| A Cinderella Story | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Rosman |
| Written by | Leigh Dunlap |
| Based on | Cinderella byCharles Perrault |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Edited by | Cara Silverman |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million[1] |
| Box office | $70.1 million[1] |
A Cinderella Story is a 2004 Americanteenromantic comedy film directed byMark Rosman, written by Leigh Dunlap and starringHilary Duff,Chad Michael Murray,Jennifer Coolidge, andRegina King.
A modernization of the classicCinderellafolklore, the film's plot revolves around twointernetpen pals who plan to meet in person at their high school's Halloween dance.
The film was released on July 16, 2004, and grossed $70.1 million against its $19 million budget. It inspiredmultiple straight-to-video films. Over the years, it has developed into acult classic.[2]
Samantha "Sam" Montgomery is raised by her widowed father Hal, who runs adiner in theSan Fernando Valley. He marries the vain and greedy Fiona, who has twin daughters, Brianna and Gabriella. When Sam is nine years old, Hal dies in the1994 Northridge earthquake apparently without leaving a will, leading Fiona to inherit everything.
Eight years later, 17-year-old Sam is bullied by her stepfamily, while the community faces adrought. She and her best friend and aspiring actor Carter Farrell are tormented by the popular clique at school, led by head cheerleader and mean girl Shelby Cummings.
Forced to work at the diner to save money to attendPrinceton University, Sam is looked after by longtime manager Rhonda and confides in her onlinepen pal "Nomad", who shares her dream to attend Princeton to become a writer. Unbeknownst to Sam, "Nomad" is Austin Ames, the popular but unhappy school quarterback and Shelby's boyfriend, whose father Andy expects him to attendUSC.
Sam agrees to meet "Nomad" at the schoolHalloween dance and Austin breaks up with Shelby, although she is in denial. Fiona refuses to give Sam the night off to attend the dance, but Rhonda and Carter intervene. Rhonda gives her a mask and her old wedding dress to wear as "Cinderella". Dressed as "Prince Charming", Austin reveals to Sam that he is "Nomad" but does not recognize her under her mask, and they share a romantic dance.
A masked Cartermakes out with Shelby after defending her from the unwanted advances of Austin's friend, but has to hurry Sam back to the diner before Fiona returns at midnight. As they leave, Sam drops her cell phone, which Austin finds, as he and the missing Cinderella are crowned homecoming prince and princess. The diner staff stalls Fiona and her daughters, and Sam arrives just in time.
The next day, Austin covers the school in flyers, hoping to identify the mysterious Cinderella, and Carter is cruelly rejected by Shelby. Austin's friends line up a crowd of girls claiming to be Cinderella, without success. He is accepted to Princeton but unable to tell his father and visits the diner, where Sam tries to reveal herself.
Brianna and Gabriella discover Sam's emails with Austin, realizing she is 'Cinderella'. Once each fails to convince Austin that they are Cinderella, they present the emails to Shelby, claiming Sam schemed to steal Austin away from her. At the school pep rally, Shelby and the twins perform a humiliating skit exposing Sam as Cinderella, so she leaves upset.
Having intercepted Sam's Princeton acceptance letter, Fiona forges a rejection letter, further disheartening Sam. Rhonda encourages her not to lose hope, then the diner clock falls off the wall exposing a wallpapered-over mural of Hal's motto. Inspired, Sam stands up to Fiona and quits the diner, leading Rhonda, the other employees and even some customers to leave as well.
Sam moves in with Rhonda and, just before the homecoming game, confronts Austin for his cowardice and lies. Seeing her leaving before the last play of the game, Austin stands up to his father and runs after Sam. He apologizes and they share their first kiss in the rain as the drought finally ends, much to the twins' and Shelby's dismay.
Sam finds her father's will hidden in her childhood fairytale book, revealing that she inherited everything, including the house and diner. As the rightful owner, Sam sells her stepfamily's cars to pay for college. Fiona claims to have never seen the will before, despite having signed it as a witness, so she is arrested for inheritance fraud.
To avoid prison, Fiona makes a deal with theD.A. to work off the debt she owes Sam for the diner and treatment as a cleaning lady. Sam now co-owns the diner with Rhonda, who looks out for her. Fiona's daughters, after retrieving Sam's acceptance letter from the trash, are also forced to work with her busing tables.
Andy accepts Austin's decision to attend Princeton. Carter lands a commercial and rejects Shelby's advances so he can be with Astrid, the school's goth DJ and announcer. Austin returns Sam's cell phone and they begin a relationship, driving off to Princeton together.
Clifford Werber conceived a modernized adaptation of theCinderella story due to its long-lasting appeal of being "the ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy" with "an underlying message of empowerment."[3]
A Cinderella Story premiered atGrauman's Chinese Theatre on July 10, 2004.[4] It premiered in theaters with competition from other products that starred princesses or were fantasy-themed, such asThe Prince & Me (2004),Ella Enchanted (2004) andThe Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).[5]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 11% based on 102 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "An uninspired, generic updating of the classic fairy tale."[6] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score on 25 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[7] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[8] In 2010,Time named it one of the top 10 worstchick flicks ever made.[9]
Roger Ebert wrote thatA Cinderella Story "is a lame, stupid movie, but Warner Bros. is spending a fortune to persuade [young audiences] to see it and recommend it".[10] Other critics panned the plot as "simple, lazy storytelling"[11] and "a dull rehash of the old girl-meets-boy chestnut".[12] They noted that its attempts to modernize aspects of the source material were gimmicky and led to illogical plot elements, such as a cell phone being the film's glass slipper and Sam looking too pretty and cheerful for an outcast.[13][12][14] Some particularly felt the use of a perfect teenager as a social reject delegitimized the moral of any average person believing in oneself.[12][14]
The film was nominated for fiveTeen Choice Awards at the 2005 ceremony, winning the award for Choice Movie Blush Scene, the same year Duff won theKids Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actress.
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $13,623,350 in 2,625 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #4 at the box office, behindI, Robot,Spider-Man 2 andAnchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. By the end of its run,A Cinderella Story grossed $51,438,175 domestically and $18,629,734 internationally, totaling $70,067,909 worldwide.[1]
The film won and was nominated for a number of awards throughout 2004–2005.
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-2005 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actress: Comedy | Hilary Duff | Nominated |
| Choice Summer Movie | A Cinderella Story | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Blush Scene | Hilary Duff | Won | ||
| Choice Movie Liplock | Hilary Duff andChad Michael Murray | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Sleazebag | Jennifer Coolidge | Won | ||
| Choice Movie Love Scene | Chad Michael Murray and Hilary Duff | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Chemistry | Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray | Nominated | ||
| Choice Date Movie | A Cinderella Story | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Kids Choice Awards | Favorite Movie Actress | Hilary Duff | Won |
A Cinderella Story was followed by fivedirect-to-video films, each presenting a separate modern-day version of the Cinderella story: The sequels use the themes and situations that also borrow from the Cinderella tale, but do not contain any characters from the first film. Unlike the first film, the sequels also include musical, dance and holiday event themes.
| Film title | Year | Director | Starring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Another Cinderella Story | 2008 | Damon Santostefano | Selena Gomez |
| A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song | 2011 | Lucy Hale | |
| A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits | 2016 | Michelle Johnston | Sofia Carson |
| A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish | 2019 | Laura Marano | |
| A Cinderella Story: Starstruck | 2021 | Bailee Madison |
What began in 2004 as a modern retelling of the iconic fairy tale... quickly spiraled into a cult classic yielding a decade and a half of follow-up films with different actors and plots...
