Troy made over $497 million worldwide, making it the 60th highest-grossing film at the time of its release and Petersen's highest-grossing film. However, it received mixed reviews, with critics praising its entertainment value and the performances of Pitt and Bana[4][5][6] while criticizing its story, which was deemed unfaithful to theIliad.[7][8] It received a nomination forBest Costume Design at the77th Academy Awards and was theeighth highest-grossing film of 2004.[9]
In 1184 BC, KingAgamemnon unites theGreek kingdoms.Achilles, a heroic warrior, fights for Agamemnon but despises his tyrannical rule. Meanwhile, PrinceHector ofTroy and his brotherParis negotiate a peace treaty withMenelaus, King ofSparta. Paris begins an affair with Menelaus' wife, QueenHelen, and he smuggles her aboard his home-bound vessel. Angered, Menelaus meets Agamemnon, his elder brother, and asks him to help take Troy. Agamemnon agrees, as conquering Troy would give him control of theAegean Sea. Agamemnon sendsOdysseus, King ofIthaca, to persuade Achilles to join them. Conflicted, Achilles seeks guidance from his mother,Thetis, who tells him that if he remains in Larissa, he will live a peaceful but forgotten life, while going to Troy will bring him eternal glory. Inspired by her words and the promise of lasting fame, Achilles chooses to join the war.
In Troy, KingPriam welcomes Helen when Hector and Paris return home, and decides to prepare for war. The Greeks eventually invade and take the Trojan beach, thanks largely to Achilles and hisMyrmidons. Achilles has the temple ofApollo sacked, and claimsBriseis — a priestess and the cousin of Paris and Hector — as a prisoner. He is angered when Agamemnon spitefully takes her from him, and decides that he will not aid Agamemnon in the siege.
The Trojan and Greek armies meet outside of Troy. During a parlay, Paris offers to personally duel Menelaus in exchange for Helen and the city being spared. Agamemnon, intending to take the city regardless, accepts. Menelaus wounds Paris and almost kills him, but is himself killed by Hector, violating the duel. In the ensuing battle, Hector killsAjax and many Greek soldiers die due to Hector's skillful leadership of the Trojan army which forces Agamemnon's army to retreat. He gives Briseis to the Greek soldiers for their amusement, but Achilles saves her and they begin to bond. Later that night, Briseis sneaks into Achilles' quarters to kill him; instead, she falls for him and they become lovers. Achilles then resolves to leave Troy, much to the dismay ofPatroclus, his cousin and protégé.
Despite Hector's objections, Priam orders him to attack the Greeks. In battle, Hector duels a warrior he believes to be Achilles and cuts his throat, but then takes his helmet off and sees it is Patroclus. Distraught, Hector finishes off Patroclus in acoup de grâce, and both armies agree to stop fighting for the day. Achilles is informed of his cousin's death and vows revenge. Wary of Achilles, Hector shows his wifeAndromache a secret tunnel beneath Troy. Should he die and the city fall, he instructs her to take their child and any survivors out of the city toMount Ida.
The next day, Achilles arrives outside Troy and challenges Hector. The two duel until Hector is killed, and Achilles drags his corpse back to the Trojan beach. Priam sneaks into the camp and implores Achilles to return Hector's body for a proper funeral. Ashamed of his actions, Achilles agrees and allows Briseis to return to Troy with Priam, promising a twelve-day truce so that Hector's funeral rites may be held in peace. He also orders his men to return home without him.
Agamemnon declares that he will take Troy regardless of the cost. Concerned, Odysseus concocts a plan to infiltrate the city: he has the Greeks build aTrojan Horse as a peace offering and abandon the Trojan beach, hiding their ships in a nearby cove. Priam orders the horse be brought into the city. That night, Greeks hiding inside the horse emerge and open the city gates for the Greek army, commencing theSack of Troy.
The soldiers of Troy attempt to defend the city but they are overwhelmed and massacred while most of the population is killed or taken as slaves. As the lower city is being sacked, Andromache and Helen guide the Trojans to safety through the tunnel. Paris gives the Sword of Troy toAeneas, instructing him to protect the Trojans and find them a new home. As the Greek army penetrates the palace walls, Glaucus leads the remaining Trojan soldiers in a valiant defense of the palace. Trojans kill many Greeks, but are ultimately overwhelmed and killed. Agamemnon enters Troy's throne room, kills Priam and captures Briseis, who then kills Agamemnon. Achilles fights his way through the city and reunites with Briseis. Paris, seeking to avenge his brother, shoots an arrow throughAchilles' heel and then several into his body. Achilles bids farewell to Briseis, and watches her flee with Paris before dying.
In the aftermath, Troy is finally taken by the Greeks and a funeral is held for Achilles, where Odysseus personally cremates his body.
The city of Troy was built on theMediterranean island ofMalta atFort Ricasoli from April to June 2003.[10] Filming was initially slated to start inMorocco, but the producers were forced to relocate to Mexico after theIraq War started.[11] Other important scenes were shot inMellieħa, a small town in the north ofMalta, and on the small island ofComino. The outer walls of Troy were built and filmed inCabo San Lucas, Mexico.[12] Film production was disrupted for a period afterHurricane Marty affected filming areas.[13][11] Pitt also suffered an injury to hisAchilles tendon during filming which caused the production to delay for several weeks.[14][11]
Terry Gilliam turned down the offer to direct the film, as he "did not understand how you can make a film based on the poem theIliad without the participation of the Greek gods".[15]Wolfgang Petersen had developed the film forWarner Bros., before he chose to direct a plannedBatman vs.Superman film instead.[16]Christopher Nolan was then offered to directTroy, but when Petersen'sBatman vs. Superman was canceled, Petersen rejoinedTroy, and Nolan was givenBatman Begins (2005) as a "consolation prize".[17][18] Nolan subsequently directed a film adaptation of Homer'sOdyssey, withThe Odyssey (2026).[16]
The role of Briseis was initially offered toBollywood actressAishwarya Rai, but she turned it down because she was not comfortable doing the lovemaking scenes that were included.Keira Knightley also auditioned, but the role eventually went toRose Byrne.[19][20][21] The studio was initially interested inNicole Kidman for the role of Helen, which eventually went to Diane Kruger.[21]
ComposerGabriel Yared originally worked on the score forTroy for over a year, having been hired by the director, Wolfgang Petersen.Tanja Carovska provided vocals on various portions of the music, as she later would on composer James Horner's version of the soundtrack. However, the reactions at test screenings which used an incomplete version of the score were negative, and in less than a day Yared was off the project without a chance to fix or change his music.[22]James Horner composed a replacement score in about four weeks. He used Carovska's vocals again and also included traditional Eastern Mediterranean music and brass instruments. Horner also collaborated with American singer-songwriterJosh Groban and lyricistCynthia Weil to write an original song for the film's end credits. The product of this collaboration, "Remember Me", was performed by Groban with additional vocals by Carovska.
The soundtrack for the film was released on May 11, 2004, throughReprise Records.
TheTroy: Director's Cut, also known as the "2007 Version" (according to the end credits), was screened at the57th Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2007, and received alimited release inGermany in April 2007.Warner Home Video reportedly spent more than $1 million for thedirector's cut, which includes "at least 1,000 newcuts" or almost 30 minutes of extra footage (with a new running time of 196 minutes). The DVD was released on September 18, 2007, in the US. The score of the film was changed dramatically, with many of the female vocals being cut. An addition to the music is the use ofDanny Elfman's theme forPlanet of the Apes during the pivotal fight between Hector and Achilles in front of the Gates of Troy. Josh Groban's song was removed from the end credits as well.
Various shots were recut and extended. For instance, the love scene between Helen and Paris was reframed to include more nudity of Diane Kruger. The love scene between Achilles and Briseis is also extended. Only one scene was removed: the scene where Helen tends to the wound of Paris is taken out. The battle scenes were also extended, depicting more violence and gore, including much more of Ajax's bloody rampage on the Trojans during the initial attack by the Greek army and his duel with Hector. Perhaps most significant was thesack of Troy, barely present in the theatrical cut, but shown more fully here, depicting the Greek soldiers raping women and massacring the soldiers of Troy. Characters were provided more time to develop, specificallyPriam andOdysseus, the latter being given a humorous introduction scene. More emphasis is given to the internal conflict in Troy between the priests, who believe in omens and signs from the gods to determine the outcome of the war, and military commanders, who believe in practical battle strategies to achieve victory, mainly between Trevor Eve and James Cosmo. Lastly, bookend scenes were added: the beginning being a soldier's dog finding its dead master and the end including a sequence where the few surviving Trojans escape toMount Ida.
There are frequent differences between theIliad andTroy, most notably relating to the final fates of Paris, Helen, Agamemnon, Achilles and Menelaus. In one of the commentary sequences, the film's writer, David Benioff, said that when it came to deciding whether to follow theIliad or to do what was best for the film, they always did what seemed best for the film. "I think there are maybe two or three lines in the script that quote Homer," Benioff says. "Any more than that wouldn't have been possible."
Troy was released on DVD and VHS on January 4, 2005.[23] TheDirector's Cut was released on Blu-ray, HD DVD, and DVD on September 18, 2007.[24][25] TheDirector's Cut is the only edition of the film available on Blu-ray globally. However, there is a Czech Blu-ray release of the theatrical cut.
Troy grossed $133.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $364 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $497.4 million, making the film one of thehighest grossing films of 2004, alongsideThe Passion of the Christ,Spider-Man 2 andShrek 2.[1] When the film was completed, total production costs were approximately $185 million, makingTroy one of themost expensive films produced at that time. It was screened out of competition at the2004 Cannes Film Festival.[26]
The film made $46.9 million in its opening weekend, topping the box office, then $23.9 million in its second weekend falling to second.[1]
OnRotten Tomatoes,Troy holds an approval rating of 53% based on 229 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "A brawny, entertaining spectacle, but lacking emotional resonance."[27] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[28] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[29]
Roger Ebert rated the film two out of four stars, saying: "Pitt is modern, nuanced, introspective; he brings complexity to a role where it is not required."[4]IGN critics Christopher Monfette and Cindy White praised the director's cut as superior to the early version, evaluating it with eight stars out of ten.[30]
Peter O'Toole, who played Priam, spoke negatively of the film during an appearance at theSavannah Film Festival, stating he walked out of the film fifteen minutes into a screening, and criticized the director, slamming him as "aclown".[31] Years later, Brad Pitt expressed disappointment with the film, saying: "I had to doTroy because [...] I pulled out of another movie and then had to do something for the studio. So I was put inTroy. It wasn't painful, but I realized that the way that movie was being told was not how I wanted it to be. I made my own mistakes in it. What am I trying to say aboutTroy? I could not get out of the middle of the frame. It was driving me crazy. I'd become spoiled working withDavid Fincher. It's no slight on Wolfgang Petersen.Das Boot is one of the all-time great films. But somewhere in it,Troy became a commercial kind of thing. Every shot was like, 'Here's the hero!' There was no mystery."[32]
Some have criticized screenwriter David Benioff, who later became one of the creators of the fantasy TV seriesGame of Thrones, for taking on too much material by covering the complete and lengthy chronology of the Trojan War, but he said he was aware of this challenge. He is quoted addressing this in an article by actorDavid Goldsmith in the journalCreative Screenwriting: "The script covers the Trojan War in its entirety, whereasIliad is only one fragment of it. I didn't want to have little titles saying, 'Flash forward nine years.' It would have made it more faithful to the source material, but it wouldn't have been effective for the movie. I always followed the route that I thought was better for the movie; if that meant that I was cheating on Homer then so be it."[33]
