| Midway | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Roland Emmerich |
| Written by | Wes Tooke |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robby Baumgartner |
| Edited by | Adam Wolfe |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 138 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Languages |
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| Budget | $100 million[3] |
| Box office | $127.4 million[4] |
Midway is a 2019war film directed byRoland Emmerich, produced withHarald Kloser, and written by Wes Tooke. The film covers the first six months in thePacific Theater ofWorld War II, from theAttack on Pearl Harbor to the titularBattle of Midway. The film starsEd Skrein,Patrick Wilson,Luke Evans,Aaron Eckhart,Nick Jonas,Mandy Moore,Dennis Quaid,Tadanobu Asano,Darren Criss, andWoody Harrelson.
The film was a passion project of Emmerich's, and he had trouble getting financial support for the film before finally raising sufficient funds and officially announcing the project in 2017. Much of the cast joined in 2018, and filming began in Hawaii. Some filming also took place inMontreal. With a production budget of $100 million, it is to date one of the most expensiveindependent films of all time.
Midway was theatrically released byLionsgate andSummit Entertainment in the United States on November 8, 2019 and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visuals but criticized the screenplay. The film was abox-office bomb, grossing $127.4 million worldwide against the $100 million budget.[5]
In December 1937, Lieutenant CommanderEdwin T. Layton, an American naval attaché in Japan, is warned by AdmiralIsoroku Yamamoto that US threats to their supply of oil would force Japan to wage war. The threats are realized on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese launch asurprise attack on Pearl Harbor, forcing the US to enterWorld War II. Admiral Yamamoto and Rear AdmiralTamon Yamaguchi propose an audacious follow-up plan to invadeMidway Island but the Japanese Army overrules them. In February, naval aviator LieutenantRichard "Dick" Best participates in raids launched from the carrierUSS Enterprise against theMarshall Islands. In April, after Lieutenant-ColonelJimmy Doolittle'sraid on Tokyo, Yamamoto, Yamaguchi, and Vice AdmiralChuichi Nagumo are permitted to carry out their plan to attack Midway.
Following theBattle of the Coral Sea, Layton,Joseph Rochefort and hiscryptography team, intercept Japanese messages about an operation against an objective identified only as "AF". Planners in Washington surmise AF is in the South Pacific but the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, AdmiralChester W. Nimitz, remains skeptical. Layton, believing AF to be Midway, instructs the US base there to transmit an unencrypted message about a water shortage. Rochefort's men intercept Japanese message about water shortages on "AF," confirming it to mean Midway. Nimitz orders theaircraft carriersUSS Hornet andEnterprise recalled from the Coral Sea and demands the damagedUSS Yorktown be repaired in 72 hours to deploy to Midway. Vice AdmiralWilliam Halsey Jr is placed on sick leave due toshingles, replaced by Rear AdmiralRaymond A. Spruance.
On June 4, the Japanese launch an air raid on Midway. Initial attempts by US land-based aircraft to retaliate against the Japanese aircraft carriers fail, as does a submarine attack byUSS Nautilus which is chased off by theJapanese destroyer Arashi. American carrier planes attack the Japanese fleet without sinking any ships, but the Japanese are disrupted from launching their own strike on the American carriers. American dive bombers are unable to find the fleet until theArashi is spotted byWade McClusky rushing back to the fleet. They find the JapaneseCombat Air Patrol at low level due to the previous attacks, allowing them to attack the Japanese aircraft carriers practically unopposed. TheKaga,Sōryū andAkagi are reduced burning wrecks. The sole remaining Japanese carrier,Hiryu, launches a strike that succeeds in cripplingYorktown butEnterprise andHornet successfully cripple theHiryu in response. Admiral Yamaguchi chooses togo down with his command along with the carrier's captain, Tomeo Kaku, asHiryu isscuttled.
At Pearl Harbor, Rochefort intercepts Yamamoto's order to withdraw and passes it to Layton, who informs Nimitz. Best is discharged from the Navy for lung problems incurred due to the use of faulty breathing apparatus during the battle and returns home to his wife and daughter.
| Actor | Role | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Etsushi Toyokawa | AdmiralIsoroku Yamamoto | Commander-in-chief,Combined Fleet |
| Tadanobu Asano | Rear AdmiralTamon Yamaguchi | Commander,2nd Carrier Division |
| Jun Kunimura | Vice AdmiralChūichi Nagumo | Commander,1st Air Fleet (Kidō Butai) and1st Carrier Division |
| Peter Shinkoda | CommanderMinoru Genda | Air Operations Officer,1st Air Fleet |
| Hiro Kanagawa | Commander Isamu Fujita | Captain,Makigumo |
| Hiromoto Ida | GeneralHideki Tojo | Prime Minister |
| Hiroaki Shintani | EmperorHirohito | |
| Nobuya Shimamoto | Captain Tomeo Kaku | Captain,Hiryū |
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rachael Perrell Fosket | Dagne Layton | Edwin Layton's wife |
| Kenny Leu | Zhu Xuesan | Chinese school teacher, who visited the US in 1932 |
| Mandy Moore | Anne Best | Dick Best's wife |
| Dean Schaller | Jack MacKenzie Jr. | Ford'scameraman |
On May 23, 2017, it was reported thatRoland Emmerich would be directing the World War II filmMidway.[6] Due to its potential lofty budget (with estimates putting its needed cost at $125 million), Emmerich had trouble getting the film greenlit. When no major studio would bankroll the project, he cut down on potential battle sequences and turned to individuals for the funds, resulting in $76 million; he then got an additional $24 million in equity, mostly from Chinese investors, resulting in the film's $100 million budget. It is one of the most costlyindependent films ever made.[3] Emmerich had previously attempted to mount the film atSony Pictures in the 1990s, withWilliam Goldman becoming interested in the project. However, as with the final rendition, executives balked at the proposed $100 million budget ($152 million by 2019 inflation), and Emmerich moved on to directThe Patriot.[7]
Harald Kloser also produced the film.[1] TheNaval History and Heritage Command of the US Navy were involved in both the writing and production of the film.[8]
In April 2018,Woody Harrelson andMandy Moore joined the ensemble cast for the film.[9] In July 2018,Luke Evans was cast in the film to play Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his role in the Battle of Midway.[10] Robby Baumgartner was hired ascinematographer.[11] August saw the additions ofPatrick Wilson,[12]Ed Skrein,[13]Aaron Eckhart,Nick Jonas,Tadanobu Asano,Dennis Quaid, and others to the cast.[14]Darren Criss,Alexander Ludwig, andBrandon Sklenar were cast in September.[15][16][17]
Filming began on September 5, 2018, inHonolulu, Hawaii. It was also shot inMontreal, Quebec.[11]
In November 2018, it was announced that VFX companyScanline VFX will be the main VFX vendor, and thatPixomondo had signed on to provide additional visual effects.
The film was released on November 8, 2019,Veterans Day weekend.[18]
A teaser poster for the film was released on June 4, 2019, which was also the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Midway.[19] A set of 13 still photographs depicting scenes from the film was released on June 26, 2019, and the first trailer for the film was released the following day (June 27).[20] The second and final trailer of the film was released on September 12, 2019, with the film's theatrical poster on September 25.[21][22] All-in-all, Lionsgate spent around $40 million promoting the film.[23]
Midway was released onDigital HD on February 4, 2020, and on DVD,Blu-ray and4K Ultra HD,UHD-BD on February 18, 2020 byLionsgate Films.[1][24]
Midway grossed $56.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $70.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $127.4 million, against a production budget of $100 million.[4]
In the United States and Canada,Midway was released alongsideDoctor Sleep,Playing with Fire, andLast Christmas, and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,242 theaters in its opening weekend.[25][26] The film made $6.3 million on its first day (including $925,000 from Thursday night previews). It went on to debut to $17.9 million, beating box office expectations and upsetting projected winnerDoctor Sleep by finishing first at the box office.[23][27][26] In its second weekend the film made $8.5 million, finishing second behind newcomerFord v Ferrari, before making $4.7 million and finishing in fifth in its third weekend.[28][29]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 42% based on 175 reviews and an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Midway revisits a well-known story with modern special effects and a more balanced point of view, but its screenplay isn't quite ready for battle."[30] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[31] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those atPostTrak gave it an average 4 out of 5 stars, with 58% saying they would definitely recommend it.[23]
Barry Hertz ofThe Globe and Mail gave the film a score of 2 out of 4 stars, describing it as "a Second World War epic that runs a comparatively paltry 138 minutes yet feels about five times as long", concluding that the film was "a choppy bore, its main source of intrigue centred around whatever New Jersey-ese accent British actor Ed Skrein is attempting as dive bomber Richard Best."[32] Michael O'Sullivan ofThe Washington Post gave the film a score of 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying that it "tells a story that's vividly and viscerally rendered, with all the entertainment value of a big, old-fashioned war movie", but added: "the kiss-kiss never really registers with quite the same impact as the bang-bang."[33] Wendy Ide ofThe Observer gave the film a score of 2 out of 5 stars, writing: "Every tired war movie cliche is unearthed in a film that brings nothing new but will no doubt please fans of men in uniform yelling at explosions."[34]
Paul Byrnes ofThe Sydney Morning Herald gave the film a score of 3 out of 5 stars, describing it as "one of [Roland Emmerich's] better films", but added: "There are a number of earlier versions to pick from, includingJohn Ford's original 18-minute Oscar-winning documentary. We didn't need a new one, unless he had something new to say or a new way to say it. To both questions, the answer is no."[35]Owen Gleiberman ofVariety wrote: "The film's drama is B-movie basic. But the destructive colliding metal-on-metal inferno of what war is what makesMidway a picture worth seeing."[36] Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times described the film as being "so square, so old-school and old-fashioned, it almost feels avant-garde", adding: "It aims to celebrate heroism, sacrifice, determination and grit, and if you don't like that it really does not care."[37]
While the film takes some artistic license, Emmerich and Tooke were both adamant about being historically accurate, andMidway received praise from some combat veterans and historians for being a more accurate portrayal of events thanMidway (1976) andPearl Harbor (2001).Naval History and Heritage Command director and retired Navy Rear Admiral Sam Cox said: "Despite some of the 'Hollywood' aspects, this is still the most realistic movie about naval combat ever made."[38]
Several seemingly "Hollywood-ized" events depicted in the film, such asBruno Gaido sprinting into a parked plane to shoot down a crippled plane attempting to crash into theEnterprise, then getting promoted on the spot, occurred as shown, though according toUSA Today, "Gaido hid after shooting the plane down, afraid he was going to get in trouble for leaving his battle station. "They had to hunt him down and bring him to Halsey", said retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox, director of theNaval History and Heritage Command.[39]
