| Bedtime Stories | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Adam Shankman |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Matt Lopez |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Michael Barrett |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Rupert Gregson-Williams |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million[2] |
| Box office | $212.9 million[3] |
Bedtime Stories is a 2008 Americanfantasycomedy film directed byAdam Shankman from a screenplay by Matt Lopez andTim Herlihy based on a story by Lopez. It starsAdam Sandler in his first appearance in a family film, alongsideKeri Russell,Guy Pearce,Aisha Tyler,Russell Brand,Richard Griffiths,Teresa Palmer,Lucy Lawless, andCourteney Cox. In the film, a hotel handyman's stories to his niece and nephew come true, and his stories become more outlandish. Sandler's production companyHappy Madison Productions andAndrew Gunn's company Gunn Films co-produced the film withWalt Disney Pictures.
The film premiered on December 25, 2008, byDisney. Despite the film being a box office success, earning $212.9 million against an $80 million budget, it received generally negative reviews from critics.
In 1974, Skeeter and Wendy Bronson are raised by their father Marty at the family business, the Sunny Vista Motel. However, despite being a good hotelier and host, Marty faces serious financial problems with the family motel business and almost goes bankrupt. Marty sells the motel to his good friend Barry Nottingham, the severelygermaphobic CEO and founder of hotel chain Nottingham Hotels, in a forced liquidation who rebuilds and renovates it into a luxury hotel named the Sunny Vista Nottingham, on the condition that Skeeter will run it when he's old enough. 34 years later, Skeeter is stuck as the hotel's hardworking repairman. Nottingham announces plans to close the old hotel in order to build a bigger one, named the Sunny Vista Mega Nottingham, and appoints the snotty Kendall Duncan as its future manager, simply because he is dating Nottingham's daughter, Violet, though he is secretly having an affair with the hotel manager Aspen.
Wendy asks Skeeter to watch her children, Patrick and Bobbi, because the school at which she is the principal is closing down and she is looking for a job in Arizona. The first night, Skeeter cynically tells them a bedtime story in which he casts himself as an underdogpeasant in amedievalfantasy world, who is unfairly passed over for promotion. Dissatisfied with the story’s unhappy ending, the children add that he at least gets a chance at the promotion and that it starts raining gumballs.
The next day, the story miraculously comes true: Nottingham, recalling the original promise he made to Marty, gives Skeeter a shot at the manager position; and on his way home, gumballs rain on Skeeter from a truck crash on an overpass. The next night, at the hotel, Skeeter tells awild west-style story in which he, as a cowboy, is freely given an expensive horse namedFerrari. Going out later that night, he saves Violet from obnoxious paparazzi; he then sees Violet’s Ferrari car and mistakenly thinks it is for him before Violet drives away. Skeeter realizes that only the children's additions to the stories come true. The night after that, Skeeter, with the children's help, tells a story about a chariot-riding stuntman inAncient Greece who wins a date with the “fairest maiden in the land”. The next day, Skeeter ends up spending the day with and falling for his sister's friend and colleague Jill.
On Skeeter’s last night with the children, he tells them aspace opera-style story in which he triumphs over Kendall in a duel. The children, recalling how Skeeter told them on their first night that there are no happy endings in real life, add that someone kills him with a fireball. Skeeter and Kendall both make presentations on how best to market the hotel; with his heartfelt speech on family, Skeeter ultimately wins the managerial position. However, Skeeter learns from Kendall that the new Nottingham Hotel will be at the location of the closing school and, paranoid against fire due to the story, blasts a fire extinguisher at Nottingham's cake and is “fired”.
Skeeter, much to the surprise of Jill and Nottingham manages to get the hotel’s location moved to the beachfront in Santa Monica; after which Skeeter and Jill race to the school before it can be demolished. While at the site, protesting the school’s closure, Bobbi and Patrick sneak into the building to give their sign a better view. Skeeter and Jill arrive just in time to stop Kendall from setting off the highly sensitive explosives, saving the kids and the school. Sometime later, Skeeter marries Jill and opens a motel named after his father; with Kendall and Aspen demoted to the motel's waiting staff. Violet marries Skeeter's best friend, Mickey, giving him control of the Nottingham Empire. Nottingham overcomes his extreme germaphobia, quitting the hotel industry to become a school nurse, and newlywed Skeeter and Jill have a baby boy.
DirectorAdam Shankman describes Adam Sandler's character as "a sort of 'Cinderfella' character" and adds that "'He's likeHan Solo ...'"[4] It was filmed at various locations in California, including inThousand Oaks where Mr. Nottingham's palace is set.[5][6]
| Bedtime Stories | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Film score by | |
| Released | December 23, 2008 |
| Genre | Soundtrack,film score |
| Length | 35:11 |
| Label | Walt Disney |
The score toBedtime Stories was composed byRupert Gregson-Williams, who recorded his score with theHollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage at20th Century Fox.[7] The song "Don't Stop Believin'" is played during the film and during the end credits.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Sunny Vista Motel" | 4:15 |
| 2. | "The Tale of Sir Fixalot" | 3:04 |
| 3. | "Raining Gumballs" | 1:16 |
| 4. | "The Fat Mouse" | 1:54 |
| 5. | "The Wild West Adventure" | 2:15 |
| 6. | "Rooftop Camp Out" | 2:34 |
| 7. | "The Legend of Skeetacus" | 1:57 |
| 8. | "Almost a Kiss" | 1:53 |
| 9. | "Space Odyssey" | 3:08 |
| 10. | "Skeeter's Pitch" | 3:17 |
| 11. | "At the Nottingham Broadway Mega Resort" (Performed byGuy Pearce) | 1:18 |
| 12. | "You're Supposed To Be the Good Guy" | 3:49 |
| 13. | "Motorcycle Rescue" | 3:26 |
| 14. | "Happily Ever After" | 1:07 |
The film was released in the United States on December 25, 2008, in Poland on January 23, 2009, and in Sweden on February 20, 2009.
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OnRotten Tomatoes,Bedtime Stories has an approval rating of 27% based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's consensus states, "Though it may earn some chuckles from pre-teens, this kid-friendly Adam Sandler comedy is uneven, poorly paced, and lacks the requisite whimsy to truly work."[8] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100 based on 26 reviews, "generally unfavorable" reviews.[9] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.[10]
Slashfilm predicted thatBedtime Stories would open #1 during the December 25–28, 2008 Christmas weekend due to its family appeal and the box office draw of Adam Sandler,[11] but it came at #3 grossing $38 million behindMarley & Me andThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button. However, during the standard 3-day weekend, it jumped ahead ofThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button ranking #2 behindMarley & Me with $27.5 million.[12] As of February 2009, the film had grossed $110,101,975 in the United States and Canada and $102,772,467 in other countries, totaling $212,874,442 worldwide.
The film was released onBlu-ray Disc andDVD on April 7, 2009. The DVD was released as a single disc or a two-disc edition including behind-the-scenes featurette. Commercials advertising the discs feature background music recycled from the filmBack to the Future Part III. As of November 1, 2009, the DVD has sold 2,835,662 copies generating $49,409,944 in sales revenue.[13]
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| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFI International Award | Best Actor | Guy Pearce | Nominated |
| Award | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|
| BMI Film Music Award | Rupert Gregson-Williams | Won |
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blimp Award | Favorite Movie Favorite Movie Actor | Adam Sandler | Nominated |
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Reel Award | Best Sound Editing - Music in a Feature Film | J.J. George (supervising music editor) Kevin Crehan (music editor) Tom Kramer (music editor) | Nominated |
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor | Johntae Lipscomb | Nominated |
