| Monster Trucks | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster bySteven Chorney | |
| Directed by | Chris Wedge |
| Screenplay by | Derek Connolly |
| Story by | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Don Burgess |
| Edited by | Conrad Buff IV |
| Music by | Dave Sardy |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 105 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $125 million[2] |
| Box office | $64.5 million[3] |
Monster Trucks is a 2016 Americanlive-action animatedmonstercomedy film produced byParamount Animation,Nickelodeon Movies andDisruption Entertainment forParamount Pictures. It was directed byChris Wedge, in both his live-action directorial debut and first directorial effort outside of his own companyBlue Sky Studios, and written byDerek Connolly, from a story byMatthew Robinson,Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.[4] The film starsLucas Till,Jane Levy,Amy Ryan,Rob Lowe,Danny Glover,Barry Pepper,Thomas Lennon, andHolt McCallany, and follows Tripp Coley, a young junkyard employee who finds a subterranean creature living in his truck.
The film was first released on December 21, 2016, in France, then on January 13, 2017, in the United States. It received mixed reviews from critics and was considered by analysts to be abox-office bomb, grossing $64.5 million worldwide against a $125 million budget.[5][6][7]
Terravex Oil is in the midst of afracking operation inNorth Dakota, overseen by CEO Reece Tenneson andgeologist Jim Dowd. The operation releases a trio of squid-like creatures from underground and destroys thedrilling rig. Two are captured by Terravex, but one of them escapes. Meanwhile, high school senior Tripp Coley has taken up a job at ajunkyard, where he builds apickup truck in hopes of being able to leave his town, but the truck lacks a workingdrivetrain. One night, Tripp encounters the escaped creature in the junkyard and captures it, but the creature escapes before he can seek authorities.
The next day, Tripp discovers that the creature feeds onoil and has taken shelter in the hood of his truck. He befriends him, names him Creech, and promises to help him get home. Tripp modifies the truck to give Creech more control as a makeshift engine. The truck acts as a 'wheelchair' for Creech to operate. Meanwhile, Tenneson is still concerned about the incident at the drilling rig, since similar experiments have revealed the existence of other creatures. He decides to protect the company's image by drilling poison into a hole leading to the underwater tunnels, and by sending hiredmercenary Burke to kill their captured creatures, to the objection of Dowd, as he finds the monsters have significant intelligence and emotions as well as ahive mind intelligence that allows both of the captured specimens to learn what was taught to one.
Tripp and his classmate Meredith, whom he has told about Creech, seek help from his estranged father Wade, but Wade sells Tripp out to Burke. Tripp and Meredith escape in the truck with Creech and are chased by Burke and his team along with Rick, the local sheriff and Tripp's stepfather. They escape by jumping over aMRLlocal with anEMD MP15DC lead train, and camping at a hunting cabin.
When Creech gets the sense something bad will happen to the other creatures, he heads to Terravex headquarters where they are being held captive. Tripp and Meredith follow Creech. When they arrive, they find Creech's parents, but are attacked by Terravex workers. Creech is captured, and Tripp and Meredith are taken to Tenneson.
Dowd decides to help Tripp and Meredith rescue the creatures. They acquire two more trucks and modify the trucks for Creech's parents to control. Dowd helps the group by stealing the Terravex truck on which Creech's parents are loaded. At the dealership, the creatures take control of the modified trucks, and the group make their escape up the mountain leading to the tunnels.
Terravex gives chase up the mountain and the group escapes. On the way, Rick helps Tripp and the group escape from Burke, preventing Burke from ramming them off the road and later stealing a large truck to block the road to prevent further pursuit. After realizing the poison has been inserted, Tripp gets into a head-on battle with Burke, who attempts to push him into the drilling hole, but it ends when Tripp and Creech overturn Burke's truck, destroying the poison machine and apparently killing Burke when his truck is thrown into the equipment. Creech saves Tripp from drowning before he and his parents return underground, while Terravex is exposed for the experimentation that was harming the creatures' habitat. Tenneson is arrested for his crimes, Tripp and Rick grow closer and rebuild aV8 engine for the truck, and Tripp and Meredith begin a relationship.
On July 31, 2013,Paramount Animation announced that they were developing a new live-action/animated franchise, with an entry film titledMonster Trucks, andJonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger set to write the film's script.[4] The pitch was created by Paramount's presidentAdam Goodman alongside his four-year-old son.[16]Chris Wedge was set to direct the film, withMary Parent producing and an initial release date set for May 29, 2015.[4][17] Production took place inVancouver Film Studios inVancouver, British Columbia.[18] On February 19, 2014,Jane Levy andLucas Till joined the cast of the film.[8][19] On March 24,Amy Ryan was cast in a role,[9] and later that week,Holt McCallany joined the cast as a villain.[13] On April 1,Frank Whaley andDanny Glover joined the cast of the film.[11] Later that month,Thomas Lennon joined as well,[14] and on April 14,Barry Pepper joined the cast.[12] On April 24,Tucker Albrizzi, who starred inNickelodeon's TV showBig Time Rush, joined the cast,[15] withRob Lowe added five days later.[10][20]
In December 2013, it was announced that the film's production would begin in early April 2014 in Vancouver,[21] with filming wrapping up in mid-July, and the studioVancouver Film Studios was booked for the production.[18]Principal photography began on April 4, 2014, inKamloops.[22] Filming was spotted on May 13, 2014, in downtownChilliwack.[23][24]
The release date was shifted several times. It was initially set for May 29, 2015,[25][26][27] but on January 26, 2015, the film was pushed back to December 25, 2015, a date first assigned forMission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.[28] On May 5, 2015, the film was pushed back again, to March 18, 2016.[29] On November 10, 2015, the film's release date was pushed back one final time, to January 13, 2017.[30]
On September 21, 2016,The Hollywood Reporter stated Paramount would take a $115 millionwritedown on the film because of its expected poor performance at the box office.[31]
Monster Trucks was released onDigital HD on March 28, 2017[32] and onBlu-ray andDVD on April 11, 2017.[33]
Monster Trucks grossed $33.4 million in the United States and Canada and $31.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $64.5 million.[3]
In North America,Monster Trucks was released alongside the openings ofThe Bye Bye Man andSleepless, as well as the wide releases ofSilence,Patriots Day andLive by Night, and was expected to gross $8–10 million from 3,119 theaters in its opening weekend.[34] It ended up making $11 million ($14.2 million over the four-dayMLK weekend), finishing 7th at the box office.[35]
Due to its $125 million budget, as well as additional amounts spent on promotion, the film was considered by analysts to be abox-office bomb.[5][6][7]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film lost Paramount $123.1 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[36]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 32% based on 98 reviews and an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite flashes of inspiration, the singularly high-conceptMonster Trucks shows that it takes more than monsters and trucks to create a compelling feature film."[37] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 41 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[38]
Some contemporary reviews were more complimentary, however. Kristy Puchko cited it as a "treasure that feels like a heady relic from the '90s" inIndieWire's 2017 critic's survey of the Craziest Hollywood Movies of the 21st Century,[39] while Sean Egan called it a "live-action cartoon that recalls the goofy, good-heartedAmblin family films of yore" inAM New York Metro's Best Films of 2017 list.[40] Further, audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[41]
By 2021, the film's reputation had improved slightly, with Lisa Laman ofLooper observing that acult following had developed for the film,[42] while Chris Evangelista penned an essay forThe Guardian arguing for the film's merits.[43]
Lennon mentioned on hisTwitter in 2022 that he is still under contract for two sequels.[44]
