Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | |
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Directed by | Mandie Fletcher |
Written by | Jennifer Saunders |
Based on | Absolutely Fabulous by Jennifer Saunders |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Chris Goodger |
Edited by |
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Music by | Jake Monaco |
Production companies |
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Running time | 91 minutes [1] [2] [3] |
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Box office | $39.2 million [4] |
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is a 2016 comedy film directed by Mandie Fletcher, written by Jennifer Saunders and based on the television series Absolutely Fabulous . It stars Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield (in her final acting role) and Jane Horrocks, reprising their roles from the series. The film finds the drug-addicted, alcoholic PR agent Edina Monsoon and her best friend/codependent Patsy Stone on the run from the authorities after it is suspected they killed supermodel Kate Moss. The film serves as a de facto series finale for the show.
Principal photography began on 12 October 2015 in London, with additional filming in the South of France. The film premiered in London on 29 June 2016 and was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 1 July 2016 by 20th Century Fox and in the United States on 22 July 2016 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. In addition to being the final role for Whitfield, it also marked the final film role for Barry Humphries before his death in April 2023. [5]
The ever-glamorous and self-indulgent Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone are now in their 60s. Edina's PR company is in decline and her attempt to release an autobiography falls through when a publisher rejects the manuscript. While setting up designer Huki Muki's fashion event, Patsy learns that supermodel Kate Moss is looking for a new PR agent, and immediately calls Edina to inform her. Their phone call is overheard by Edina's PR rival Claudia Bing when Edina accidentally leaves her phone on speaker.
Edina and Patsy attend the fashion event with Edina's 13-year-old granddaughter Jane (whom Edina calls "Lola"), while Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon, Edina's daughter and Jane's mother, goes on a date with her new boyfriend Nick. Edina finds Kate Moss on a balcony overlooking the Thames. When both Edina and Claudia attempt to approach Kate, Edina accidentally topples Kate into the river. Among the witnesses is Lulu, one of Edina's remaining clients, who is at odds with Edina after being replaced as a performer at the event.
Hysteria pervades the event as Kate is presumed dead. The media immediately storm the scene to report her disappearance and assumed death. Edina and Patsy, along with Jane, are taken into police custody. Saffy arrives to see them with Nick, who is revealed to be a police detective.
After being released the following day, Edina becomes the target of hate mail and Internet trolls, while Patsy has been fired from her job because of her association with Edina. At night, the pair take a boat to the Thames to search for Kate's body, using Edina's personal assistant Bubble as a searching device, but she disappears into the water. They decide to flee the country before the media firestorm worsens, taking Jane and her credit card along. The three land in Cannes, while back in London, Saffy desperately searches for Jane, eventually discovering Edina's whereabouts through her stylist, Christopher.
In Cannes, Edina and Patsy try to devise money-making schemes. After Patsy fails to convince a wealthy former lover to marry her, the two happen upon an elderly baroness who is the richest woman in the world. In order to gain access to her fortune, Patsy disguises herself as a man named Pat Stone and flirts with her. The following day, Patsy marries the baroness, granting Edina and Patsy the lavish lifestyle they had been pursuing, as they stay in a luxury hotel with Dame Joan Collins and Dame Edna Everage as fellow guests.
Meanwhile, Emma Bunton, who saw Edina and Patsy in public, tells Lulu about their whereabouts. Lulu flies out to Cannes and meets with Bubble, who is alive and has bought a massive Cannes pavilion after embezzling money from Edina's company for years. Saffy arrives in Cannes with Nick and immediately heads to the hotel to find Jane, who is with Emma.
A vengeful Lulu reports Edina and Patsy's location to the police. The police find Edina and Patsy and chase them through the town, the duo escaping in a hijacked three-wheeled delivery van. As they reach Bubble's pavilion, the van's brakes fail and they roll backwards and fall into an infinity pool attached to Bubble's house. Saffy arrives at the scene to find Edina and Patsy slowly sinking into the pool, still inside the van. Edina apologises to Saffy for being greedy, self-centred and a neglectful mother. In response, Saffy tells her that she loves her. When Bubble reveals that Kate Moss is alive, Edina immediately exits the van, realising she is innocent.
People all over the world celebrate the fact that Kate Moss is alive. As Kate's new PR, Edina revitalises her own career and finally launches her autobiography, while Kate has been in even more demand since she was found. At Saffy's insistence, Patsy reluctantly reveals to the baroness that she is in fact a woman, not a man called Pat. The baroness, in turn, reveals that she is actually a man.
Multiple celebrity cameo appearances in the film were announced over the course of filming. [6] [7] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] In April 2016, Fox and the BBC confirmed a list of 60 cameos, most of which had not yet been announced, that would be featured in the film. [15] [16] They include:
Approximately 90 drag queens appeared in the film, [17] including Daniel Lismore, The Vivienne and Charlie Hides.
Saunders wrote and starred in Absolutely Fabulous, a British television sitcom for the BBC, which originally ran for three series from 1992 to 1995, with intermittent additional series and specials until 2012. [18] [19] Absolutely Fabulous features the champagne-fuelled duo of "international PR guru" Edina Monsoon (Saunders) and "sex-crazed magazine editor" Patsy Stone (Lumley). [18] Additional characters include Edina's overly serious daughter Saffron (Sawalha), her daffy mother (Whitfield) and her even daffier assistant Bubble (Horrocks). [20]
Deadline Hollywood broke the story in November 2011 that Saunders planned to begin writing a film version of the series in 2012. [18] The film would begin with Edina and Patsy waking up hungover after a party on an oligarch's yacht, with everyone else gone and the boat somewhere the middle of the ocean. [18] [21] Saunders later said that she hoped to shoot the film on the French Riviera. [22] In March 2012, Saunders confirmed that she was working on the script. [23] She said of the plot: "Eddy and Patsy are looking for what they imagine glamorous life should be. They're constantly searching for that perfect place to sit or that perfect pair of sunglasses. It's Shangri-La and it just might be round the next corner. In the meantime, they decide to take Saffy's daughter off her—she calls her Jane, I call her Lola—but then they lose her." [23]
Calling herself the "worst procrastinator in the world", [24] Saunders said in January 2014: "Yes, well I have to do it now because I've threatened to a lot ... And then she [Lumley] kept announcing it and saying, "Yes, she's going to do it," and then Dawn French on our radio show at Christmas said, "I bet £100,000 that you don't write it," so now I have to write it, otherwise I have to pay her £100,000 ... Once you've had a bit of success, the last thing you want to do is go and make a flop. So the biggest fear in me is that it won't be good enough. I'm really nervous about it." [24]
In April 2014, Saunders again confirmed on BBC Breakfast that she was in the process of writing the film. [25] In April 2015, Saunders explained her delay with the script, saying, "I think that's why I didn't do it for a while ... I thought, 'Wouldn't it be awful if it was awful.'" [26] She then quipped, "but we're all so old, and Joanna [Lumley] said to me, 'Do it before we die!' We're all on the brink." [26] Saunders also noted, "[The film] involves all the main characters and virtually everyone that's ever been in the series—all those characters". [26] Lumley confirmed in July 2015 that the film's script was finished and that production would begin in October. [27] She said of the project, "We are all there, the same old gang ... It is going to be ravishingly funny! Very gorgeous ... and completely fabulous!" [27]
In August 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported that "all of the original main cast" were confirmed, with Fox Searchlight Pictures in negotiations to co-finance and co-produce the film with BBC Films, and to handle worldwide distribution. [28] It was also announced that Mandie Fletcher would direct, with Jon Plowman and Damian Jones as producers and Saunders, French and Maureen Vincent as executive producers. [28] Deadline Hollywood later reported that Christine Langan, Steve Milne, Christian Eisenbeiss and Nichola Martin were also executive producing, with DanTram Nguyen, Vice President of Production and Katie Goodson-Thomas, Director of Production overseeing the project for Fox Searchlight Pictures. [29]
Principal photography began on 12 October 2015 in London. [28] [30] Additional filming took place in the South of France, with locations including the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the Palais Bulles in Théoule-sur-Mer, and Villefranche-sur-Mer. [31] [32] [33]
The BBC and Fox Searchlight subsequently released a promotional image of Saunders and Lumley in character on a yacht. [29] Along with Sawalha, Whitfield and Horrocks, [6] Kathy Burke was confirmed to be reprising her role as Magda, [8] and Kate Moss, Emma Bunton and Lulu would appear in guest roles as themselves, as they had in the TV series. [6] The cameo appearances of Harry Styles, Kelly Hoppen and Kim Kardashian were also announced as filming began. [6] Multiple other celebrity cameos were announced during production, [6] [7] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] culminating with a 60-name list released in April 2016. [15] [16]
On 10 June 2016, Australian singer Kylie Minogue released a cover version of the series' theme song "This Wheel's on Fire" as the official theme for the film. [34] The soundtrack, which also includes songs from Paloma Faith (whose "Ready for the Good Life" appears in the film's trailer), La Roux, Jason Derulo, Eartha Kitt, Nancy Sinatra, Santigold and others, was released on 1 July 2016 via Rhino Records. [35] [36] It reached number 49 on the UK Compilation Chart and number 38 on the ARIA Albums Chart in Australia. [37] [38]
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie had its world premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 29 June 2016. [39] [40] The film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 1 July 2016 by 20th Century Fox, [41] [42] and was subsequently released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray on 5 December 2016. [43] In the United States, it was released in select theaters on 22 July 2016 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. [44]
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie grossed $39.2 million worldwide, including $19.5 million in the United Kingdom, $4.7 million in the United States and $6.2 million in Australia. [4]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 58% based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie picks up pretty much where its source material left off, delivering an adaptation that, as fans of this British export might say, does what it says on the tin." [45] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 59 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [46]
Year | Association | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
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2017 | AAPR Movies for Grownups Awards | Best Buddy Picture | Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley | Won | [47] |
Best Comedy/Musical | Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Nominated | |||
British Screenwriters’ Awards | Best British Feature Film Writing | Jennifer Saunders | Nominated | [48] | |
Casting Directors Association | Best Casting of a Feature Film & Drama | Camilla Arthur | Nominated | [49] | |
Costume Designers Guild | Excellence in Contemporary Film | Rebecca Hale | Nominated | [50] | |
Diversity in Media Awards | Movie of the Year | Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Nominated | ||
Dorian Awards | Campy Film of the Year | Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Nominated | [51] | |
Golden Trailer Awards | Best Foreign Comedy Trailer | Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Nominated | [52] | |
National Film Awards UK | |||||
Best Comedy | Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Nominated | [53] | ||
Best Director | Mandie Fletcher | Nominated | |||
Best Actress | Jennifer Saunders | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Actress | Joanna Lumley | Nominated |
In December 2015, the film sparked controversy and accusations of racism when it was announced that white Scottish comedian Janette Tough would be playing a Japanese character named Huki Muki. [54] [55] Korean-American comedian Margaret Cho accused the film of "yellowface", which she described as "when white people portray Asian people. And unfortunately it's happening in this film." [54] Upon release of the film it became apparent that the character was not, in fact, Japanese but Scottish. When asked about the controversy, Saunders replied that "the whole film is about people being what they're not, Huki Muki is a brand, she is the designer and she looks a bit Japanese, but the moment she opens her mouth she's from Glasgow. There's no yellow makeup..." [56]
Saunders had at one point hinted that a sequel would be considered if the film performed well at the box office. [57] However, on 29 November 2016, Saunders confirmed that she is "not doing anything more with Ab Fab", as she wants to focus on new projects and spend more time with her family. [58]
Absolutely Fabulous is a British television sitcom based on the French and Saunders sketch "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saunders, who also stars as one of the main characters. Its cast includes Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha.
Dame June Rosemary Whitfield was an English radio, television and film actress.
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley is a British actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012), and was nominated for the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the Broadway revival of La Bête. In 2013, she received the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards, and in 2017 she was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship award.
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English actress, comedian, singer, and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with her best friend and comedy partner, Dawn French. With French, she co-wrote and starred in their eponymous sketch show, French and Saunders, for which they jointly received a BAFTA Fellowship in 2009. Saunders later received acclaim in the 1990s for writing and playing her character Edina Monsoon in her sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is also the name by which the performers are known when they appear elsewhere as a double act. The show was given one of the highest budgets in BBC history to create detailed spoofs and satires of popular culture, movies, celebrities, and art. French and Saunders continued to film holiday specials for the BBC, and both have been individually successful starring in other shows.
Julia Sawalha is an English actress. She is best known for playing Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012). Her other television roles include as Lynda Day in Press Gang (1989–1993), as Hannah Greyshott in Second Thoughts (1991–1994), and its sequel series, Faith in the Future (1995–1998), Lydia Bennet in the television miniseries of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1995), Georgina and Kid's vocal effects in Sheeep (2000–2001), Carla Borrego in Jonathan Creek (2001–2004), and Dorcas Lane in the BBC's costume drama Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011). Her film credits include Buddy's Song (1991), The Wind in the Willows (1996), Chicken Run (2000) and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016).
Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces.
Lynne Joanne Franks is a communications strategist and writer. She founded a public relations consultancy in the early 1970s.
The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo who enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and making pop records. Since this period, they have also regularly appeared in pantomime. The duo comprises wife Janette Tough and her husband Ian. As the Krankies they portray schoolboy Wee Jimmy Krankie (Janette), and paternal figure Ian Krankie (Ian), though in their comedy act they also portray other characters. Beginning in the 1990s, they regularly appeared as the Krankies in episodes of the BBC comedy series French and Saunders. Wee Jimmy Krankie often used the catchphrase exclamation "Fandabidozi!"
The Fairy Godmother is the main antagonist of DreamWorks Animation's Shrek franchise, voiced by actress Jennifer Saunders. Introduced as the main antagonist of Shrek 2, the Fairy Godmother is the mother of Prince Charming, who Princess Fiona was originally intended to wed prior to meeting Shrek. Believing that ogres should not live happily ever after, she plots against newlyweds Shrek and Fiona's relationship, using her magic and potions in an attempt to trick Fiona into falling in love with her son. Fairy Godmother is loosely based on the stock fairy godmother character in fairy tales, specifically "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty", serving as a parody of the common trope.
Patsy Stone is one of the three main characters from the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, portrayed by actress Joanna Lumley.
Edina "Eddie" Margaret Rose Monsoon is one of the two main characters in the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, created and portrayed by comedian Jennifer Saunders.
"Absolutely Fabulous" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released by Parlophone and Spaghetti Records as a single for 1994's Comic Relief under the artist name "Absolutely Fabulous"; it is based on the BBC sitcom of the same name created by Jennifer Saunders and features sound bites taken from the first series of the show. The single peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart and number seven on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It was more successful in Oceania, debuting and peaking at number two in both Australia and New Zealand; in the former country, it is the band's highest-charting single, and in both, it was their last top-10 entry.
The first series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC Two on 12 November 1992 and concluded on 17 December 1992, consisting of six episodes. The sitcom was created and written by Jennifer Saunders, who starred in the title role of Edina Monsoon, a heavy-drinking, smoking, and drug-abusing PR agent who has dedicated most of her life to looking "fabulous" and desperately attempts to stay young. Edina is nicknamed 'Eddie' by her best friend, Patsy Stone, a magazine editor who constantly takes advantage of Edina by living the life of luxury in Edina's extravagant home. Edina is a twice-divorced mother of two. Her eldest child, a son, Serge, left home many years before in order to escape his mother's clutches. Her long-suffering daughter, Saffron 'Saffy', whom Edina is reliant upon, is a sixth form student and remains at home. The series also includes Edina's sweet-natured-but-slightly-batty mother, whom Edina sees as an interfering burden, and Edina's dim-witted assistant Bubble.
The second series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 27 January 1994 and concluded on 10 March 1994, consisting of six episodes.
The third series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 30 March 1995 and concluded on 11 May 1995, consisting of six episodes. The third series was originally intended to be the final series of Absolutely Fabulous. However, the following year, Jennifer Saunders decided to write a two-part special titled "The Last Shout", serving as an official finale to the third series. The series was later revived five years later in 2001.
The fourth series of British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 31 August 2001 and concluded on 5 October 2001, consisting of six episodes. Originally, Absolutely Fabulous was to end with the third series, then two-part special "The Last Shout" was created to serve as an official finale to the series. However, in 2000, Jennifer Saunders created and wrote a television pilot for a proposed new series, Mirrorball, in which she intended to reunite the cast of Absolutely Fabulous in new roles and a different plot. Saunders, along with Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks and June Whitfield, returned for the pilot, but the series was never commissioned. Nevertheless, Mirrorball inspired Saunders to revive Absolutely Fabulous and a fourth series was produced. A Christmas special, "Gay", was produced following the fourth series and was broadcast in 2002.
The fifth and final series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 17 October 2003 and concluded on 24 December 2003, consisting of eight episodes. A Christmas special, "White Box", followed the fifth series and was broadcast in 2004. Though no further series have followed, three specials were broadcast several years later to mark the show's 20th anniversary for 2012.
Absolutely Fabulous: 20th Anniversary is a set of three special episodes of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. It was broadcast on BBC One between 25 December 2011 and 23 July 2012 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series, which debuted in 1992.