later, she appeared in other plays like Jane Eyre and Gigi, at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1993 and became the first teenager admitted into the Barrow Group Theater Company's acting program. She spent several semesters studying as an English major and political science minor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, before transferring to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She has stated that she would have become either an English teacher or psychologist if she were not acting.
Between 1998 and 1999, Hathaway sang soprano with the All-Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus at Carnegie Hall and in plays at Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, New Jersey. At the start of her film career, her acting style and beauty were compared to Judy Garland—whom she cites as one of her favorite actresses—and Audrey Hepburn. Three days after her performance at Carnegie Hall, Hathaway was cast in the short-lived Fox television series Get Real. She played the teenager Meghan Green alongside Jon Tenney, Debrah Farentino and Jesse Eisenberg. Despite her early success, Hathaway suffered from depression and anxiety as a teenager; she said in 2008 she had since grown from it. She missed her first college semester for the filming of her cinematic debut The Princess Diaries (2001). She says she never regretted not finishing her degree, as she enjoyed being with others who "were trying to grow up".
Career
2001–2004: Early roles and breakthrough
The comedy The Princess Diaries and the adventure drama The Other Side of Heaven, both 2001 Disney films, featured Hathaway in lead roles. Based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name, the former follows teenage Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway) who discovers that she is the heiress to the throne of the fictional Kingdom of Genovia. Hathaway auditioned for the role during a flight layover on the way to New Zealand. Garry Marshall, the film's director, initially considered Liv Tyler for the role, but cast Hathaway after his granddaughters suggested that she had the best "princess" hair. The film became a major commercial success, grossing $165 million worldwide. Many critics praised Hathaway's performance; a BBC critic noted that "Hathaway shines in the title role and generates great chemistry" and The New York Times' Elvis Mitchell found her to be "royalty in the making, a young comic talent with a scramble of features". She earned an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Female Performance nomination for the role. Hathaway starred with Christopher Gorham in Mitch Davis's The Other Side of Heaven. Inspired by John H. Groberg's memoir In the Eye of the Storm, the film met with mostly negative reviews and was a box-office failure.
"In terms of the princess role, there is only so long that you can play those as a young lady before you start feeling really ridiculous. They are so much fun to do, I figure I might as well get the most out of them while I can. Then go off and play all the drug addicts and the prostitutes, and all the good ones you win Oscars for a little bit later on."
—Hathaway, 2004
Owing to the success of The Princess Diaries, People magazine named Hathaway one of its breakthrough stars of 2001.[31] In February 2002, Hathaway starred in the City Center Encores! concert production of Carnival! in her New York City stage debut. She played Lili, an optimistic orphan who falls in love with a magician. Before rehearsing with the full cast, Hathaway trained with a vocal coach for two weeks. She memorized almost all her lines and songs at the first read-through. Critics generally praised her for holding her own against well-known actors and heralded her as a new star. In a positive review for the musical, Charles Isherwood of Variety called Hathaway the highlight of the show and "remarkably unaffected and winning", praising her convincing performance. She won a Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Female. Later, Hathaway voiced the audiobook release of the first three books in The Princess Diaries novels.
Hathaway portrayed princesses and appeared in family-oriented films over the next three years, subsequently becoming known in mainstream media as a children's role model. After voicing Haru Yoshioka for the English version of The Cat Returns (2002), she starred in Douglas McGrath's comedy-drama Nicholas Nickleby (2002), which opened to positive reviews. However, the film did not enter wide release and failed at the North American box office, totaling less than $4 million in ticket sales. The fantasy romantic comedy film Ella Enchanted (2004), in which Hathaway played the titular character, also performed poorly at the box office. She first read the book on which the film is based when she was 16, and stated that the script was originally much closer to the book, but did not work as a film, and therefore prefers the film the way it became.The film opened to mostly mixed reviews. Hathaway sang three songs on the film's soundtrack, including a duet with singer Jesse McCartney.
In 2003, Hathaway turned down the role for Joel Schumacher's The Phantom of the Opera (2004), because the production schedule of the film overlapped with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). She was initially hesitant and nervous about starring in the sequel, but agreed to it after Marshall convinced her that she was not repeating anything. The film was released in August 2004 to negative reviews, but made $95.1 million against a $40 million budget.
2005–2008: Transition to adult roles and critical recognition
In a 2008 article, Hathaway stated that "anybody who was a role model for children needs a reprieve", but noted that "it's lovely to think that my audience is growing up with me". To avoid typecasting, she began taking on adult roles.[31] After replacing Tara Strong for the voice role of Red Puckett in Hoodwinked! (2005), she starred in the drama Havoc (2005) as a spoiled socialite, appearing nude in some of its scenes. Although the film was thematically different from her previous releases, Hathaway denied that her role was an attempt to be seen as a more mature actress, citing her belief that doing nudity in certain films is merely a part of what her chosen form of art demands of her; because of that belief she does not consider appearing nude in appropriate films to be morally objectionable. The film was not released in theaters in the United States due to unfavorable critical reception.
Hathaway starred opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Ang Lee's drama Brokeback Mountain (2005). The film depicts the emotional and sexual relationship between two married men, Ennis (Ledger) and Jack (Gyllenhaal); she played Jack's wife. Hathaway was originally sent the script with the role of Alma, Ennis' wife, but decided to audition for Lureen once she read the screenplay. During her audition, she lied to Lee about her knowledge of horseback riding so he would cast her, but she did subsequently take lessons. The film received critical acclaim and several Academy Award nominations. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone believed that Hathaway "excels at showing Lureen's journey from cutie-pie to hard case", and Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that she "provides an entertaining contrast in wifely disappointment". Hathaway later stated that the content of the film was more important than its award count, and that making it made her more aware of the kind of stories she wanted to tell as an actress. At that point, she realized that she wanted to play roles to move audiences or otherwise entertain them so much that they forget about their own lives.
A picture of Anne Hathaway looking into the camera.
Hathaway at the 2007 Deauville American Film Festival
In 2006, Hathaway starred in David Frankel's comedy The Devil Wears Prada. Based on Lauren Weisberger's novel of the same name, the film featured her as Andrea "Andy" Sachs, a college graduate who lands a job as co-assistant to the powerful fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep). Hathaway said she was "the ninth choice" for the role of Andy, citing this as an inspiration for people to never give up. To prepare for the part, she volunteered for a few weeks as an assistant at an auction house. She said that working on the film made her respect the fashion industry a great deal more than she did previously, though she admitted that her personal style was something she "still can't get right". She and co-star Emily Blunt got so hungry on their weight-loss regimen for the film it made them cry. The Devil Wears Prada received positive reviews; Roger Ebert called Hathaway "a great beauty [...] who makes a convincing career girl" and Rotten Tomatoes found "Streep in top form and Anne Hathaway more than holding her own". The film became her biggest commercial success to that point, grossing more than $326.5 million worldwide.
Hathaway was cast in Knocked Up, but dropped out before filming began and was replaced by Katherine Heigl. According to writer-director Judd Apatow, this happened because Hathaway was uncomfortable with the use of real footage of a woman giving birth; she believed it did not contribute to the film's story. Her sole release of 2007 was the biographical romantic drama Becoming Jane, as the titular English author Jane Austen. A fan of Austen since she was fourteen, Hathaway prepared for the role by rereading Austen's books and conducting historical research, such as perusing the author's letters; she also learned sign language, calligraphy, dance choreography, and the piano. She moved to England a month before production began to improve her English accent. She received a British Independent Film Award for Best Actress nomination for the film, although some critics negatively focused on her accent and performance,
In October 2008, Hathaway hosted an episode of the NBC late-night sketch comedy Saturday Night Live. She also starred in Peter Segal's film adaptation of Mel Brooks' television series Get Smart, in which she played Agent 99. Considering the role to be "a childhood dream come true", Hathaway learned martial arts and dancing techniques in preparation. While filming an action sequence, she split the flesh of her shin to the bone, which led to her receiving fifteen stitches. The film, centering on an analyst who dreams of becoming a real field agent and a better spy, was a financial success. Her following release, the mystery thriller Passengers alongside Patrick Wilson, was a critical and commercial failure. Hathaway then starred in Jonathan Demme's drama Rachel Getting Married as Kym, a young woman who, after being released from drug rehabilitation, returns home for her sister's wedding. She described her character as "narcissistic—downright selfish". Rachel Getting Married premiered at the 2008 Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, and Hathaway was widely acclaimed for her performance. Peter Travers found her to be "raw and riveting as Kym", adding that she "acts the hell out of it, achieving a state of sorrowful grace". She received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress.
2009–2011: Romantic comedies and hosting events
Hathaway starred in Bride Wars (2009), which she described as "hideously commercial—gloriously so". The romantic comedy, in which she and Kate Hudson played two best friends who become rivals after their weddings are scheduled on the same day, was a critical failure; it was named among the ten worst chick flicks in history by Time in 2010. Despite this, the film was successful financially and earned Hathaway an MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance nomination. She played the heroine Viola in a summer 2009 production of Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater in New York City. Charles Isherwood opined that Hathaway "dives smoothly and with obvious pleasure into the embrace of a cohesive ensemble cast". For her portrayal of the role, she garnered a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. In 2010, she also won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for providing her voice for the episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" in The Simpsons. Hathaway voiced different characters in Family Guy in 2010 and 2011.
A bust shot of a young woman standing in a side view, her head turned to look to the camera. Her long hair is pulled back from her face and cascades down her back. She wears a black sleeveless dress with a gold trim around the back and under her arm. She wears jeweled silver floral shaped earrings and smiles softly. There is a crowd of people, slightly out of focus, in the background.
Hathaway at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2010, which she hosted with actor Denzel Washington
In 2010, Hathaway appeared as a receptionist who dates a clerk (played by Topher Grace) in the ensemble romantic comedy Valentine's Day, directed by Garry Marshall. The film was a commercial success, grossing more than $215 million worldwide against a budget of $52 million. Hathaway played the White Queen in Tim Burton's 2010 adaptation of the fantasy novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass alongside Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp. She summed up her character with a caption on a magnet of Happy Bunny holding a knife; "Cute but psycho. Things even out." Hathaway described her interpretation of the White Queen as "a punk-rock vegan pacifist", drawing inspiration from Debbie Harry and the artwork of Dan Flavin. Alice in Wonderland received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the film's visuals but criticized the lack of narrative coherence. Commercially, it grossed $1 billion to become the second highest-grossing film of 2010.
Hathaway reunited with Jake Gyllenhaal as a free-spirited artist suffering from Parkinson's disease in Edward Zwick's erotic romantic comedy-drama Love & Other Drugs, based on the nonfiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy. For the role, she spent time with a Parkinson's patient to research the disease. Preparing for the film's nude scenes, she watched the films of Kate Winslet and Penélope Cruz who, in Hathaway's view, have done nudity with sensitivity and dignity. She believed these scenes would not discourage socially conservative people from watching the film. Critics generally praised the film's adult romance, but were unenthusiastic about its plot elements. Hathaway's performance, which Ebert called "warm, lovable", earned her a Satellite Award and a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Comedy or Musical. Together with actor Denzel Washington, Hathaway hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway in December 2010.[91] Two months later, she and James Franco hosted the 83rd Academy Awards. Critics were unenthusiastic about their chemistry, but thought Hathaway gave her best and did a better job than Franco, who they felt seemed uninterested. At the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, she garnered an Outstanding Variety Special (Live) nomination.
In 2011, Hathaway voiced Jewel, a female Spix's macaw from Rio de Janeiro, in the animated film Rio, produced by 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios. The film received generally positive reviews from film critics, who praised the visuals, voice acting and music. A commercial success, it grossed more than $484 million worldwide against a budget of $90 million. Later, Hathaway starred alongside Jim Sturgess in Lone Scherfig's One Day, based on David Nicholls' 2009 novel of the same name. The film tells the story of two young people who meet twenty years after they shared a one-night stand together. Hathaway was clandestinely given the script, as One Day was set in the UK, and Scherfig was not looking for any American actresses for the part. After a nonproductive meeting with Scherfig, Hathaway left a list of songs for her, who after listening to them, cast the actress for the part. In an interview with Peter Travers, Hathaway said she might have inadvertently encouraged misogyny as she did not trust Scherfig as a director, which she felt was because of her gender. Hathaway's Yorkshire accent in the film was considered subpar. Columnist Suzanne Moore, reviewing the film on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, said Hathaway's accents were "all over the shop", adding, "Sometimes she's from Scotland, sometimes she's from New York, you just can't tell". The film itself received polarized reviews from critics, but became a moderate box office success.
2012–2014: Les Misérables and blockbuster films
In 2012, Hathaway's audiobook recording of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was released at Audible.com and garnered her a nomination for an Audie Award for Best Solo Narration – Female. Later in 2012, she played sly, morally ambiguous cat burglar Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan's final installment in The Dark Knight trilogy. Hathaway auditioned not knowing what role she was being considered for, admitting that she had one character in mind but only learned her role after talking with Nolan for an hour. She described it as the most physically demanding role she had ever played, as she had to redouble her efforts in the gym to keep up with the requirements of the part. She trained extensively in martial arts, and looked to Hedy Lamarr in developing her role as Catwoman. The Dark Knight Rises received a positive critical response and grossed more than $1.085 billion worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2012. Jim Vejvoda of IGN wrote of her "magnetic presence", adding, "Hathaway imbues her [character] with a wounded spirit and a survivor's edge that makes her feel genuine and sympathetic". She won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
Hathaway portrayed Fantine, a prostitute dying of tuberculosis, in Tom Hooper's Les Misérables, a film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name. Footage of the actress singing "I Dreamed a Dream", a song from the film, was shown at CinemaCon in April 2012; Hooper described her singing as "raw" and "real". In preparation for the role, Hathaway consumed fewer than 500 calories a day to lose 25 pounds (11 kg), researched prostitution and cut her hair. To get into her character's mental space alone during filming in London, she sent her husband back to the United States; this resulted in her becoming increasingly temperamental. Christopher Orr of The Atlantic wrote that "Hathaway gives it everything she has, beginning in quiet sorrow before building to a woebegone climax: she gasps, she weeps, she coughs." Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post asserted that "the centerpiece of a movie composed entirely of centerpieces belongs to Anne Hathaway, who as the tragic heroine Fantine sings another of the memorable numbers". For the film, Hathaway won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. Asked if she was pleased with her performance in the film, Hathaway expressed doubts, replying with "Eh". In January 2013, Hathaway's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" reached number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A short-haired brunette, wearing a black dress, is smiling to her left
Hathaway at a screening of Rio 2 in 2014
After briefly appearing in the romantic comedy Don Jon (2013), Hathaway starred in and co-produced (with her husband and others) Song One. In the drama film, she played an anthropology student who returns home to see her injured brother, Henry (played by Ben Rosenfield), and soon begins a romantic relationship with his favorite musician, James Forester (played by Johnny Flynn). Her character was initially written as being a 19-year-old, but Kate Barker-Froyland, the film's writer and director, changed the part to that of an older woman after casting Hathaway. The actress said the reason she decided to produce the film was because of its depiction of the healing power of music and second chances. For the film's soundtrack, she provided her voice for the song "Afraid of Heights". Song One premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 30th Sundance Film Festival in January 2014, and released in theaters the following year to mixed reviews from critics. Commercially, the film failed to recoup its $6 million investment.
Hathaway reprised her role as Jewel in the animated film Rio 2—her third film with Jamie Foxx—which was released in 2014. It grossed about five times more than its $103 million budget. Her sole live-action release of 2014 was Christopher Nolan's epic science fiction film Interstellar. She was cast as Dr. Amelia Brand, a NASA scientist and astronaut. Set in a dystopian future where humanity is struggling to survive, the film follows a group of astronauts who travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity. With a budget of $165 million, the high-profile production, co-starring Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain, was filmed mostly using IMAX cameras. Hathaway was drawn to her character's growth from an arrogant to a humbler person. She almost suffered from hypothermia while filming a water scene in Iceland, because the dry suit she was wearing had not been properly secured. Reviewers for The Independent and Empire, respectively, found her to be "affecting" in her role as a scientist unable to decide between her professional responsibilities and her feelings, and credited her for playing the part with "soulful nuance". Interstellar grossed over $701 million worldwide, and earned Hathaway a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actress.
2015–present: Comedic roles
Hathaway began 2015 with an appearance in the first season of the musical reality show Lip Sync Battle. In the episode, she competed against her The Devil Wears Prada co-star Emily Blunt; she lip synced "Love" by Mary J. Blige and "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus. Nancy Meyers' The Intern was Hathaway's sole film release of 2015. It tells the story of Ben Whittaker (played by Robert De Niro), a seventy-year-old widower who becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site run by Hathaway's character, Jules Ostin. She had aspired to work with De Niro and Meyers, her favorite actor and director, respectively; impressed with the film's story, she auditioned for the third time for a Meyers film. Reviews of the film were generally positive; one in Ebert's website found her to be "extremely appealing" and a reviewer for New York magazine wrote, "The Intern gets off on De Niro's amiability and Hathaway's sweet energy". The film grossed $194 million worldwide against a $35 million budget. The 2015 found footage horror movie Be My Cat: A Film for Anne, about an aspiring Romanian filmmaker who goes to shocking extremes to convince Hathaway to star in his film, was officially selected and had its North American premiere in April 2016 at the Nashville Film Festival.
Hathaway at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival
Hathaway reprised the role of the White Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass, the 2016 sequel to Alice in Wonderland. That March, it was reported that she would reprise her role for The Princess Diaries 3; the project was shelved after the death of Garry Marshall, who was set to direct the film. Hathaway is one of several actors featured on Barbra Streisand's 2016 album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. Along with Daisy Ridley, Hathaway and Streisand performed the song "At The Ballet" from A Chorus Line; she played the role of Maggie, one of a trio of dancers hoping to be cast in an upcoming show. Her final film that year was alongside Jason Sudeikis in Nacho Vigalondo's science fiction black comedy Colossal (2016). Playing an unemployed young writer, Hathaway was the first actress to sign on at a time when the project had no financial backing. She found herself attracted to the genre-hopping nature of the script, later comparing it to Being John Malkovich (1999), one of her favorite films. The film received positive reviews from critics, but earned only $4 million at the box office.
After a two-year absence from the screen, Hathaway starred as a famous actress in the all-female spin-off of the Ocean's Eleven franchise, Ocean's 8, directed by Gary Ross. Co-starring Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett, the film follows a group of criminals who plan to rob the Met Gala. Hathaway found it fun playing someone with an immense ego and saw the role as an opportunity "to lean into all the ridiculous fame nonsense that I've been trying to side-step for all of these years." She hoped that the film would be profitable so that it could debunk claims that female-led films do not succeed commercially. Many critics felt Hathaway's performance overshadowed those of her co-stars; ABC Online's Jason Di Rosso stated that she "shines in [a] disappointing" spin-off, adding that "the film's best moments belong to Hathaway as the anxiety-ridden, vain and capricious starlet. She's the only successful meld of comedy and pathos—a victim of the celebrity treadmill who is also capable of outsmarting it." Ocean's 8 was a box office success, grossing over $297 million worldwide against a $70 million budget.
Hathaway's first two films of 2019—the thriller Serenity and the comedy The Hustle—were poorly received by critics. In the former, she starred alongside Matthew McConaughey as a woman who tasks her ex-husband to kill her new abusive husband, a role for which she dyed her hair blonde. The Washington Post criticized her performance as "cartoonish", writing that her femme fatale character was reminiscent of "a kind of live-action Jessica Rabbit". The latter film was a remake of the 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, co-starring Rebel Wilson, which emerged as a sleeper hit. Hathaway next played a woman with bipolar disorder in an episode of the Amazon Prime Video romantic anthology series Modern Love. She then played the wife of Mark Ruffalo's character in Todd Haynes's legal drama Dark Waters, about environmental poisoning done by the chemical company DuPont. Writing for Variety, Owen Gleiberman termed her supporting performance "a piercing dance of agony and loyalty".
Hathaway began the new decade with the political thriller The Last Thing He Wanted (2020), based on the book of the same name by Joan Didion. She considered herself to be an unlikely choice for the part of a headstrong journalist, as it differed from her own "puppy dog" personality. It received negative reviews from critics She then starred in The Witches (2020), an adaptation of the novel of the same name from director Robert Zemeckis, in which she played a powerful and evil witch. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized its writing, tone and deemed it inferior to Roeg's film but Hathaway's performance got positive feedback. Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus reads: "The Witches misses a few spells, but Anne Hathaway's game performance might be enough to bewitch fans of this Roald Dahl tale." In 2021, she starred in the romantic comedy heist film, Locked Down (2021) directed by Doug Liman, which directly premiered on HBO Max. The film is set over a few days during the first month of the pandemic and the heart of it unfolds in a townhouse on Great Portland Street in West London, where Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, as a veteran couple, hang out, thrash around, bounce off the walls, and spill their guts, all as a way of trying to avoid cracking up under the strain of forced confinement. Then she played one of the lead in Amazon Prime's starry anthology series Solos (2021),The series allows eight performers to play in a near future with advancing technology, where they're tasked with delivering monologues that range from decent to extremely clunky.
Upcoming projects
Hathaway will play a leading role in a film based on the Sesame Street franchise. She will also star in an adaptation of Pamela Druckerman's book Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. In June 2020, Variety confirmed that Hathaway will star in James Gray's multi-starrer period drama Armageddon Time. Hathaway will team up with Jessica Chastain to star in the psychological thriller Mothers’ Instinct, film is based on the novel Derrière la Haine by novelist Barbara Abel. She have also signed on to star in Apple's scripted WeWork project titled WeCrashed opposite Jared Leto, based on the Wondery podcast of the same name and in Rebecca Miller's romantic comedy She Came to Me alongside Tahar Rahim, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig and Matthew Broderick. In June 2021, it was confirmed that Hathaway will star in Amazon Studios and Welle Entertainment's co-production based on Robinne Lee novel The Idea Of You.
Public image
Hathaway signing autographs for fans at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Describing Hathaway's off-screen persona, John Hiscock of The Daily Telegraph wrote in 2014 that she was a "well-grounded, friendly young woman with a good sense of humour, a wide smile and an easy-going attitude". He opined that, despite considerable success, she has never "gone Hollywood", staying close to her friends. The authors of the book 365 Style noted Hathaway's girl next door image, and her The Intern director Nancy Meyers says she is "wise beyond her years". The journalist Laura Brown found her to be a "sincere", "warm and funny" woman. After her 2013 Golden Globe acceptance speech for Les Misérables, some members of the media began to dismiss her as "too-actress-y, over-eager" and inauthentic. Discussing that, Hathaway said in 2014 that she felt anxious when public speaking but has since grown from it and become a more compassionate person. Regarding her perceived image, she says, "People have this idea of me as just being a very prim, professional girl, which I suppose I am, but I do cut loose and have fun in my life".
Remarking upon her performance in Twelfth Night, Charles Isherwood wrote, "on screen or onstage Ms. Hathaway possesses the unmistakable glow of a natural star". An Esquire writer believes that many of her good performances have been overlooked, describing her career as "subtle brilliance that has largely gone unnoticed". Discussing her career in 2015, Hathaway said that after her breakthrough in The Princess Diaries, she struggled to find serious roles or ones that were not about princesses. According to Judi Gugliemli of People, Hathaway used that fear of being typecast as motivation to build a versatile body of work. Gugliemli believed that her ability to extensively research her roles is the key to her success. A writer for The Daily Telegraph commended her willingness to appear in different genres, ranging from action comedies to dramas. Hathaway aspires to appear in many different films, work with different directors and play diverse roles. She said she would be "lost" without acting and feels lucky to have found it as her profession. A trained stage actress, she prefers performing on stage to film roles and claims to be terrified of acting on camera. "I always assume that every film is my last, and I always assume that I have to go out and convince everybody why they have to hire me. I still audition," she said.
Forbes reported that Hathaway was one of the world's highest-paid actresses in 2015, and since 2017, she has been among the highest-grossing actresses of the 21st century. In 2009, she was included on Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 list with earnings of $7 million, and was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Analyzing her earnings in 2010, the magazine included her in Hollywood's Best Actors for the Buck, the highest return profit among actresses. As of July 2018, her films have grossed $6.7 billion worldwide. Profiled as among the world's leading actresses by Vanity Fair, Hathaway, according to Catherine Elsworth of The Daily Telegraph, is pursued both by directors and by cosmetics companies. In January 2008, she joined French luxury perfumes and cosmetics house Lancôme as the face of their fragrance "Magnifique". In 2011, she became the new face of the Italian company Tod's.
Hathaway's beauty and sex appeal have been picked up by several media outlets; FHM, People, AskMen, Maxim, Empire and Entertainment Weekly have included her on their yearly listings of sexiest women. In 2011, Los Angeles Times Magazine listed her as one of the 50 Most Beautiful Women in Film. Elsworth called her in 2008 "the hottest young actress in Hollywood". Hathaway disagreed, insisting that she has a "good girl" image and no sex appeal. She has refused to undergo treatment with Botox, saying she is comfortable in her own skin.
Activism and political work
Hathaway at the 2018 Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington, D.C.
Hathaway has served as a long-term advocate for the Nike Foundation to raise awareness against child marriage. In July 2006, she spent a week in Nicaragua to help vaccinate children against hepatitis A. She has also traveled to other countries to heed the rights of women and girls, including Kenya and Ethiopia. In 2008, she was honored at Elle's Women in Hollywood tribute and won an award from the Human Rights Campaign for her philanthropy; she was also honored for her work with Step Up Women's Network in 2008. She then teamed up in 2010 with World Bank in a two-year development program The Girl Effect whose mission focuses on helping empower girls in developing and developed nations where one-third of young women are not employed and not in school. In 2013, she provided the narration for Girl Rising, a CNN documentary film, which focused on the power of female education as it followed seven girls around the world who sought to overcome obstacles and follow their dreams.
Hathaway serves on the board of the Lollipop Theatre Network and is involved with charities Creative Coalition, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Human Rights Campaign. She is a supporter of LGBT rights and has donated money to organizations that support same-sex marriage. In 2016, Hathaway was appointed UN Women Goodwill ambassador based on her advocacy for gender equality. The following year, she spoke on International Women's Day in favor of paid parental leave for both men and women. To promote an increased awareness of systemic sexism in the entertainment industry, Hathaway has advocated for greater professional opportunities for women and criticized Hollywood as not being a place of equality. In 2018, she collaborated with 300 women in Hollywood to set up the Time's Up initiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination. Hathaway has also spoken out against the issues of bullying of gay students, discrimination toward transgender children, and white supremacy.
Personal life
The black-and-white picture shows Anne Hathaway smiling to her right.
Hathaway at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in 2008
In 2004, Hathaway began a romantic relationship with Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri. Follieri's Manhattan-based foundation, established in 2003, focused on efforts such as providing vaccinations for children in poor countries. In June 2008, it was investigated by the IRS for failure to file required nonprofit information forms. In June 2008, Follieri was arrested on charges of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars in a scheme in which he posed as the Vatican's real-estate agent. It was reported that the FBI confiscated Hathaway's private journals from Follieri's New York City apartment as part of their ongoing investigation into Follieri's activities. Hathaway was not charged with any crime. In October 2008, after earlier pleading guilty, Follieri was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
In early 2007, Hathaway spoke of her experiences with depression during her teens, saying that she eventually overcame the disorder without medication. In 2008, she began smoking after a stressful summer and the end of her relationship with Follieri. She has credited quitting smoking for the subsequent decline in her stress level and returned to being a vegetarian. Hathaway became a vegan in early 2012, but she quit in 2014.
Hathaway married actor and businessman Adam Shulman on September 29, 2012, in Big Sur, California, in a traditional Jewish ceremony. Their first son, Jonathan Rosebanks Shulman, was born on March 24, 2016. That year, Hathaway purchased an apartment worth $2.55 million in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan, where she lives with Shulman and their son. Hathaway and Shulman sold their wedding photo and donated its profits to same-sex marriage advocacy group Freedom to Marry. They also hosted Freedom to Marry's National Engagement Party, an event which raised $500,000. In July 2019, Hathaway announced they were expecting their second child together, and opened up about her struggles with conception and infertility. Their second son, Jack Shulman, was born November 2019.
June 2019
October 20, 2016
October 2, 2013
April 7, 2017
January 15, 2015
2019
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2015
October 13, 2014
2014
Jane the Virgin is an American romantic comedy-drama and satirical telenovela developed by Jennie Snyder Urman. The series premiered October 13, 2014, on The CW and concluded on July 31, 2019. It is a loose adaptation of the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la virgen created by Perla Farías. It stars Gina Rodriguez as Jane Villanueva, a devout 23-year-old Latina virgin who becomes pregnant after an accidental artificial insemination by her gynecologist. It parodies common tropes and devices in Latin American telenovelas.
2019
November 3, 2014
2007
February 23, 2006
2006
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Biography
Creativity
Elena has two college degrees, one in history and the other in psychology. According to her, the first education allows her to create socio-economic models in her worlds, and the second allows her to write detailed and believable character psychotypes. Elena Zvezdnaya writes in different genres and styles, from humorous fiction to dystopia. The author's books have a pronounced target audience - women, critics evaluate her style as "perky and ironic".
The writer has published more than twenty-five novels, including the Curse Academy series, the Right of the Strongest series, the Dead Games series, and the Terra series.
The first work published on paper was a love novel, Just One Kiss, printed in the publishing house Tsentropoligraf in 2011. After her debut, she began working with the publishing house "Alpha-book", where the following books were published: "Ranmarn Academy" (2011), "Hell. Adventures of a Mercenary" (2011), "Hell. Training as a mercenary" (2012).
Since 2012 Elena has been working with Exmo Publishers, which has published more than 20 of the writer's books. Since 2014, the publishing house "Eksmo" began publishing the writer's series "Academy of curses", consisting of eight books and became known for two years before the printed edition. Circulation figures for Elena's books, according to data published on the publishers' websites, exceed 95,000 copies, and other sources say they exceed 300,000[6]. Additional editions of Elena Zvezdnaya's books are published regularly, they are published also in online versions. Based on the writer's books a test was created "What Elena Zvezdnaya heroine do you look like", which was published in the magazine "Rest" and on the website of the publishing house "Eksmo". In 2016, "Eksmo" publishing house began publishing a new personal series of Elena - "Starry mood", the first novel of which is called "The Real Black Witch".
Criticism
Elena's work elicits quite a variety of responses from readers and critics - "This author has so many negative reviews and so many detractors that it's just amazing. If you draw an analogy, Star Elena is the same Daria Dontsova, only for the world of romantic and humorous fantasy. Zvezdnaya is similar to Daria Dontsova in the realm of creativity, and both of these writers are quite in demand.
But as lovers of detectives are embarrassed to admit that they are "hooked" on Dontsova's books, and fantasy fans do not want to voice their predilection for the works of Star Elena. Why only fanatics? After all Star Elena writes for girls, and it is visible in each line ". Some reviewers suggest to sell her books in drugstores on the shelf with novopassit, the number of fans of Elena Zvezdnaya's creation includes not only network readers, but also librarians.
Bibliography
2011 - Just One Kiss - (Tsentrpoligraf Publisher) - ISBN 978-5-227-02611-8
2012 - To marry a hero, or a Bride for a villain - (Exmo Publisher) - ISBN 978-5-699-58430-7
2013 - Extreme Interview - (Eksmo publishing house) - ISBN 978-5-699-64409-4
2014 - Enchantment Workshop - (Exmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-69186-9 - story in the collection.
2015 - Werewolf Castle - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-83400-6
Ranmarn Academy series.
2011 - Ranmarn Academy - (Alfa-Book Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-9922-0994-5
Hell Cycle
2011 - Adventures of a mercenary - (Alfa-Book Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-9922-0986-0
2012 - Training of the mercenary - (Alfa-Book Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-9922-1141-2
Catriona Cycle
2012 - Princess of Special Assignment - (Eksmo Publisher) - ISBN 978-5-699-55114-9
2012 - The Princess Trap - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-57203-8
2013 - The Emperor's Toy - (Exmo Publishers)[11] - ISBN 978-5-699-62760-8
2018 - Catriona: Rise of the Black Star - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-04-099059-7
2019 - Catriona: The Shining of the Black Star - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-04-099988-0
The Adventures of a Witch Girl series
2013 - My Private Enemy - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-60469-2
The Right of the Strongest" series
2013 - Warrior's Daughter, or Cadets Don't Give Up - (Eksmo Publishers)[15] - ISBN 978-5-699-67561-6
2013 - Warrior's Bride, or Revenge on a Timetable - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-69272-9
2015 - Collector's Edition. Warrior's Daughter. The warrior's bride (collection) - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-79756-1
2016 - Warrior's Wife, or Love to Survive - (Eksmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-87183-4
Terra Cycle.
2014 - All Witches are Redheads - (Exmo Publishing)[16] - ISBN 978-5-699-69730-4
2014 - Be My Witch - (Exmo Publishers) - ISBN 978-5-699-70521-4
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2004
Howl's Moving Castle-fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986 by Greenwillow Books of New York.
Full-length animated film.
Plot
The film is set in a parallel world of Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where magic goes hand in hand with the development of technology. The modest life of the hatter Sophie changes completely when the walking castle of the mysterious wizard Howl, known for "stealing" girls' hearts, appears on the outskirts of her town. Rescued by this blue-eyed young man from the molestations of two military men, she falls in love with him. However, the exciting walk with him costs the young hatter her beauty and youth. On the evening of Sophie's meeting with Howl, the jealous Witch of the Wasteland shows up at Sophie's house and turns the girl into an old woman. This event forces Sophie to leave her home and travel in despair to the Wild Wasteland, which is notorious for breaking the curse. Along the way, she comes across a garden scarecrow, Scarecrow-Repka, who gives Sophie a cane and helps her get into a strange structure, Howl's Castle. "Grandmother" Sophie, without asking the owner's permission, appoints herself as a cleaner of this strange giant mobile home on steel "chicken legs". Over time, she gains a family in the castle, albeit a somewhat strange one. The castle is home to the fire demon Calcifer, Howl's apprentice Markle, and Howl himself, a powerful young wizard and master of the castle. Sophie wishes to break the Witch of the Wasteland's curse, but even the witch herself, who has cast the spell, cannot do so. It also turns out that the spells lie on Howl himself, Calcifer, Scarecrow-Repka, and even the Witch of the Wasteland. To unravel the mysteries of the curses and break them, the heroes have to go through many trials and adventures.
"The Walking Castle (Jap ハウルの動く城 Hauru no ugoku shiro, literally "Haula's Moving Castle") is a full-length animated film released by Ghibli Studios in 2004. It was created by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki based on the fairy-tale novel of the same name by British writer Diana Wynne Jones. It was nominated for the 78th Academy Award (2006) for Best Animated Feature Film, but lost out to Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Werewolf Rabbit. According to Miyazaki, the prototype for Howl's castle is a Russian hut on chicken legs.
American seriesthe movie
2019
The Other Side of Heaven is a 2001 American adventure drama film written and directed by Mitch Davis, based on John H. Groberg's autobiography In the Eye of the Storm". The film stars Christopher Gorham as John Groberg and Anne Hathaway as Jean Groberg (née Sabin).
American series
Plot
During the 1950s, John Groberg (Gorham) graduates from Brigham Young University and is called on a 3-year mission to Tonga. Throughout the film, Groberg and his fiancée Jean (Hathaway) exchange letters monthly. After a long journey across the Pacific, Groberg arrives in Tonga and is sent to a group of very remote islands. He is assigned a native Tongan companion, Feki (Joe Folau). As a new missionary, he struggles with learning the language, and studies it intensely and learns more about Tongan culture.
Groberg encounters a number of obstacles in his mission. One night, he forgets instructions he received to cover his feet and rats bite his soles while he is asleep. A local Christian minister warns the people not to listen to Groberg and Feki. Later, he sends four men to beat them. However, one of the men, Tomasi, prevents the attack. Groberg learns from the drunken Tomasi that he had been baptized a member of the LDS Church many years ago as a boy. Tomasi later begins attending church meetings. When a young boy falls out of a mango tree and becomes unconscious, Groberg gives him basic first aid and prays for him. When a young woman, at the behest of her family, attempts to seduce Elder Groberg, he responds by teaching her about marriage. A typhoon destroys trees, homes, and crops. People die in the storm, and many die due to starvation and dehydration. Groberg is close to dying himself when the local minister gives him the last of his food. After the supply boat finally arrives, the minister is found dead. Later, while traveling at sea, Groberg and his two counselors are caught in a large storm. He is washed overboard and fears for his life. He swims until he finds an island where he also locates his counselors, and they are later rescued and return to Tonga.
Groberg returns one day to his hut to find that his mission president has come to visit the island. He is unhappy because he has not heard from Groberg since he came to this island many months prior. Groberg describes some of the success they have experienced, and the president is shocked to learn of new branches and meeting places on outer islands that have not been authorized. Groberg and his counselors spend the entire night filling out the church records the president requested. In the morning, he finds the president is about to board a boat, and gives him a large sheaf of forms documenting all they have accomplished. When his time as a missionary comes to an end, Groberg receives a telegram instructing him to return to New Zealand where he will travel to Idaho Falls, Idaho. When he is ready to depart, many islanders gather in their best clothing to see him off, testifying to the impact he has had during his stay. Once he arrives, he marries Jean and the two spend their honeymoon in a cottage by a beach.
Cast
Christopher Gorham as John H. Groberg
Anne Hathaway as Jean Sabin
Joe Folau as Feki
Nathaniel Lees as Kelepi
Miriama Smith as Lavinia
Alvin Fitisemanu as Tomasi
Pua Magasiva as Finau
John Sumner as President Stone.
Development
Mitch Davis, the director, was inspired by John H. Groberg's autobiography, In the Eye of the Storm, and wanted to tell Groberg's story via film. Deseret Book (at the time, Bookcraft) owned the rights, and the company wanted to ensure that Davis captured the "spirit of the book". John Groberg consented for the movie to be made after meeting Davis, and then the rights were secured. Producer Gerald R. Molen is noted for his work on films such as The Color Purple, Schindler's List, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The film's budget was $7 million.
Casting
Christopher Gorham was cast in the lead role as John Groberg. Director Mitch Davis selected him after auditioning "hundreds and hundreds of actors on both coasts" because Gorham exhibited "a little light in his eyes," according to Davis. He has since become a common name in Mormon cinema, appearing in other LDS roles with films such as We Love You, Sally Carmichael! and the sequel to Heaven, where he reprises the role of John Groberg. Anne Hathaway was cast as Jean Groberg (née Sabin). Hathaway stated that she liked how the character of Jean was committed to Groberg but lived her own life. Before beginning filming her parts of Heaven in New Zealand, she auditioned for The Princess Diaries.
Filming
The real John and Jean Groberg gave feedback on the script.[10] Jean Groberg provided Davis with the letters she and John exchanged, and they were used in filming the scenes where John and Jean write to one another.
The film was shot on location in Auckland, New Zealand and the island of Rarotonga, capital of the Cook Islands. All of the filming equipment and necessary supplies had to arrive by boat. The island scenes were completed in two months. In both Rarotonga and Auckland, rain often threatened to delay shoots, but Davis claimed that his prayers delayed much rain while filming.
Release
Disney produced, advertised, and distributed The Other Side of Heaven. Hathaway's The Princess Diaries was also released in 2001.
The film opened theatrically on December 14, 2001, in two venues, earning $55,765 in its opening weekend, ranking number 41 in the domestic box office. By the end of its run, almost a year later, on December 2, 2002, the film grossed $4,720,371 domestically and $39,643 overseas for a worldwide total of $4,760,014.
Critical reception
The film received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 29% approval rating based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "The Other Side of Heaven preaches to the converted; others will likely consider it simplistic, even offensive, propaganda." On Metacritic, the film has a 38 out of 100 rating based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."
Professor of literature Terryl Givens noted that the film doesn't mention Groberg's faith or explain why he is serving his mission. He speculates that this could be an effort to "universalize the message of Christian service and spiritual coming of age."
Sequel
In February 2018, Davis announced that filming was starting for a sequel titled The Other Side of Heaven 2: Fire of Faith. Gorham, Folau, Lees, and Smith reprised their roles from the first film. Natalie Medlock played Jean Groberg, replacing Hathaway. The movie was based on Groberg's second autobiographical novel, with the same title, set ten years after the first film. The story follows John returning to the island with his wife and five daughters during the period of time he served as an LDS Church mission president. It was released June 28, 2019. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 71% based on reviews from 7 critics.
The Other Side of Heaven is a 2001 American adventure drama film written and directed by Mitch Davis, based on John H. Groberg's autobiography In the Eye of the Storm". The film stars Christopher Gorham as John Groberg and Anne Hathaway as Jean Groberg (née Sabin).
The film showcases Groberg's experiences as a missionary The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the Tongan islands in the 1950s.