A Monster Calls

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Juan Antonio Bayona to Helm A Monster Calls





River Road Entertainment, Participant Media, Lionsgate International, and Focus Features have teamed to finance and distribute Apache�s production of acclaimed filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona�s next film, A Monster Calls, based on the award-winning children�s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness (the "Chaos Walking" trilogy), the companies announced today. The film will be produced by Belen Atienza (The Impossible, Pan�s Labyrinth, The Orphanage) and is slated for a fall 2016 release.

Bayona won Spain�s equivalent of the Academy Award, The Goya, for his last film, The Impossible, which was distributed by Lionsgate�s Summit label and grossed more than $180 million at the worldwide box office. The Impossible is the second highest-grossing film of all time in Spain.

A Monster Calls is a visually distinctive drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother�s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith. Ness wrote the novel based on an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, and he and illustrator Jim Kay won Britain�s prestigious Carnegie Medal and Greenaway Medal in 2012, presented to the year’s best children�s literature in the UK. Ness is adapting the screenplay from his novel. Executive Producers on the film are River Road�s Bill Pohlad and Mitch Horwits, Participant�s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King, and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Patrick Wachsberger.

"It is an incredible privilege to bring Patrick Ness' exceptional book to the screen and I couldn't have imagined better partners joining me in this endeavor. After 'The Orphanage' and 'The Impossible,' 'A Monster Calls' is the perfect final chapter in a trilogy centered on the extraordinary strength of the mother-child bond," said Bayona.

"We're pleased to join with our friends at Participant, River Road and Focus Features in financing and distributing this cherished and compelling property that has already earned a tremendous following in the world of children�s literature," said Wachsberger. "We�re delighted to reunite with the creative forces behind our worldwide hit 'The Impossible,' and there is nobody better suited to creating the fantastical world of 'A Monster Calls' than the visionary filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona."

River Road Entertainment�s Founder and CEO Bill Pohlad added, "River Road has collaborated to great success with Participant, Lionsgate International and Focus Features on several films, and we look forward to uniting for this distinguished project, which is in line with our effort to support captivating storytelling and incredibly talented filmmakers, like Juan Antonio Bayona."

Participant's EVP of Production Jonathan King said, "All of us at Participant are thrilled to be in such good company for this deeply moving tale about the power of storytelling, which could not be more perfectly aligned with our mission."

Focus Features CEO Peter Schlessel continued, "Juan Antonio Bayona is a filmmaker whose storytelling skills and stunning visuals are truly distinctive. He captures emotional truths amidst fantastical and terrifying situations, making him the ideal director to bring this acclaimed novel to a wide audience. I am pleased to make this our first co-production as CEO of Focus Features."

A Monster Calls will be distributed by Focus Features domestically, Universal Pictures International for its theatrical and home entertainment release in Spain and Lionsgate International throughout the rest of the world.

 

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Focus Features Sets A Monster Calls for October 14, 2016

Source: Focus Features
April 9, 2014




Focus Features has set director Juan Antonio Bayona's A Monster Calls for a wide release on October 14, 2016. Based on the award-winning children�s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness (the "Chaos Walking" trilogy), the film will be produced by Belen Atienza.

A Monster Calls is a drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother�s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith. Ness wrote the novel based on an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, and he and illustrator Jim Kay won Britain�s prestigious Carnegie Medal and Greenaway Medal in 2012, presented to the year�s best children�s literature in the UK.

Ness is adapting the screenplay from his novel with River Road�s Bill Pohlad and Mitch Horwits, Participant Media�s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King, and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Patrick Wachsberger executive producing.

A Monster Calls currently has no competition that weekend. In fact, it's the first film that has been officially dated for that entire month.

 

[kickass]

This should be a fairly easy adaptation to make. I read the book a couple of months ago and it felt like it would be pretty easy to translate on screen. It's pretty good, a more kid-friendly version of Pan's Labyrinth if you will.

 

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Felicity Jones Joins A Monster Calls, Liam Neeson Eyed

Source: Deadline
April 23, 2014


The Amazing Spider-Man 2 star Felicity Jones is the first to join the cast of Focus Features' A Monster Calls. Deadline reports that Jones will play "Mum" in director Juan Antonio Bayona's take on the award-winning children�s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness. What's more, the outlet reports that Liam Neeson is being sought to play the title monster.

A Monster Calls is a drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother�s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith. Ness wrote the novel based on an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, and he and illustrator Jim Kay won Britain�s prestigious Carnegie Medal and Greenaway Medal in 2012, presented to the year�s best children�s literature in the UK.

Ness is adapting the screenplay from his novel with River Road�s Bill Pohlad and Mitch Horwits, Participant Media�s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King, and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Patrick Wachsberger executive producing. Belen Atienza will produce.

A Monster Calls is slated to hit theaters October 14.

 

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Liam Neeson to Star in Juan Antonio Bayona's A Monster Calls

Source: Screen Daily
May 8, 2014




Liam Neeson will play the title character in director Juan Antonio Bayona's A Monster Calls, an adaptation of the award-winning children�s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness.

A Monster Calls is a drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother�s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith.

Ness adapted the screenplay for Focus Features' October 14, 2016 release, which also stars Felicity Jones.

 

[Octoberist]

Felciity Jones looks so young to be the mom. She'll look like the older sister.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Depends on how old the kid is, she could have gotten pregnant young in the story.

 

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A Monster Calls and Sigourney Weaver Answers

Source: The Hollywood Reporter
August 18, 2014


Sigourney Weaver has joined the cast of Juan Antonio Bayona's A Monster Calls, an adaptation of the award-winning children�s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the Avatar star will join the previously-attached Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones.

A Monster Calls is a drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother�s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith.

Weaver, who can soon be seen reteaming with director Ridley Scott for Exodus: Gods and Kings, will play the boy's grandmother with whom the boy comes to live.

Ness adapted the screenplay for A Monster Calls, which will hit theaters October 14, 2016.

 

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The Fantastic Four's Toby Kebbell Eyes A Monster Calls

Source: The Hollywood Reporter
August 19, 2014





On the heels of yesterday's report of Sigourney Weaver's involvement in the film comes an update from The Hollywood Reporter that Toby Kebbell, who plays Doctor Doom in the upcoming The Fantastic Four, will star in Juan Antonio Bayona's A Monster Calls, an adaptation of the award-winning children�s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness. Also attached are Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones.

A Monster Calls is a drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother�s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith.

Kebbell, who starred earlier this year in Matt Reeves' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, will play the boy's father.

Ness adapted the screenplay for A Monster Calls, which will hit theaters October 14, 2016.

 

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"A Monster Calls" Begins Production

By Press Release Tuesday September 30th 2014 12:32PM
Production has begun on "A Monster Calls," directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, Goya Award-winning director of the worldwide smash The Impossible. Participant Media and River Road Entertainment are financing the Apaches Entertainment production, in association with Telecinco Cinema and La Trini Films. The film, adapted by Patrick Ness from his award-winning children's fantasy novel, will be released by Focus Features domestically; Universal Pictures International for its theatrical and home entertainment release in Spain; and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) International is handling foreign sales throughout the rest of the world. A Monster Calls is slated for a fall 2016 release. "A Monster Calls" is a visually spectacular drama about 12-year-old Conor (newcomer Lewis MacDougall) who attempts to deal with his mother's (Felicity Jones, who stars in Focus' fall release The Theory of Everything) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss and faith. The cast also includes Academy Award nominees Liam Neeson, who will star in performance-capture and voiceover as the nocturnally visiting monster of the title, and Sigourney Weaver, who will portray Conor's maternal grandmother; Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), as Conor's father; and Geraldine Chaplin, who is making her third movie with Mr. Bayona. The new film is being produced by Belén Atienza, who was a producer on Mr. Bayona's The Impossible, released by Lionsgate's Summit label, and The Orphanage; and an executive producer on Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, which won three Academy Awards. Mr. Bayona won a Goya Award, Spain's Oscars equivalent, for The Impossible, which grossed more than $180 million at the worldwide box office and which earned actress Naomi Watts an Academy Award nomination. Mr. Ness wrote the novel based on an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd. Published in almost 30 languages, the novel has won many prestigious prizes worldwide, including the distinguished Carnegie Medal and, for illustrator Jim Kay, the Kate Greenaway Medal. A Monster Calls is being executive-produced by Participant's Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King; River Road's Bill Pohlad and Mitch Horwits; Mr. Ness; and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Patrick Wachsberger. Principal photography will take place in both Spain and England. "A Monster Calls is a beloved and iconic book, and I'm thrilled at the opportunity to create a world of monsters and fantasy that does it justice," said Mr. Bayona remarked, "I'm also delighted to rejoin much of my creative team from The Impossible, and I couldn't ask for a more talented and prestigious cast, and a more supportive group of studio partners, to help bring this incredible project to the screen." The creative team on A Monster Calls also includes production designer Eugenio Caballero, an Academy Award winner for Pan's Labyrinth who previously collaborated with the director on The Impossible; costume designer Steven Noble (The Theory of Everything); and cinematographer Óscar Faura, who shot both The Impossible and The Orphanage for Mr. Bayona. Ms. Atienza added, "Juan Antonio's interpretation will bring this story into his own territory. Once again, we are making a movie with both huge technical challenges and a very intimate story that requires great sensitivity."
Source: Focus Features

 

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A Monster Calls Teaser Trailer: Liam Neeson to the Rescue

http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/tr...er-trailer-liam-neeson-to-the-rescue#/slide/1

 

[chamber-music]

Liam Neeson did an interview the other day and said this is one of the movies he is most proud of being in

 

[Lencho01]

Looks pretty interesting.

 

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New A Monster Calls Trailer Puts Its Foot Down

http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/trailers/675693-new-a-monster-calls-trailer

 

[Doctor Jones]

This looks great.

 

[Lencho01]

Looks cool.

 

[Kyle]

Just started reading this, 40 pages in and if not in public I'd be crying hard right now. Wow. This is amazing.

 

[Kyle]

Finished reading the book as well as the screenplay, both were beyond excellent. If the director and cast pull through, this is truly going to be one of the special films of the year. I can see it earning academy award nominations like 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' and 'The Lovely Bones.'

 

[Doctor Jones]

Lovely Bones was awful. My God.

 

[Kyle]

I thought it was okay. This film.is more like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close meets James amd the Giant Peach in a way. Listed more because it and ECAIL are the only similar movies I know the last couple of years that garnered academy award attention like I see this doing.

Spoiler

The film portrays a great look at cancer and a family breaking apart through a kid's eyes. In a way it's also a devastating loss of childhood. Having dealt with my grandmother dying from cancer earlier this year the story really strikes a chord with me. The way it's presented is hauntingly beautiful and poetic that it stays with you. I can see Sigourney Weaver (a mother who loses her daughter and has to try to keep everything together for her grandson, despite him fighting her on it every step of the way) and the boy being nominated because emotionally there's a lot he has to bring acrosd, also potential for screenplay. Maybe even film, depending on the director.

 

[Kyle]

NEW TRAILER:



I'm going to really be emotional seeing this movie, the trailer even makes me cry. Betting right now it's going to be my second favorite movie of the year (first being Sing Street, could even be a tie) - they just seem to have captured everything right. I'm going to put in another academy award category for this now - art direction. I still see this film as being a very strong contender for best adapted screenplay as well as acting nominations because of what's called for emotionally from all of the actors and actresses in this film.

 

[LoganGambit87]

 

[terry78]

Very well done CG, though I will never not hear Neeson as "retired badass father".

 

[Lencho01]

Still looks cool to me.

 

[Quasimod0]

I've never heard of this movie until today, but it looks very good. And the monster looks like a giant Groot (which would be awesome to see).