The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written byAshleigh Powell
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyLinus Sandgren
Edited byStuart Levy
Music byJames Newton Howard
Production
companies
Distributed byWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates
  • October 29, 2018 (2018-10-29) (Dolby Theatre)
  • November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$120–133 million[2]
Box office$174 million[3]

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a 2018 American fantasy adventure film directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston and produced by Mark Gordon and Larry Franco, from a screenplay by Ashleigh Powell. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures with The Mark Gordon Company, it is a retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", as well as of Marius Petipa and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1892 ballet The Nutcracker, about a young girl who is gifted a locked egg from her deceased mother and sets out in a magical land to retrieve the key. The film stars Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy, Eugenio Derbez, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard E. Grant, Misty Copeland, Helen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman.

The film was announced in March 2016 with Hallström directing from a script by Powell. Much of the cast signed on that summer, and filming began in October at Pinewood Studios, lasting through January 2017. In December 2017, it was announced Johnston would direct a month of reshoots, with Hallström agreeing to Johnston receiving co-directing credit. The reshoots were written by Tom McCarthy, who went uncredited, and Powell received a sole credit as screenwriter. Composer James Newton Howard scored the film, adapting elements from Tchaikovsky's music for the 1892 ballet, while Gustavo Dudamel served as conductor, leading the London Philharmonia Orchestra.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on October 29, 2018, and was released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the United States on November 2. The film grossed $174 million worldwide against a production budget between $120–133 million, making it a box office bomb and losing Disney over $65 million.[4] It received generally negative reviews, with criticisms of its story and Knightley's performance, although the film's visual effects and aesthetics were praised.

  1. ^ "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms". AMC Theatres. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference opening was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 26, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).