Happy Death Day 2U | |
---|---|
Directed by | Christopher Landon |
Written by | Christopher Landon |
Based on | Characters by Scott Lobdell |
Produced by | Jason Blum |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Toby Oliver |
Edited by | Ben Baudhuin |
Music by | Bear McCreary |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $9 million [1] |
Box office | $64.6 million [1] |
Happy Death Day 2U is a 2019 American science fiction black comedy slasher film written and directed by Christopher Landon. A sequel to Happy Death Day (2017), it stars Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Suraj Sharma, and Steve Zissis. The film again follows Tree Gelbman (Rothe), now trapped in the same time loop of a different iteration of her world. [2] Jason Blum again serves as a producer through his Blumhouse Productions company.
The film was released in the United States on February 13, 2019, by Universal Pictures. Like its predecessor, the film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Rothe's performance, as well as the film's shift to a more sci-fi tone, with some noting it was derivative of the first film. [3] It grossed $64 million worldwide against a $9 million budget.
One day after the events of Happy Death Day , college student Ryan Phan wakes up in his car on September 19. Returning to his dorm room, he walks in on his roommate Carter and Carter's girlfriend, Tree. He resumes work on an experimental quantum reactor with fellow students Samar and Dre to try to slow down time. After Bronson, the school dean, shuts down the project for causing several power outages and has shown to have no practical applications so far, Ryan is murdered by someone dressed as school mascot Babyface and wakes up again on the 19th. Tree explains her experience reliving September 18th, and she and Carter agree to help Ryan. They learn the reactor was responsible for creating the loop. The masked killer tracks Ryan down, but Tree unmasks him to reveal another Ryan. The second Ryan warns that the original must die for the loop to close. Terrified, Ryan activates the reactor, releasing an energy pulse that knocks everyone unconscious.
Tree wakes up in Carter's room on September 18 and relives her original time loop, but she soon realizes things are different after discovering that Carter is now dating Danielle. Ryan theorizes that the reactor caused Tree to drift into another dimension. When Tree learns her mother is still alive in this new reality, she wants to stay.
That night, Tree goes to the hospital to intercept serial killer John Tombs before he escapes, but she is confronted by a police officer. The killer kills the officer, and Tree runs into Lori at the elevator, realizing Lori is not the killer in this reality. Lori tells Tree that the killer cannot be Tombs because she just took him in for surgery. The killer stabs Lori, then chases Tree to the roof, where she accidentally falls to her death. She wakes at the beginning of her loop and demands that Ryan and his team help her escape it, requiring they test dozens of algorithms. At Carter's suggestion, Tree serves as the group's recorder, killing herself at the end of each day so they can start again. Eventually, her injuries catch up with her, and she faints. Waking up in the hospital, Tree steals a gun to go after Tombs, only to find Lori already dead. Tombs, disguised as Babyface, attacks, and Tree shoots him dead. However, a second Babyface killer appears, forcing Tree to kill herself and the killer.
The group finally discovers the correct algorithm, but a technical issue forces a delay. Faced with a choice of which reality she wants to be in when both time loops close, Tree decides to remain in the current dimension. Carter urges Tree to consider the consequences of living a life that is not truly hers and states that her experience with grief helped shape the person she is now. Tree hides from the killer in a hotel, but that evening, the news reports that Carter was murdered trying to save Lori at the hospital. Tree kills herself by exploding a power station, deactivating the reactor so she can save Carter and Lori. The loop restarts and Tree decides to return to her own reality. She advises Lori to end her affair with her professor Gregory Butler, discovers that Danielle is cheating on Carter, and has a final conversation with her mother.
Bronson confiscates the reactor before the group can activate it. Believing she is too weak to survive another loop, Tree insists they retrieve the device. The group enlists Danielle to distract Bronson while they recover the reactor. As Ryan readies the device, Tree goes to the hospital to rescue Lori from Tombs but is trapped by the second Babyface killer—revealed to be Dr. Butler trying to bury the evidence of his affair with Lori. Dr. Butler's wife Stephanie appears and shoots Lori, revealing she is in league with her husband, but he betrays and kills her as well. In the ensuing confrontation, Tree outsmarts Butler and kills him. Lori survives, and Tree and Carter kiss as the reactor activates, sending Tree back to her original dimension on September 19.
Later, Tree, Carter, Ryan, Samar, and Dre are escorted by agents to a DARPA laboratory, where the reactor has been moved for further experimentation. When the agents say they need a test subject in order to see how the machine works, Tree says she knows the perfect one. In her bedroom, Danielle wakes up, screaming in horror.
Ahead of the first film's release, director Christopher Landon talked about the possibility of a sequel, focusing on why Tree went into the time loop stating "The whole idea for my sequel is actually already in this movie". [10]
Actress Jessica Rothe in an interview in 2018 stated that while most horror sequels retread the original, Landon's pitch instead "elevates the movie from being a horror movie into a Back to the Future type of genre film where the sequel joins us right from where we left off, it explains a lot of things in the first one that didn't get explained, and it elevates everything." [11]
The sequel was officially announced with filming scheduled to begin on May 10, 2018. [12] [13]
Most of the original actors returned, including Rothe, Modine, Broussard, and Matthews. In addition, Suraj Sharma and Sarah Yarkin were cast. [14]
Principal photography on the film began on May 14, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana. [15] In November 2018, Ben Baudhuin was confirmed to be the film's editor. [16]
On February 15, 2019, Back Lot Music released the original motion picture soundtrack for the film, with music produced by Bear McCreary. The soundtrack did not feature Lizzo's cover of "Stayin' Alive".
All tracks are written by Bear McCreary
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Two Tuesdays" | 5:15 |
2. | "Stalker at the Gym" | 2:56 |
3. | "The Science Project" | 2:54 |
4. | "Monday the 18th Again" | 4:18 |
5. | "Danielle" | 2:24 |
6. | "A Reason to Stay" | 1:52 |
7. | "Back to the Hospital" | 3:18 |
8. | "Trail of Blood" | 4:48 |
9. | "Can't Save Everyone" | 2:24 |
10. | "Solving Equations" | 3:39 |
11. | "Electrical Substation" | 2:57 |
12. | "Living in the Past" | 2:03 |
13. | "Birthday Candles" | 6:19 |
14. | "The Heist" | 4:17 |
15. | "The Final Confrontation" | 8:49 |
16. | "Darpa" | 1:48 |
17. | "Happy Death Day 2U End Credits" | 4:49 |
Total length: | 64:50 |
On January 2, 2019, Back Lot Music released a cover of "Stayin' Alive" performed by Lizzo as a stand-alone promotional single for the movie. The song plays throughout the first set of end credits before the post-credit scene. [17]
Happy Death Day 2U was released on February 13, 2019. It was originally scheduled to be released one day later, on Valentine's Day. [18] However, the film was rescheduled after a request from Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime was a victim of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, which took place exactly one year prior. [19]
The film was released digitally on April 30, 2019, [20] and on Blu-ray and DVD on May 14. [21] [22] Distributor Shout! Factory released both Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U on 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray on May 31, 2022. The release included a new commentary track with director Christopher Landon and actress Jessica Rothe. [23]
Happy Death Day 2U grossed $28.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $36.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $64.5 million, against a production budget of $9 million. [1]
In the United States and Canada, Happy Death Day 2U was released alongside Isn't It Romantic , and was projected to gross $17–20 million from 3,207 theaters in its opening weekend. [24] Opening without Tuesday night previews, the film made $992,000 on its first day, Wednesday, and $2.7 million on Valentine's Day, Thursday, for a two-day total of $3.7 million. [25] It went on to debut to $9.8 million over the weekend (a five-day total of $13.5 million), finishing $3.5 million below expectations and fifth at the box office. [26] The film dropped 48% in its second weekend, making $5 million and finishing seventh. [27]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 209 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A funnier follow-up with a sci-fi bent, Happy Death Day 2U isn't as fiendishly fresh as its predecessor, but fans of the original may still find this a sequel worth celebrating." [28] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the first film, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 2.5 out of 5 stars. [25]
Kimber Myers, writing for the Los Angeles Times , said: "Happy Death Day 2U can't quite replicate the feelings of joy and discovery of the original, but Landon deserves credit for varying the tune, while still playing the hits that will please the fans of its predecessor." [30] Meg Downey, critic for IGN , praised the film, grading it an 8.5/10 and writing, "Happy Death Day 2U deserves a healthy amount of praise for pushing its pedal to the metal all the way through. The level of risk-taking is refreshing, even when it's not completely successful at every single turn." [31]
On February 26, 2019, Blumhouse Books released a novelization written by Aaron Hartzler titled Happy Death Day & Happy Death Day 2U, to coincide with the second film's release. [32]
Regarding the possibility of a third film, writer and director Christopher Landon has stated that he "definitely [has an idea for] the third movie in [his] head", while producer Jason Blum has said that if "enough people see this movie, we're gonna make a third movie, we want to make a third movie". [33] [34] In March 2019, following the film's less-than-projected box office gross, Blum said a third film was "not very [likely] but not impossible". [35] In July 2019, Landon confirmed that a third film is not in development. [36] In August 2019, Landon stated he had an outline written for the third film and believed he would eventually share it in some medium, be it another movie or not. [37] In 2020, Blum said that while other studios would have cancelled a follow-up to Happy Death Day 2U following its financial underperformance, a third movie "is still on my radar in some shape or form". [38] He later clarified that he was hard at work to get a deal done to make the film. [39]
In September 2020, Landon confirmed a third film, tentatively titled Happy Death Day to Us, was in active development, with Rothe reprising her role. [40] In November 2020, Landon stated that an outline for the script was ready to go and was awaiting approval from Universal. [41] In an interview with Screen Rant in February 2023, Landon confirmed he had pitched a third film. [42]
Christopher Beau Landon is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter best known for working in the horror and comedy horror genres.
Suraj Sharma is an Indian actor who made his debut in the 2012 film Life of Pi. Directed by Ang Lee, the film was adapted from the novel of the same name, and earned Sharma critical acclaim as well as a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination. In 2014, he portrayed Aayan Ibrahim in season 4 of the Showtime series Homeland. From 2018 to 2020, he starred as Rakesh Singh in the CBS comedy-drama series God Friended Me.
Blumhouse Productions, LLC, doing business as Blumhouse, is an American independent film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum and Amy Israel.
Jason Ferus Blum is an American producer. He is founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, which has produced the horror franchises Paranormal Activity (2007–2021), Insidious (2010–2023), The Purge (2013–2021), and Halloween (2018–2022). Blum has also produced Sinister (2012), Oculus (2013), Whiplash (2014), The Gallows (2015), The Gift (2015), Hush (2016), Split (2016), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Get Out (2017), Happy Death Day (2017), Upgrade (2018), Us (2019), The Invisible Man (2020), Freaky (2020), The Black Phone (2021), M3GAN (2022), Five Nights at Freddy's (2023), and Speak No Evil (2024).
Isaiah Israel Broussard is an American actor. He made his film debut in the comedy-drama Flipped, and is known for his roles in the crime film The Bling Ring (2013), the drama Perfect High (2015), the thriller H8RZ (2015), the comedy Good Kids (2016), the slasher film Happy Death Day (2017) as well as its 2019 sequel Happy Death Day 2U, and the teen romance film To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018).
Halloween is a 2018 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green, and co-written by Green, Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride. It is the eleventh installment in the Halloween film series and a sequel to the 1978 film of the same name, while disregarding all previous sequels. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis who reprises her role as Laurie Strode. James Jude Courtney portrays Michael Myers, with Nick Castle returning to the role for a cameo. Halloween also stars Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, and Virginia Gardner. Its plot follows a post-traumatic Laurie Strode who prepares to face an escaped Michael Myers in a final showdown on Halloween night, forty years after she survived his killing spree.
Happy Death Day is a 2017 American black comedy slasher film directed by Christopher Landon and written by Scott Lobdell. It stars Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard. The film follows college student Tree Gelbman, who is murdered on the night of her birthday but begins reliving the day repeatedly, at which point she sets out to find the killer and stop her death. Jason Blum serves as a producer through his Blumhouse Productions company.
Truth or Dare, also known as Blumhouse's Truth or Dare, is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Jeff Wadlow. The film stars Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Landon Liboiron as a group of college students who play a game of truth or dare while on vacation in Mexico, only to realize it has deadly consequences if they do not follow through on their obligations. Jason Blum produced through his Blumhouse Productions banner, and Universal Pictures distributed the film.
Ruby Wylder Rivera Modine is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Sierra Morton in Shameless, and co-starring in the 2017 slasher film Happy Death Day as well as in its sequel as Lori Spengler. She is the lead singer of the band Ruby Modine and the Disease.
Jessica Ann Rothenberg, known professionally as Jessica Rothe, is an American actress. After appearing in independent films and on stage, her breakthrough came with playing Tree Gelbman in the comedy slasher film Happy Death Day (2017) and its 2019 sequel, which established her as a scream queen.
Ma is a 2019 American psychological horror film directed by Tate Taylor and written by Scotty Landes. It stars Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, McKaley Miller and Luke Evans and follows a group of teenagers who befriend a lonely middle-aged woman. She lets them party in her basement, and they end up being terrorized by her. The film was produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions company, along with Taylor and John Norris.
Theresa "Tree" Gelbman is a fictional character in Christopher Landon's slasher film Happy Death Day (2017) and its sequel, Happy Death Day 2U (2019). She was created by writer Scott Lobdell and portrayed by Jessica Rothe in both of her performances. Gelbman's storyline revolves around her being murdered on the night of her birthday and finding herself reliving the day repeatedly. She uses this as an opportunity to figure out her killer's identity and prevent her death from ever occurring.
The Invisible Man is a 2020 science fiction horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell. Loosely based on H. G. Wells's 1897 novel, it is a reboot of the 1933 film of the same name. It stars Elisabeth Moss as a woman who believes she is being stalked and gaslit by her ex-boyfriend after he acquires the ability to become invisible. Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, and Michael Dorman appear in supporting roles.
Black Christmas is a 2019 slasher film directed by Sophia Takal, and written by Takal and April Wolfe. Part of the Black Christmas series, it is the loose second remake of the 1974 Canadian film of the same name, after the 2006 film and follows a group of sorority sisters at Hawthorne College as they are preyed upon by an unknown stalker. The film stars Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Lily Donoghue, Brittany O'Grady, Caleb Eberhardt and Cary Elwes.
Freaky is a 2020 American black comedy slasher film directed by Christopher Landon from a screenplay by Michael Kennedy and Landon. A twist on Freaky Friday, it stars Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Katie Finneran, Celeste O'Connor, and Alan Ruck. The film centers on a teenage girl who unintentionally switches bodies with a middle-aged male serial killer. Jason Blum serves as a producer under his Blumhouse Productions company.
All My Life is a 2020 American romantic drama film directed by Marc Meyers, from a screenplay by Todd Rosenberg, based on the true story of Solomon Chau and Jennifer Carter, a young couple that rushes to put their wedding together after Solomon is diagnosed with liver cancer. The film stars Jessica Rothe, Harry Shum Jr., Kyle Allen, Chrissie Fit, Jay Pharoah, Marielle Scott, and Keala Settle.
Rachel Matthews is an American actress. She is known for starring in the film Happy Death Day and its sequel, Happy Death Day 2U.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin is a 2021 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by William Eubank, written by Christopher Landon, and produced by Jason Blum and series creator Oren Peli. Serving as the seventh installment of the Paranormal Activity series, the film stars Emily Bader, Roland Buck III, Dan Lippert, Henry Ayres-Brown, and Tom Nowicki, and follows a group who attempt to make a documentary on an Amish community, only for them to discover the horrific secrets the town holds.
John Baldecchi is a film producer known for The Mexican (2001) and Point Break (2015). He is an executive producer on Happy Death Day (2017) and the sequel, Happy Death Day 2U (2019) along with Jason Blum with Blumhouse Productions and Universal Studios.