Don't Look Up | |
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Directed by | Adam McKay |
Screenplay by | Adam McKay |
Story by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Linus Sandgren |
Edited by | Hank Corwin |
Music by | Nicholas Britell |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
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Running time | 138 minutes[2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $75 million[3] |
Box office | $783,105[4][5] |
Don't Look Up is a 2021 American science fiction film written, produced, and directed by Adam McKay (who was assisted in the producing by Kevin Messick), and starring an ensemble cast consisting of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep. It tells the story of two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization. The impact event is an allegory for climate change, and the film is a satire of government and media indifference to the climate crisis.[6]
Produced by Hyperobject Industries and Bluegrass Films, the film was announced in November 2019 and sold by Paramount Pictures to Netflix several months later. Lawrence became the first member of the cast to join, with DiCaprio signing on after his discussions with McKay on adjustments to the script; the rest of the cast was added through 2020. Filming was initially set to begin in April 2020 around the U.S. state of Massachusetts but was delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; it eventually began in November 2020 and wrapped up in February 2021.
Don't Look Up began a limited theatrical release on December 10, 2021, before streaming on Netflix on December 24. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast but were divided on the merits of McKay's satire; some found it deft, while others criticized it as smug and heavy-handed. Despite the critical reception, the film was named one of the top ten of 2021 by the National Board of Review and American Film Institute. It received four nominations at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, and six at the 27th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture. Don't Look Up set a new record for the most viewing hours in a single week on Netflix, and is currently the second most-watched film on Netflix within 28 days of release.
Kate Dibiasky, a Michigan State University astronomy Ph.D. candidate doing work with the Subaru Telescope, discovers a previously unknown comet just inside of Jupiter's orbit at 4.6 au from the Sun. Her professor Dr. Randall Mindy calculates that it will impact Earth in about six months and is large enough to cause a planet-wide extinction event, as NASA internally confirms. Accompanied by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office head Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe, Dibiasky and Mindy present their findings to the White House. They are met with apathy from President Janie Orlean and her son Chief of Staff Jason.
Oglethorpe urges Dibiasky and Mindy to leak the news to the media, and they do so on a morning talk show. When hosts Jack Bremmer and Brie Evantee treat the topic frivolously, Dibiasky loses her composure and rants about the threat, prompting widespread online mockery. Dibiasky's boyfriend publicly denounces her while Mindy receives public approval for his looks. The actual news about the comet's threat receives little public attention and is denied by Orlean's Director of NASA, a top donor to Orlean with no background in astronomy. When Orlean is involved in a sex scandal with her Supreme Court nominee, she diverts attention and improves her approval ratings by confirming the threat of the comet announcing a project to strike and divert the comet using nuclear weapons.
The mission successfully launches, but Orlean abruptly aborts it when Peter Isherwell, the billionaire CEO of tech company BASH and another top donor, discovers that the comet contains trillions of dollars worth of rare-earth elements. The White House agrees to commercially exploit the comet by fragmenting and recovering it from the ocean using new technology proposed by BASH's Nobel Laureates in a scheme that has not undergone scholarly peer review. The White House sidelines Dibiasky and Oglethorpe while hiring Mindy as the National Science Advisor to co-opt him. Dibiasky tries to mobilize public opposition to the scheme but gives up under threat from Orlean's administration. Mindy becomes a prominent voice advocating for the comet's commercial opportunities and begins an affair with Evantee.
World opinion is divided among those who demand destruction of the comet, those who decry alarmism and believe that mining the comet will create jobs, and those who deny that the comet even exists. Dibiasky returns home to Illinois and begins a fatalistic relationship with Yule, a shoplifter she meets at her retail job. After Mindy's wife confronts him about his infidelity, she returns to Michigan without him. Mindy, becoming angry and frustrated with the administration, rants on live television, criticizing Orlean for downplaying the impending apocalypse and questioning humanity's indifference.
Cut off from the administration, Mindy reconciles with Dibiasky as the comet becomes visible from Earth. Mindy, Dibiasky, and Oglethorpe organize a protest campaign on social media against Orlean and BASH telling people to "Just Look Up" and call on other countries to conduct comet interception operations of their own. China, India, and Russia have been cut out of the comet mining deal, so they prepare a joint effort to deflect the comet, but an explosion destroys their spacecraft, leaving Mindy distraught. BASH's attempt at breaking the comet apart also goes awry, and everyone realizes that humanity is doomed.
Isherwell, Orlean, and others in their elite circle board a sleeper spaceship designed to find an Earth-like planet, inadvertently leaving Jason behind. Orlean offers Mindy two places on the ship, but he declines, choosing to spend a final evening with his family, Dibiasky, Oglethorpe, and Yule. As expected, the comet hits Earth, causing a worldwide disaster and triggering an extinction-level event.
In the mid-credits, the 2,000 people who left Earth before the impact land on a lush alien planet 22,740 years later, ending their cryogenic sleep. They exit their spacecraft naked and mostly empty-handed, admiring the habitable world. Orlean is killed by the bird-like Bronteroc as Isherwell advises everyone not to pet the approaching Bronterocs.
A post-credits scene shows Jason emerging from the rubble, having survived the comet, calling for his mother, and trying to post on social media using his phone.
Additionally, Robert Hurst Radochia and Conor Sweeney appear as Randall and June's sons, Evan and Marshall Mindy. Hettienne Park appears as Dr. Calder, the Head of NASA, while Ishaan Khatter appears as Raghav Manavalan, an online video streamer.[9] There are cameo appearances by Liev Schreiber as the BASH narrator, journalist Ashleigh Banfield as Dalia Hensfield, Sarah Silverman as Sarah Benterman, and Chris Evans (uncredited) as film actor Devin Peters.[10]
Produced by Hyperobject Industries and Bluegrass Films, the film was announced in November 2019 and sold by Paramount Pictures to Netflix several months later. Lawrence became the first member of the cast to join, with DiCaprio signing on after his discussions with McKay on adjustments to the script; the rest of the cast was added through 2020. Filming was initially set to begin in April 2020 around the U.S. state of Massachusetts but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it eventually began in November 2020 and wrapped up in February 2021.
This movie came from my burgeoning terror about the climate crisis and the fact that we live in a society that tends to place it as the fourth or fifth news story, or in some cases even deny that it's happening, and how horrifying that is, but at the same time preposterously funny.[11]
— Adam McKay, writer, director, and producer of Don't Look Up
After Vice was released, David Sirota asked Adam McKay to use his "superpowers of humor and writing" to create a climate change movie that would be different from the Mad Max-type post-apocalyptic films that had previously been released.[12] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, McKay described how he and Sirota came up with the premise of Don't Look Up while discussing the existential threat of climate change and their frustration over the lack of media coverage it was receiving:
I started talking to a lot of [climate] scientists. I kept looking for good news, and I never got it. Everything I was hearing was worse than what I was hearing on the mainstream media. So I was talking to [David Sirota], and we were both just like, "can you believe that this isn't being covered in the media? That it's being pushed to the end of the story? That there's no headlines?" And Sirota just offhandedly said, "it's like a comet is heading to Earth and it's going to destroy us all and no one cares." And I was like, "that's the idea!"[13]
McKay has described the film as a "blend of broad comedy" with elements of disaster films and horror films.[14]
Astronomer Amy Mainzer, principal investigator of NASA's NEOWISE mission that tracks Near-Earth objects, served as an "astrotech adviser" for the film. She provided scientific advice and supported with writing scenes from an early stage of production.[15][16]
On November 8, 2019, it was announced that Paramount Pictures would distribute the film, with Adam McKay writing, directing, and producing under his Hyperobject Industries banner.[17] On February 19, 2020, Netflix acquired the film from Paramount and Jennifer Lawrence was cast in the film.[18] On May 12, 2020, it was announced that Cate Blanchett had joined the film.[19] In September 2020, Rob Morgan joined the cast.[20] In October 2020, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Himesh Patel, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, and Tomer Sisley were added.[21][22] McKay wrote the part of Dibiasky specifically for Lawrence, and spent four to five months going over ideas with DiCaprio, tweaking the script before the actor ultimately signed on.[23] In November 2020, Tyler Perry, Melanie Lynskey, and Ron Perlman joined the cast.[24] Mark Rylance, and Michael Chiklis were revealed as part of the cast in February 2021.[25] Paul Guilfoyle was announced in May.[26] Matthew Perry had scenes filmed with Hill that were ultimately cut from the final film.[27]
Principal photography was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] Filming commenced on November 18, 2020, at various locations in Boston, Massachusetts.[29] Part of the film takes place in New York City with Boston standing in as New York. Filming also took place in other Massachusetts cities including Brockton, Framingham, and Westborough.[a][30][31] On February 5, 2021, Jennifer Lawrence was mildly injured during filming when a controlled glass explosion went awry.[32] On February 18, 2021, principal photography wrapped.[33]
To promote the film, Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi released the single "Just Look Up" in December 3, 2021, a song that also features a performance in the movie.[34]
On February 19, 2020, it was announced Netflix planned to release the film in 2020.[18] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming and release of the film were delayed.[35] The film premiered in New York City on December 5, 2021.[36] It received a limited theatrical release on December 10, and began streaming on Netflix on December 24.[37][38]
Don't Look Up was the most-streamed English-language film on Netflix during the week of December 20–26, 2021 with a viewership of 111.03 million hours,[39] the second highest viewership for a movie during its debut weekend on Netflix.[40] It was the second most-streamed-film of the week in the United States according to TV Time.[41] In the second week, it retained its first position with a viewership of 152.29 million hours,[42] which also set the record for highest weekly viewership for any film ever on Netflix.[43][44] The film retained its position on Netflix in third week with a viewership of 58.2 million hours.[45] It is currently the second most-watched Netflix film within 28 days of release.[46]
The film made an estimated $260,000 from 500 theaters on its first day, and a total of $700,000 in its opening weekend.[47]
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Critic reviews of the film have been mixed. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 55% of 260 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Don't Look Up aims too high for its scattershot barbs to consistently land, but Adam McKay's star-studded satire hits its target of collective denial square on."[48] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100 based on 50 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[49]
The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle praised the film and wrote, "Don't Look Up might be the funniest movie of 2021. It's the most depressing too, and that odd combination makes for a one-of-a-kind experience. Writer-director Adam McKay gives you over two hours of laughs while convincing you that the world is coming to an end."[50] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and said: "From Streep and DiCaprio and Lawrence through the supporting players, Don't Look Up is filled with greatly talented actors really and truly selling this material—but the volume remains at 11 throughout the story when some changes in tone here and there might have more effectively carried the day."[51] Reviewing the film for the Los Angeles Times, Justin Chang wrote, "Nothing about the foolishness and outrageousness of what the movie shows us—no matter how virtuosically sliced and diced by McKay's characteristically jittery editor, Hank Corwin—can really compete with the horrors of our real-world American idiocracy."[52] Amit Katwala of Wired concluded that "Don't Look Up nails the frustration of being a scientist."[53] Linda Marric of The Jewish Chronicle gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "There is something genuinely endearing about a film that doesn't seem to care one bit about coming across as silly as long as its message is heard".[54] Shruti Kotiya of Sportskeeda, suggests that "Don't Look Up also feels similar to Mike Judge's Idiocracy, which is set in 2505 America, where mindless entertainment and violence are what really matter. It also sheds light on how the world's collective IQ has hit its lowest, which is why Don't Look Up is like a 21st-century version of it."[55]
In a negative review, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "A cynical, insufferably smug satire stuffed to the gills with stars that purports to comment on political and media inattention to the climate crisis but really just trivializes it. Dr. Strangelove it ain't."[56] Peter Debruge of Variety called the film a "smug, easy-target political satire" and wrote, "Don't Look Up plays like the leftie answer to Armageddon—which is to say, it ditches the Bruckheimer approach of assembling a bunch of blue-collar heroes to rocket out to space and nuke the approaching comet, opting instead to spotlight the apathy, incompetence and financial self-interest of all involved."[57] Charles Bramesco, in The Guardian, wrote that the "script states the obvious as if everyone else is too stupid to realize it and does so from a position of lofty superiority that would drive away any partisans who still need to be won over."[58] Madeline Fry Schultz of the American conservative publication Washington Examiner wrote that "McKay manages to deliver nothing more than a derivative and meandering "satire" of capitalism, Donald Trump, and climate deniers that will be forgotten in less than six months."[59] Kyle Smith of American conservative publication National Review wrote that the film "expends 140 brain-injuriously unfunny minutes... propelling low-velocity spitballs at social media, Washington, tech moguls, Trumpism, and (this detail feels thrown in at the last minute) anti-vaxxers."[60]
Nathan J. Robinson, editor of Current Affairs, believes that "critics were not only missing the point of the film in important ways, but that the very way they discussed the film exemplified the problem that the film was trying to draw attention to. Some of the responses to the movie could have appeared in the movie itself".[61] Catherine Bennett similarly viewed the film as astute and was caustic about the critical reviews.[62] Writing for the American socialist publication Jacobin, Branko Marcetic says that the plot of the film, while absurd, hardly exaggerates, noting that "much of our political elite are just as greedy and foolish, our media just as vapid, and our response to impending disaster exactly as mind-bogglingly irrational as in the movie."[63] British journalist and environmental activist George Monbiot wrote in The Guardian that "no wonder journalists have slated it … it's about them" and added that for environmental activists like himself, the film, while fast‑paced and humorous, "seemed all too real".[64] In contrast, Paul Tassi of Forbes argues that critics can and should examine the artistic standards and underlying message separately and then goes on to describe the film as "somewhat condescending".[65]
Since the film's release, numerous climate scientists and climate communicators have offered positive opinions on the film.[66][67][68]
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, climate scientist Peter Kalmus remarked, "Don't Look Up is satire. But speaking as a climate scientist doing everything I can to wake people up and avoid planetary destruction, it's also the most accurate film about society's terrifying non-response to climate breakdown I've seen."[69] Climate scientist Michael E. Mann also expressed support for the film, calling it "serious sociopolitical commentary posing as comedy".[70] In an article for Scientific American, Rebecca Oppenheimer criticized the film's attempts at satirizing climate change, but praised its depiction of science denialism.[71]
One of the scenes in the film was compared on social media to a situation in Brazil, in which Natália Pasternak Taschner criticized, while on a live broadcast in December 2020, a report on TV Cultura that told the population to face the COVID-19 pandemic with "lightness".[72] Hearing about the comparisons, Pasternak thanked McKay, DiCaprio and Lawrence on Twitter with the video subtitled in English to thank them for the "incredible" film.[73]
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