A Monster Calls

2016 ‧ Fantasy/Drama film ‧ 1h 48m

Recent release :January 6,2017 (USA)

Initial release: October 7, 2016 (Spain)

Director: J. A. Bayona

Featured song: Tear Up This Town

Box office: 30.2 million USD

Music director: Fernando Velázquez

IMDB Ratings : 7.7/10

Starring : Sigourney Weaver , Felicity Jones , Toby Kebbell , Lewis MacDougall , Liam Neeson

ABOUT

A Monster Calls is a 2016 fantasy drama film directed by J. A. Bayona and written by Patrick Ness, based on his novel. It stars Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, Lewis MacDougall and Liam Neeson.

The film premiered on September 10, 2016 at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. It was then released in Spain on October 7, 2016 and had a limited release in the United States on December 23, 2016 by Focus Features, and in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2017 by Entertainment One and Lionsgate. It will have a wide release in the United States on January 6, 2017.

PLOT

Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is a young boy who tries to deal with the terminal illness of his mother (Felicity Jones) and the attacks by local school bully Harry (James Melville). One night, Conor encounters a "monster" (Liam Neeson) in the form of a giant humanoid yew tree who has come to tell him stories and soon begins to help Conor fix his unhappy life.

PRODUCTION

Focus Features bought the rights to the book in March 2014 Patrick Ness, the book's author, served as the film's screenwriter with J. A. Bayona hired as director. On April 23, 2014 Felicity Jones joined the film to play the boy's mother. On May 8, Liam Neeson joined the film to voice the Monster. On August 18, Sigourney Weaver joined to play the boy's grandmother.On August 19, Toby Kebbell also joined the film. On September 3, author Ness tweeted that Lewis MacDougall had been set for the lead role in the film. On September 30, Geraldine Chaplin joined the cast.

Filming

Principal photography began on September 30, 2014, in Spain and England. On October 9, the filming began on location in Preston, Lancashire, Horwich Bolton, Manchester and Marsden Denshaw.

Liam Neeson, who voices the titular tree creature, was not on set throughout the shooting process but completed his motion-capture performance during a two-week period beforehand with MacDougall in the room.

RELEASE

Originally scheduled for an October 2016 release, the film was later delayed in order to avoid competition from Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Boo! A Madea Halloween, Ouija: Origin of Evil and Keeping Up with the Joneses and was re-scheduled for a limited roll out on December 23, 2016, followed by a wide release on January 6, 2017.The film was released in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2017, by Entertainment One and Lionsgate.The film will be released in India on January 6, 2017, by B4U Relativity.