Epic Movie

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Epic Movie
Epicmovieposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer
Written by
  • Jason Friedberg
  • Aaron Seltzer
Produced by Paul Schiff
Starring
Cinematography Shawn Maurer
Edited byPeck Prior
Music by Edward Shearmur
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century Fox [a] [1]
Release date
  • January 26, 2007 (2007-01-26)
Running time
85 minutes [2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million [3]
Box office$86.9 million

Epic Movie is a 2007 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and produced by Paul Schiff. It stars Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Jayma Mays, Jennifer Coolidge, Faune A. Chambers, Crispin Glover, Tony Cox, and Fred Willard. A parody of the epic film genre, the film mostly references The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Pirates of the Caribbean , and X-Men .

Contents

The film was released on January 26, 2007, and it was unanimously panned by critics. Many have considered this to be one of the worst films of all time. Despite this, it was fairly successful at the box office, earning $86.9 million worldwide, more than four times its $20 million budget.

Plot

Lucy finds that her adoptive father, a museum curator, has been attacked by Silas. Before dying, he gives clues that lead her to a "Golden Ticket" in a vending machine candy bar. Fellow orphans Edward, a disillusioned monk trainee; Susan, a displaced adopted girl; and Peter, a mutant at Mutant Academy who is often teased for his chicken-like wings, all find Golden Tickets. All four meet up at Willy's Chocolate Factory. Willy reveals his plot to use them all as a special ingredient in his treats.

Attempting to hide from the maniacal Willy, Lucy finds a wardrobe. On the other side, in the middle of a wintry forest, she finds Mr. Tumnus, who welcomes Lucy to Gnarnia and warns her of danger. The others follow Lucy to Gnarnia, and Edward meets the White Bitch. She convinces him to trap the other orphans in order to become the king of Gnarnia in her White Castle.

All four go to Tumnus' house, where they discover their relation to each other in a copy of the famous painting The Last Supper, and that the White Bitch killed their parents. They ally themselves with Harry Beaver, Tumnus' life partner, to defeat the White Bitch.

Edward sneaks off to the White Bitch's castle. When he refuses to reveal to her where the others are, she flashes him her breasts, hypnotizing him into giving up the information on the orphans, then imprisons him. The White Bitch sends Silas after the trio; Tumnus apparently sacrifices himself to ensure their safety.

Afterwards, the orphans meet a graying Harry Potter, along with a balding Ron Weasley and a pregnant Hermione Granger at Hogwarts. They all help Lucy, Susan, and Peter train for the war against the White Bitch, accidentally killing Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid in the process.

Captain Jack Swallows helps Edward escape, only for Edward to find out it was a ruse as Jack, the Bitch's old enemy, needs intelligence out of Edward.

Upon finishing their training, Lucy, Susan, and Peter head to the camp of Aslo. Aslo agrees to help Edward and manages to kill Silas, but while breaking Edward out, he is slain by the White Bitch. As the orphans have a pre-battle party with their allies, Susan gets drunk and vomits everywhere, disgusting their army enough that nobody shows up to help the orphans the next day. The four siblings engage the White Bitch in battle and all (except for Peter) are killed. Peter then finds a magic remote and uses its powers to revive his siblings.

Together, they kill the army, defeat the White Bitch, and stop her plan. Peter declares the White Bitch will receive a fair and just trial in the new Gnarnia, but Jack's wheel accidentally crushes her to death. The four are crowned the new rulers of the land. Tumnus then shows up, having survived his battle. Decades later, the four now-elderly rulers find the wardrobe again and go through it. They appear moments after they had left, young again. They meet Borat, who congratulates them on a happy ending, but then, Jack's wheel accidentally runs over the quartet, killing them. Borat then says his iconic "NOT!" before turning around and clapping his buttocks, ending the film.

Cast

Actor/ActressRoleParody ofMovie/TV
Kal Penn Edward Pervertski Edmund Pevensie/Juan Pablo/Kumar Patel/Augustus Gloop The Chronicles of Narnia / Nacho Libre / Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Adam Campbell Peter Pervertski/Super Peter Peter Pevensie/Angel/Superman/Charlie Bucket The Chronicles of Narnia / X-Men / Superman Returns / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Faune A. ChambersSusan Pervertski Susan Pevensie/Veruca Salt The Chronicles of Narnia / Snakes on a Plane / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Jayma Mays Lucy Pervertski Lucy Pevensie/Sophie Neveu/Violet Beauregard The Chronicles of Narnia / The Da Vinci Code / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Jennifer Coolidge The White Bitch of Gnarnia White Witch/Davy Jones The Chronicles of Narnia / Pirates of the Caribbean
Tony Cox Bink Ginarrbrik The Chronicles of Narnia
Hector Jimenez Mr. Tumnus/Tony FauntanaMr Tumnus/Tony Montana The Chronicles of Narnia / Scarface / MTV Cribs
Jareb Dauplaise Ignacio/NachoNacho Libre Nacho Libre
Crispin Glover Willy Willy Wonka Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Darrell Hammond Captain Jack Swallows Jack Sparrow/Captain Morgan Pirates of the Caribbean / Captain Morgan
Carmen Electra Mystique X-Men
Jim Piddock Magneto X-Men
Kevin Hart (uncredited) Silas The Da Vinci Code
Fred Willard Aslo Aslan The Chronicles of Narnia
David Carradine The Curator Jacques Saunière The Da Vinci Code
Katt Williams Harry Beaver Mr. Beaver The Chronicles of Narnia and Bell Canada reference in scene with PDA
Danny Jacobs Borat Sagdiyev Borat
Nick SteeleLead Archer The Chronicles of Narnia
Gregory Jbara Mel Gibson
David Lehre Ashton Kutcher Punk'd
Kevin McDonald Harry Potter Harry Potter series
George Alvarez Ron Weasley Harry Potter series
Crista Flanagan Hermione Granger Harry Potter series
Alla Petrou Paris Hilton
James Walker, Sr.Samuel "God Damn"/"Motherfuckin'" Jackson Samuel L. Jackson/Agent Neville Flynn Snakes on a Plane
Abe Spigner Flavor Flav Flavor of Love
Lauren Conrad Herself The Hills
Vince Vieluf Wolverine X-Men series
Lindsey Kraft Rogue X-Men
Scott L. Schwartz Hagrid Harry Potter series
Roscoe Lee Browne Narrator
Tad Hilgenbrink Cyclops X-Men
Audra Lynn Wardrobe Girl
Anwar Burton Michael Jackson
Darko Belgrade James Bond James Bond series
Dane Farwell Albus Dumbledore Harry Potter series
Kahshanna Evans Storm X-Men trilogy
Rico Rodriguez ChanchitoChancho Nacho Libre
Heather StormAslo's girl
Shawn McDonaldP. Daddy Faun Puff Daddy
Lichelle D. EbnerMorphed Mystique X-Men

Parodies

Films and TV shows

Celebrities

Production

Release

Home media

The film was released on DVD on May 22, 2007, in both unrated and theatrical versions. As of late 2009, 1,040,120 DVDs were sold, bringing in $16,807,388. [18]

Reception

Box office

Epic Movie debuted at number one at the box office with a gross of $18.6 million over the opening weekend. [19] As of May 8, 2007, the film has grossed $86,865,564, with $39,739,367 of that amount earned domestically. [20] The film was an economic success for its producers not least because it had a comparatively low budget, estimated at $20 million (the same as Date Movie ).

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Epic Movie has an approval rating of 2% based on 66 reviews and an average rating of 2.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A crude comedy with nothing new or insightful to say about the subjects it satirizes." [21] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 17 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". [22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale. [23] [24]

A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the film "irreverent and also appreciative, dragging its satiric prey down to the lowest pop-cultural denominator" and added, "The humor is coarse and occasionally funny. The archly bombastic score . . . is the only thing you might call witty. But happily, Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard show up ... to add some easy, demented class." [10] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle thought "only a complete idiot could think Epic Movie is remotely funny or worth making at all." Describing it as "so bereft of anything resembling wit or inspiration", he wondered, "What were the perpetrators, uh filmmakers, thinking?" [25] In the Los Angeles Times , Alex Chun called the film "nothing more than a disjointed series of scenes and references cobbled together as a backdrop for sophomoric humor." [26] Ronnie Scheib of Variety said it was "epically unfunny" and "unlikely to join the list of blockbusters it lampoons." [27] The Radio Times said "There's very little that's epic about this senseless parody, but then there's very little that's funny about it, either... It's mind-numbingly, tediously unamusing and is so devoid of imagination it even parodies self-mocking films." [4] The Chicago Reader described the film as being "the cinematic equivalent of a tapeworm", while in his review for The Guardian, John Patterson wrote that "Epic Movie is an epic catastrophe, or an artistic failure of epic proportions, or even an Emetic Piece of Insufferable Crap". [28] The Times expressed surprise that "Penn would stoop so low". [29]

Accolades

Epic Movie was nominated for three Golden Raspberry Awards at the 28th ceremony: Worst Remake or Rip-off, Worst Supporting Actress (Carmen Electra), and Worst Screenplay (Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer). [30] [31]

See also

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References

  1. 20th Century Fox did release the movie, but the logo isn't shown on the main film or on any promotional material.
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