| Wonder | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Stephen Chbosky |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Wonder byR.J. Palacio |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Don Burgess |
| Edited by | Mark Livolsi |
| Music by | Marcelo Zarvos |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release dates |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million[2] |
| Box office | $315 million[3] |
Wonder is a 2017 Americancoming-of-agefamily drama film directed byStephen Chbosky, who co-wrote the screenplay withSteven Conrad andJack Thorne. It is based onthe 2012 novel byR. J. Palacio and starsJulia Roberts,Owen Wilson,Jacob Tremblay,Mandy Patinkin, andDaveed Diggs.
The film follows a boy named August "Auggie" Pullman withTreacher Collins syndrome as he tries to fit in. The film was released in the United States on November 17, 2017, byLionsgate. It received positive reviews from critics and grossed $315 million worldwide on a $20 million production budget. At the90th Academy Awards, the film was nominated forBest Makeup and Hairstyling.
A spin-off and prequel film,White Bird, was released in October 2024, withBryce Gheisar reprising his role.
August "Auggie" Pullman is a 10-year-old boy living inBrooklyn with his parents, Isabel and Nate, older sister Olivia "Via", and their dog, Daisy. Auggie was born with a rare medical facial deformity,mandibulofacial dysostosis. He has undergone 27 surgeries to help him function, and wears an astronaut helmet when out in public. Auggie has beenhomeschooled by Isabel, but as he approaches the fifth grade, his parents decide to enroll him at Beecher Prep, a privatemiddle school. When the school year begins, Auggie is ostracized and is constantly bullied by Julian Albans, the class bully, and Julian's friends Amos Conti, Miles Noury, and Henry Joplin, but he soon forms a close friendship with his classmate, Jack Will, whom he met during a tour of the school.
ForHalloween, Auggie dresses asGhostface from the previous year when Daisy ruins his plannedBoba Fett costume. While entering his homeroom, Auggie overhears Jack, who does not recognize him, joining Julian and his friends in teasing Auggie, behind his back. Auggie also overhears Jack saying that he was forced to be friends with Auggie and would kill himself if he looked the same, which hurts him a lot. An upset Auggie feigns illness, forcing his mother to abandon her mother-daughter day with Via to pick him up. Though she is hurt, Via convinces Auggie to gotrick-or-treating with her, as she has been rejected by her own best friend, Miranda Navas.
Auggie begins avoiding Jack and forms a new friendship with another classmate, Summer Dawson, confiding in her about his split with Jack. When Jack eventually asks Summer why Auggie is avoiding him, she says "Ghostface". Jack realises his mistake and resolves to make it up to Auggie by being his partner for the science fair instead of partnering with Julian and Amos. When Julian confronts Jack about it and calls Auggie a freak, they get into a fight. Outraged, Julian ends his friendship with Jack. Jack is suspended for two days, and the principal, Mr. Lawrence Tushman, reads Jack's letter about defending Auggie. Jack then apologizes to Auggie viaMinecraft, and they reconcile.
Meanwhile, Via has been feeling left out; ever since Auggie was born, her parents have spent considerably more time looking after him than paying attention to her. Via signs up for the drama club after meeting theater nerd Justin Hollander, with whom she begins a romantic relationship. Via is selected as Miranda's understudy for the lead role in the school's production ofOur Town, but on opening night, Miranda feigns illness to let Via take her place after learning that Via's family is in attendance while her own is not. Via gives a moving performance, earning a standing ovation, and reconciles with Miranda.
Auggie's popularity and circle of friends grow after he and Jack win first prize at the science fair, but Julian and his friends continue to bully Auggie. Eventually, Mr. Tushman confronts Julian and his parents with evidence, including hate notes and a class picture with Auggie photoshopped out and a caption that reads: "No freaks allowed" and at the back of the class picture, Julian wrote "Do everyone a favor and die". Mrs. Albans admits she deleted Auggie from the picture, defends Julian's actions, and insists that students should not be exposed to Auggie. Despite the Albans' threats to pull funding, Julian is suspended for two days, forcing him to miss an upcoming nature retreat. As they leave, Mrs. Albans declares that Julian will not be back in the fall. However, Julian apologizes to Mr. Tushman, who forgives him.
At the nature retreat, Auggie and Jack are threatened by a trio of seventh graders from another school, but Amos, Miles, and Henry defend them. Just before Auggie’s graduation, Nate reveals to him that he put his astronaut helmet in his office, and asks Auggie if he needs it back, but he happily dismisses this. At the graduation ceremony, Auggie thanks Isabel for enrolling him in school, and Isabel tells Auggie that he is a “wonder”. Auggie is given theHenry Ward Beecher Medal for his strength and courage throughout the school year.
On November 27, 2012, it was announced thatLionsgate was developing a feature film adaptation of R. J. Palacio's debut novelWonder, and were in talks withJohn August to write the screenplay.[4]Mandeville Films'David Hoberman andTodd Lieberman produced the film.[4]
On August 9, 2010,Jack Thorne was hired to adapt the novel after August had departed from the project.[5] In October 2014,John Krokidas was reported to be directing the film,[6] though in April 2015,Paul King was hired to direct instead.Steven Conrad was writing the script at that time.[7]
On April 14, 2016,Jacob Tremblay was cast to play the lead role, Auggie Pullman, whileJulia Roberts was in talks to play Auggie's mother.[8] Three weeks later, Roberts' casting was confirmed, andStephen Chbosky was set as the film's director.[9]
On June 27, 2016,Owen Wilson joined to play Auggie's father.[10] Two weeks later, newcomerNoah Jupe joined the cast as Auggie's best friend at school,[11] and on July 15,Daveed Diggs was cast as Mr. Browne, an English teacher at the school.[12]
On August 19, 2016,Sônia Braga joined the cast, portraying the role of Roberts' character's mother.[13]
Tremblay's prosthetic makeup, designed and created byArjen Tuiten, took an hour and a half to apply. It consisted of a skull cap with prosthetic ears attached, a facial prosthetic that covered Tremblay's face, and a wig to tie it all together.[14]
Filming took place in several locations inBritish Columbia, Canada, andConey Island,New York, from October 18 to December 13, 2016.
Marcelo Zarvos composed the film's score.[15]Bea Miller composed a song for the film, "Brand New Eyes". It was released on August 3, 2017.Wonder author R. J. Palacio has often creditedNatalie Merchant's song "Wonder", from her 1995 albumTigerlily, as the inspiration for her best-selling book. At Merchant's invitation, the song was featured on the soundtrack. The song is also played during the film's end credits.[16]
Lionsgate had initially scheduledWonder to be released in the United States on April 7, 2017.[17][18] On February 13, 2017, it was announced that the release date had been pushed back to November 17, 2017.[19]Wonder had its world premiere at theRegency Village Theater inLos Angeles on November 14, 2017.[20]
Wonder grossed $132 million in the United States and Canada, and $182 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $315 million, against a production budget of $20 million.[3]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film made a net profit of $55.3 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[21]
In the United States and Canada,Wonder opened alongsideJustice League,The Star, andRoman J. Israel, Esq. and was initially projected to gross around $9 million from 3,096 theaters in its first weekend.[22] However, after grossing $740,000 from Thursday night previews and receiving a large number of group ticket sales, weekend projections were upped to $15 million.[23] Weekend projections were again increased, this time to $28 million, after the film made $9.4 million on its first day. The film went on to debut to $27.5 million,[24] finishing second at the box office, behindJustice League.[25] In its second weekend, the film dropped just 17.7%, grossing $22.7 million and finishing third at the box office.[26]
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 189 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Wonder doesn't shy away from its bestselling source material's sentiment, but this well-acted and overall winsome drama earns its tugs at the heartstrings."[27] OnMetacritic, the film has aweighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[28] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, one of approximately 100 films in the history of the service to receive the grade.[25]
Some reviewers criticized the decision to cast an actor without the same condition as Auggie as undermining the film's message.[29][30] In August 2021, duringEdinburgh TV Festival'sMacTaggart Lecture, co-writer Jack Thorne, while not specifically citingWonder, acknowledged that he had failed to stand up for disabled talent on projects involving the subject, and sought to rectify this through pushing for new disability initiatives like 'Underlying Health Condition', which launched in December 2021.[31]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards | February 5, 2018 | Best Intergenerational Film | Wonder | Nominated | [32] |
| Readers' Choice Poll | Wonder | Nominated | |||
| Academy Awards | March 4, 2018 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Arjen Tuiten | Nominated | [33] |
| British Academy Film Awards | February 18, 2018 | Best Makeup and Hair | Naomi Bakstad,Robert Pandini and Arjen Tuiten | Nominated | [34] |
| Casting Society of America | January 18, 2018 | Big Budget – Comedy | Deborah Aquila, Kara Eide, Tricia Wood and Kris Woz | Nominated | [35] |
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | January 11, 2018 | Best Young Actor/Actress | Jacob Tremblay | Nominated | [36] |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Jack Thorne,Steve Conrad andStephen Chbosky | Nominated | |||
| Best Hair & Makeup | Wonder | Nominated | |||
| Heartland Film Festival | December 31, 2017 | Truly Moving Picture Award | Stephen Chbosky | Won | [37] |
| Hochi Film Award | December 18, 2018 | Best International Picture | Stephen Chbosky | Won | [38] |
| London Film Critics Circle | January 28, 2018 | Young British/Irish Performer of the Year | Noah Jupe | Nominated | [39] |
| Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild | February 24, 2018 | Feature Motion Picture: Best Contemporary Makeup | Naomi Bakstad, Jean Black and Megan Harkness | Nominated | [40] |
| Feature Motion Picture: Best Contemporary Hair Styling | Robert Pandini and Alisa Macmillan | Nominated | |||
| Feature Motion Picture: Best Special Makeup Effects | Michael Nickiforek and Arjen Tuiten | Nominated | |||
| Feature Motion Picture: Best Contemporary Hair Styling | Robert Pandini and Alisa Macmillan | Nominated | |||
| Feature Motion Picture: Best Special Makeup Effects | Michael Nickiforek and Arjen Tuiten | Nominated | |||
| Saturn Awards | June 27, 2018 | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Jacob Tremblay | Nominated | [41] |
| Best Make-up | Arjen Tuiten | Nominated | |||
| Best Independent Film | Wonder | Won | |||
| Seattle Film Critics Society | December 18, 2017 | Best Youth Performance | Jacob Tremblay | Nominated | [42] |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | December 8, 2017 | Best Youth Performance | Jacob Tremblay | Nominated | [43] |
| Women Film Critics Circle | December 17, 2017 | Best Family Film | Wonder | Nominated | [44] [45] |
| Teen Choice Awards | August 12, 2018 | Choice Drama | Wonder | Nominated | [46] |
| Choice Drama Actor | Jacob Tremblay | Nominated | |||
| Choice Drama Actress | Julia Roberts | Nominated |
White Bird: A Wonder Story, aspin-offsequel/prequelwardrama film toWonder based onR. J. Palacio'sgraphic novel of the same name, starringGillian Anderson andHelen Mirren, withBryce Gheisar reprising his role as Julian Albans, began production in February 2021 in theCzech Republic.[47] Described as a "companion piece" to the original film,[48] the film follows Julian as hisParisian grandmother tells him stories of her childhood as a young Jewish girl living inNazi-occupied France duringWorld War II, when she was hidden from theNazis by a classmate and his family. Initially scheduled to be released on September 16, 2022,[49] the film's release date was ultimately delayed to October 14, 2022[50] before the film was removed from the release schedule in September,[51] envisaging an August 2023 release.[52] However Lionsgate pushed the release to an unspecified date, in July 2023, as a result of theSAG-AFTRA strike, in the fourth quarter of 2023.[53] In December 2023, Lionsgate scheduled the film for release on October 4, 2024.[54]
On April 9, 2019, it was announced that a musical adaptation of the film was in the works forBroadway, with Jill Furman (Hamilton) producing andR. J. Palacio adapting the novel for the stage production.[55]
Works byStephen Chbosky | |
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| Novels |
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| Films directed |
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| Films written only |
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| TV series created |
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