The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDrew Goddard
Written byJoss Whedon
Drew Goddard
Produced byJoss Whedon
Starring
CinematographyPeter Deming
Edited byLisa Lassek
Music byDavid Julyan
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release dates
  • December 2011 (2011-12) (Butt-Numb-A-Thon)
  • April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13) (United States)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United States
  • Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[2]
Box office$69.9 million[3]

The Cabin in the Woods is a 2011 science fiction[4] comedy horror film directed by Drew Goddard in his directorial debut, produced by Joss Whedon, and written by Whedon and Goddard.[5] It stars Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, and Bradley Whitford. The plot follows a group of college students who retreat to a remote cabin in the woods where they fall victim to a variety of monsters while technicians manipulate events from an underground facility.

Goddard and Whedon, who previously worked together on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, wrote the screenplay in three days,[6]: 13  describing it as an attempt to "revitalize" the slasher film genre and as a critical satire on torture porn. The special effects, monster costumes, special makeup, and prosthetic makeup for the film were done by AFX Studio.[7] Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, from March to May 2009 on an estimated budget of $30 million.

The film was originally slated for release on October 23, 2009, which was later delayed to February 5, 2010,[8] by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and United Artists (UA), but was indefinitely shelved due to financial difficulties. In 2011, Lionsgate picked up the distribution rights. The film premiered in December 2011 at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival in Austin, Texas and was released in the United States on April 13, 2012, to critical and commercial success. It grossed $66.5 million worldwide, and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its screenplay, tone, and performances.

  1. ^ "The Cabin in the Woods". British Board of Film Classification. March 22, 2012. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  2. ^ Blauvelt, Christian (April 12, 2012). "Box office preview: 'Cabin in the Woods' and 'Three Stooges' take on 'The Hunger Games'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference BOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Nguyen, Jessie (December 18, 2022). "10 Movies That Fans Don't Realize Were Sci-fi". Collider. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  5. ^ Barton, Steve (April 6, 2010). "Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods to Feature Creatures?". Dread Central. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  6. ^ Whedon, Joss; Goddard, Drew; Bernstein, Abbie (2012). The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion. London: Titan Books. ISBN 9781848565241.
  7. ^ Doupé, Tyler (June 5, 2014). "Things You Probably Didn't Know about Cabin in the Woods". WickedHorror.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  8. ^ "Goodard's Cabin Moves to 2010". December 5, 2008. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2023.