| Overlord | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Julius Avery |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Billy Ray |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by | Matt Evans |
| Music by | Jed Kurzel |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures[1] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $38 million[3] |
| Box office | $41.7 million[3] |
Overlord is a 2018 AmericanWorld War IIaction horror film[4][5][6] directed byJulius Avery and written byBilly Ray andMark L. Smith. It starsJovan Adepo,Wyatt Russell,Mathilde Ollivier,John Magaro, Gianny Taufer,Pilou Asbæk,Bokeem Woodbine andIain De Caestecker.[7] The film was produced by Lindsey Weber andJ. J. Abrams, through hisBad Robot banner, as the company's first R-rated film.[8][9] The plot follows several American soldiers who are dropped behind enemy lines the day beforeD-Day and discover terrifyingNazi experiments.
Overlord was released in the United States on November 9, 2018, byParamount Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed $41.7 million against a budget of $38 million.[10][11]
On the eve ofD-Day in analternate 1940s whereExecutive Order 9981 is signed in 1944, aparatrooper squad, most of them in anintegrated unit, is sent to destroy a German radio-jamming tower in an old church. Their plane is shot down and most of the squad, including squad leader Sergeant Rensin, die either in the crash or by Nazi soldiers and landmines. Four survivors remain:second-in-command Corporal Ford, Private Boyce, Private Tibbet, and Private Chase.
The survivors meet Chloe, a young woman from the church's village, and take refuge in her house. Chloe lives with her 8-year-old brother Paul and her aunt, who was disfigured by Nazi experiments. Tibbet and Chase depart for the scheduled rendezvous site and a Nazi patrol led by SSHauptsturmführer Wafner visits Chloe. Wafner sends his men away and proceeds to coerce Chloe for sex, threatening to send her brother to be "fixed." Boyce and Ford interrupt and capture Wafner.
Boyce searches for Tibbet and Chase, witnessing Nazis burning disfigured villagers, and is forced by a dog into a truck carrying dead bodies to the church. Boyce disembarks and finds an underground base housing a radio operating room and laboratory where the Germans perform experiments involving a serum and pit of black tar. Boyce takes a syringe of serum and rescues Rosenfeld, another member of their squad who had been captured. They escape through the base's sewers.
Boyce, Rosenfeld, Tibbet and Chase all return to Chloe's house where Wafner refuses to explain the serum. Wafner kills Chase as he attempts to escape. Boyce injects Chase with the serum, resurrecting him as a violent mutant, and Boyce bludgeons him to death. A patrol responds and Ford blows off half of Wafner's face in the ensuing firefight. Wafner escapes with Paul as a hostage and injects himself with two doses of the serum in the lab.
The squad plans to infiltrate the base, destroy the tower and laboratory, and rescue Paul. Rosenfeld and Tibbet launch a frontal assault as a distraction, while the others enter the base through the sewer. Boyce and Ford plant the explosives, and Chloe finds Paul, sends him back to the village, and kills a mutated test subject who corners her. She returns to the village as Tibbet and Rosenfeld are pursued by the base's defenders. Tibbet is wounded while shielding Paul from gunfire. Chloe kills the remaining Germans and treats Tibbet's wounds.
Wafner, mutated and superhumanly strong, impales Ford on a meat hook. When Boyce distracts Wafner, Ford frees himself, uses the serum, and holds off Wafner. Boyce explodes an oxygen tank, sending Wafner into a pit. Ford, mutating, orders Boyce to leave him behind and detonate the explosives, believing neither side should possess the serum. Boyce escapes as the church and jamming tower collapse behind him, killing Ford, Wafner, and the test subjects. He joins the others as a radio announces that theD-Day invasion was successful.
In his report, Boyce credits Ford for planting the bombs inside the church. Boyce tells his commanding officer there was no underground lab and the survivors are reassigned to another company.
The initial story for the film was conceived byJ. J. Abrams and screenwriterBilly Ray, with Ray penning the script. Paramount acquired the film in 2017, andMark L. Smith was brought in to polish the script.[12] On February 1, 2017,Bad Robot andParamount Pictures announced thatJulius Avery would direct the film.[12] On January 18, 2018, the film was initially reported as being the fourth installment in theCloverfield film series, though Abrams denied this atCinemaCon on April 25, 2018.[13][14]
In April 2017,Jovan Adepo andWyatt Russell were the first actors to be cast in the film. In May 2017, Mathilde Ollivier,John Magaro, Gianny Taufer,Pilou Asbæk, andBokeem Woodbine were cast in supporting roles.
Principal photography began in September 2017 and wrapped in January 2018.[15][16]Visual effects for the film were provided byIndustrial Light & Magic,Image Engine,Rodeo FX,Pixomondo, Mr X, Southbay and Nzviage. Mark Bakowski, Julian Foddy, Dan Seddon, Stefano Trivelli and Pauline Duvall served as visual effects supervisors.[17]
The official motion picture soundtrack was released on digital only on November 9, 2018, by Paramount Music Corporation. The soundtrack was composed by Australian singer-songwriter and film composerJed Kurzel, known for his previous work on the sci-fi filmAlien: Covenant. This film is Kurzel's second collaboration with directorJulius Avery, having previously worked together onSon of a Gun. Playing over the film's credits is the song "Bridging the Gap" by the rapperNas, though this does not appear on the soundtrack.
All tracks are written by Jed Kurzel.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Arrival" | 2:01 |
| 2. | "Hanging Trees" | 1:19 |
| 3. | "Mist Patrol" | 1:34 |
| 4. | "Devil Dogs" | 1:41 |
| 5. | "Lead the Way" | 1:45 |
| 6. | "Shooting" | 1:00 |
| 7. | "Auntie Scare" | 2:29 |
| 8. | "Wafner Arrives" | 1:18 |
| 9. | "Pauls Ball" | 1:55 |
| 10. | "Approaching the Church" | 3:01 |
| 11. | "Serum" | 2:32 |
| 12. | "Escape With Rosenfeld" | 1:57 |
| 13. | "I'm Gonna Win This One" | 3:33 |
| 14. | "Watching Soldiers" | 0:55 |
| 15. | "Chase Dies" | 1:31 |
| 16. | "Re-Animation" | 2:15 |
| 17. | "Dead Again" | 1:20 |
| 18. | "The Mistake Is Loose" | 1:55 |
| 19. | "Battle" | 0:52 |
| 20. | "Chloe Escapes" | 1:29 |
| 21. | "Wafner and Doc" | 2:33 |
| 22. | "Hang Time" | 2:08 |
| 23. | "Boyce Dunk" | 2:25 |
| 24. | "Take It Down" | 2:30 |
| 25. | "Time Bomb" | 1:45 |
| 26. | "Victory" | 2:07 |
| Total length: | 49:50 | |
Overlord was originally scheduled to be released on October 26, 2018. However, in July 2018, it was pushed back to November 9, 2018.[18]
Footage premiered atCinemaCon in April 2018, and the first trailer was released on July 18, 2018.[19] The film premiered atFantastic Fest 2018 on September 22.[20]
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 19, 2019, and was available on Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes on February 18, 2019.[21]
Overlord grossed $21.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $20 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $41.7 million, against a production budget of $38 million.[3]
In the United States and Canada,Overlord was released alongsideThe Girl in the Spider's Web andThe Grinch, and was projected to gross $8–13 million from 2,859 theaters in its opening weekend.[10] It made $3 million on its first day, including $900,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $10.1 million, finishing third at the box office.[11] The film fell 62% in its second weekend to $3.9 million, finishing eighth.[22]
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 228 reviews and an average rating of 6.71/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Part revisionist war drama, part zombie thriller, and part all-out genre gorefest,Overlord offers A-level fun for B-movie fans of multiple persuasions."[23] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[24] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, whilePostTrak reported film-goers gave it three out of five stars.[11]
Amy Nicholson ofVariety wrote "Even at its most suspenseful, when Jed Kurzel's cello score stabs at the eardrums,Overlord feels familiar, a collage of cinematic nightmares checking off its influences: a woman wielding a flamethrower like Ripley inAliens, a cruel SS officer (the terrifically hissable Pilou Asbæk) who grins like a Batman villain, and enough of aCastle Wolfenstein video-game vibe that its fans may find themselves reaching for the controls out of habit."[25] John DeFoe ofThe Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "As the team moves in on the laboratory and the radio tower above it, Avery balances the truly disgusting with more comic-book-like action...Still, the movie's tone holds together, with the lurid colors of opening scenes (the cinematic equivalent of a gory, pre-code war comic book) setting the stage for heightened action to come."[26]
While most reviews were positive, Michael Ordoña of theSan Francisco Chronicle gave a rather scathing review, writing that the "enjoyment" one expects from GIs fighting zombies is "stunted by the film's lack of energy and imagination," and goes on to explain, "Director Julius Avery goes to the startle-scare early and often. Every turn, every beat feels too familiar. The writers didn't bother researching period lingo. Characters do idiotic things to enable plot devices. The screaming and gunfire seem excessive for a stealth mission. And the whole undead thing simply doesn't pay off." Although he does admit, "At least the makeup effects are quite good."[27]
Corey Plante ofInverse addressed the film's reluctance to “lean into stereotypes or depict racism for the sake of historical accuracy” with an interview with star Jovan Adepo. “We’re not trying to make a historical movie,” Adepo said, “casting was less about race and more about who has those characteristics that help put together the strongest cast possible.”[28]
Rotten Tomatoes lists the film on its 100 Best Zombie Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer.[29]
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA | Best Horror Film | Overlord | Nominated |
| Best Make-Up | Tristan Versluis,Naomi Donne, Duncan Jarman | Nominated | |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Wide-Release Film | Julius Avery | Nominated |
| Hawaii Film Critics Society | Best Makeup | Tristan Versluis, Naomi Donne, Duncan Jarman | Nominated |
| Best Sci-Fi/Horror Film | Overlord | Nominated | |
| Toronto After Dark Film Festival | Best Cinematography | Laurie Rose Fabian Wagner | Won |
| Best Sound Design | Robert Stambler | Won |
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