Monster Hunter (2020)

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Monster Hunter
See alternate titles
Theatrical poster for Monster Hunter
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
Producer Jeremy Bolt, Paul W.S. Anderson, Dennis Berardi, Robert Kulzer,
Martin Moszkowicz
Written by Paul W.S. Anderson
Distributor Screen GemsUS, Towa PicturesJP, TencentCH, Constantin Film VerleihGER
Rating PG-13
Budget $60,000,000
Box office $30,267,880[1]
Running time 103 minutes
(1 hour, 43 minutes)
Aspect ratio 2.35:1
Rate this film!
3.22
(18 votes)

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The bigger they are, the harder to kill
„ 

— Tagline

Go to a world beyond imagination— (想像を絶する世界へ―)
„ 

— Japanese tagline

Monster Hunter (モンスターハンター,   Monsutā Hantā) is a 2020 giant monster film produced by Constantin Film and Impact Pictures. It is based on Capcom's video game franchise of the same name, with soldiers from Earth inadvertently traveling to the world of the games and facing its many deadly creatures. The film was released to American theaters on December 18, 2020, by Screen Gems and will be released in Japan by Towa Pictures, a subsidiary of Toho, on March 26, 2021.

Description

Template:Quote-no-it

Plot

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A sandship in the New World traverses a vast desert, its destination a massive glowing pillar. As the grizzled Admiral studies his texts and a Hunter carves a figure, two horned dragons called Black Diablos ambush their ship. The Hunter saves one of his compatriots, the Handler, from the monsters' jaws, only to fall from the ship himself. The battle leaves him behind.

In Afghanistan, a small team of United Nations soldiers led by Lieutenant Natalie Artemis responds to a distress call from Bravo Team. Their fellow soldiers are nowhere to be seen, with Lincoln observing their tire tracks stop in the middle of a road. A massive storm suddenly appears over the horizon, just as the distress call reported. They attempt to retreat, but the storm quickly overtakes them. Lightning strikes the small pillars around them, causing the runes etches on their surfaces to glow blue. As energy dances around them, their Humvee and Desert Patrol Vehicle tumble off a cliff and come to a rough landing in a completely different desert. The storm has suddenly passed, now centered around a massive pillar in the distance. They soon discover the remains of Bravo Team and their vehicles, all charred as though attacked by impossibly hot flamethrowers.

12:44

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

  • Directed by   Paul W.S. Anderson
  • Produced by   Jeremy Bolt, Paul W.S. Anderson, Dennis Berardi, Robert Kulzer, Martin Moszkowicz
  • Music by   Paul Haslinger
  • Cinematography by   Glen MacPherson
  • Edited by   Doobie White
  • Production design by   Edward Thomas
  • Assistant directors   Peter Freeman, Simon Green, Cameron Hadlow
  • Sound design by   Brandon Kim
  • Visual effects supervisor   Dennis Berardi

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Milla Jovovich   as   Lieutenant Natalie Artemis
  • Tony Jaa   as   The Hunter
  • Ron Perlman   as   The Admiral
  • Tip "T.I." Harris   as   Lincoln
  • Diego Boneta   as   Sergeant Marshall
  • Meagan Good   as   Sergeant Dash
  • Josh Helman   as   Steeler
  • Jin Au-Yeung   as   Axe
  • Hirona Yamazaki   as   The Handler
  • Jannik Schümann   as   Aiden
  • Nanda Costa   as   Lea
  • Nic Rasenti   as   Captain Roark
  • Clyde Berning   as   JSO V22 Pilot #1
  • Paul Hampshire   as   JSO Soldier #2
  • Schelaine Bennett   as   Comms Officer E3 Sentry
  • Pope Jerrod   as   E3 Sentry Pilot
  • Aaron Beelner   as   Meowscular Chef

Appearances

Monsters

  • Greater Rathalos
  • Black Diablos
  • Nerscylla
    • Nerscylla eggs
    • Nerscylla hatchlings
  • Apceros
  • Meowscular Chef
  • Cephalos
  • Gore Magala
  • Dah'ren Mohran (skeleton)
  • Lagiacrus (statues)

Weapons, Vehicles, and Races

  • Dragonship
  • Dragonator
  • Sky Tower
  • HMMWV
  • Desert Patrol Vehicle
  • Osprey
  • Boeing E-3 Sentry
  • M1 Abrams
  • Oshkosh M-ATV
  • Ancient civilization (mentioned)

Development

Director Paul W.S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt began negotiations with Capcom to adapt the Monster Hunter series in 2009, one year after Anderson began playing the games.[2] Anderson publicized their plans in 2012, while doing press for another Capcom adaptation, Resident Evil: Retribution.[3] On September 15, 2016, during the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom producer Ryozo Tsujimoto announced that a live-action Hollywood adaption of Monster Hunter was in development, but provided no further details. Anderson and Bolt confirmed their involvement to Deadline that November, with Anderson describing the setting of the games as "a fresh, exciting world that we could expose and build a whole world around, like a Marvel or Star Wars universe."[4] By then, he had written the first iteration of the script, with the following logline:

For every Monster, there is a Hero. An ordinary man in a dead end job discovers that he is actually the descendant of an ancient hero. He must travel to a mystical world to train to become a Monster Hunter, before the mythical creatures from that world destroy ours.[4]

A piece of concept art published with the article showed a Rathalos, the series' flagship monster, attacking the Los Angeles International Airport. In another version of the script, the protagonist was a "bullied, quite clumsy" 16-year-old boy chosen as the latest hero chosen to protect Earth from the Monster Hunter world's creatures, who inspired countless legends during previous invasions.[2] By the time Anderson's schedule allowed him to make the film, however, young adult fantasy had fallen out of fashion. In 2017, visual effects company Mr. X uploaded an effects reel which featured brief footage based on this version of the script, showing a Rathalos and Gore Magala battling inside a mall. Anderson cited Avatar, the Indiana Jones films, and a 2010 collaboration between Monster Hunter and Metal Gear Solid as influences on the final draft.[2][5] Of the collaboration, he said, "[W]hat fun to kind of play with the hubris of the modern world in that we put our faith in technology so much — in fact, too much in my opinion."[5]

On May 11, 2018, Variety reported that Milla Jovovich, star of the Resident Evil films, was set to star in Monster Hunter, which would begin filming in September.[6] The casting of Tip "T.I." Harris, Ron Perlman, and Tony Jaa was announced that month, with filming postponed until October.[7][8]

Production

Marketing

IGN revealed the first still from Monster Hunter on November 20, 2018, showing a fully-armed Lieutenant Natalie Artemis and the Hunter running in the desert.[9] Footage from the film played at the 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival, and leaked online in June.[10] IGN had another exclusive reveal on February 28, 2020: the first two posters.[11] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sony halted the film's marketing campaign for months and moved its U.S. release date from September 4, 2020, to April 23, 2021.[12] From there, its release date moved up three consecutive times, from December 30 to December 25 to December 18.[13][14][15]

The first officially-released footage from Monster Hunter came on October 3, 2020: a 16-second teaser focusing on the Black Diablos. One week later, director Paul W.S. Anderson revealed more footage at his New York Comic Con panel. He described the enormous Rathalos in this footage as a Greater Rathalos, associated in some way with an ancient civilization that is an established part of Monster Hunter lore. Later that day, Sony would upload a vignette to YouTube featuring Anderson speaking to Ryozo Tsujimoto and Kaname Fujioka, the producer and director of the Monster Hunter games, as well as the reveal of the herbivorous monster Apceros's presence within the film. An American and international trailer followed on October 14, 2020, with the former showing Nerscylla and a Gore Magala. A Chinese trailer followed on November 19, showing Ron Perlman's character and the Meowscular Chef.

The Monster Hunter World: Iceborne expansion pack debuted two single-player event quests tying into the film, "The New World" and "To Our World", on December 3.[16] Artemis, voiced by Milla Jovovich, is a playable character in these quests, and faces her two primary opponents from the film. In "The New World," the player is rewarded with an Artemis α+ Armor Set for slaying a Black Diablos, while "To Our World" tasks them with killing an enlarged Rathalos, with the Artemis Layered Armor Set as a reward. Availability for the quests will end on December 2, 2021.

Gallery

Main article: Monster Hunter/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Monster Hunter (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

Theatrical releases

  • Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia - December 3, 2020
  • China, Taiwan, United Kingdom - December 4, 2020
  • United States - December 18, 2020
  • Singapore - December 24, 2020
  • Canada, Vietnam - December 30, 2020
  • Hungary - December 2020
  • Australia - January 1, 2021
  • Russia - January 14, 2021
  • Brazil, Ukraine - January 28, 2021[17]
  • Estonia, India - February 5, 2021
  • Mexico - February 18, 2021
  • Iceland - February 19, 2021
  • Portugal - February 25, 2021
  • Bulgaria - February 26, 2021
  • Lithuania - March 12, 2021
  • Japan, Spain - March 26, 2021
  • Italy - April 23, 2021
  • France - April 28, 2021

Alternate titles

  • Monster Hunter the Movie (映画 モンスターハンター,   Eiga Monsutā Hantā, alternate Japanese title)
  • MonHun (モンハン,   Monhan, Japanese abbreviated title)

Box office

Four of the studios behind Monster Hunter divided its distribution rights amongst themselves, with Tencent releasing the film in China, Toho subsidiary Towa Pictures releasing it in Japan, Constantin Film Verleih releasing it in Germany, and Sony subsidiary Screen Gems releasing it in the rest of the world. At a time when other Hollywood studios were delaying most of their big-budget films or quickly making them available to stream in viewers' homes, they opted to give Monster Hunter a traditional theatrical release. Opening during the third and deadliest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, it grossed only $2.2 million domestically in its opening weekend, well below expectations.[18] However, with many theaters closed and others operating under capacity restrictions, it was still the highest-grossing film that weekend. Limited competition in the months that followed allowed it to reach a domestic gross of over $14 million by March 2021.[1]

Monster Hunter grossed $5.19 million on its opening day in China, only to be swiftly pulled from theaters following an outcry on social media.[19] In an exchange early in the film, the Axe character played by Chinese-American actor Jin Au-Yeung jokingly referred to his knees as "Chi-knees", which many viewers linked to a racist playground taunt. Yeung, Anderson, Jovovich, and Constantin Films all issued apologies for the line, though they maintained no offense was intended, and it was removed from all versions of the film.[20] However, Monster Hunter has yet to be reissued in China, which Deadline noted was the country where it had the greatest box office potential.[21]

Monster Hunter will open in Japan, another key market, on March 26. Internationally, it has grossed just over half of its $60 million production budget.

Reception

Video releases

Sony 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + HD / Blu-ray + Digital HD / DVD (2021)

  • Region: Various (Blu-ray and DVD)
  • Discs: 2 (4K Ultra HD combo pack) or 1 (Blu-ray and DVD)
  • Audio: English (Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for 4K Ultra HD, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for Blu-ray, and Dolby Digital 5.1 for DVD), French, Spanish, English audio description
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish, French [U.S. release - will vary depending on country]
  • Special features: "The Monster Hunters - Cast & Characters" (8 minutes), "Monstrous Arsenal - Weaponry in the Film" (5 minutes), "For the Players - From Game to Screen" (7 minutes), deleted scenes

Videos

Trailers

First teaser
Official trailer
International trailer
Chinese trailer
Japanese Diablos teaser
Japanese trailer
Japanese 30-second trailer

Miscellaneous

Mr. X demo reel
Vignette
New York Comic-Con panel
Extended preview

Trivia

  • Nanda Costa's character, Lea, shares her name with a character from the Japan-exclusive spinoff, Monster Hunter Frontier. However, the movie character is based on the Serious Handler from Monster Hunter World.
  • The giant skeleton Artemis and her squadron come across belongs to a Dah'ren Mohran, an Elder Dragon-class monster that first debuted in Monster Hunter 4 in Japan and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate worldwide. Gore Magala, a monster that appears at the very end of the film, is the flagship monster of both 3DS titles.
  • The Staff-like weapon wielded by the Hunter at the end of the movie is an Insect Glaive. The weapon appears to lack a Kinsect, an iconic component of the weapon.
  • In a special features clip, director Paul W.S Anderson mistakenly identifies the monster Cephalos as a Remobra, an unrelated small wyvern with a snake motif.

External links

References

This is a list of references for Monster Hunter. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Monster Hunter (2020) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 DeFreitas, Casey (15 October 2020). "Almost All of the Monster Hunter Movie Takes Place in the Video Game World". IGN.
  3. "We are planning to make a live-action movie of Monster Hunter! Resident Evil series director's shocking confession!". CinemaToday. 11 September 2012.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Fleming Jr, Mike (21 November 2016). "As 'Resident Evil' Nears $1 Billion, Paul W.S. Anderson & Jeremy Bolt Set 'Monster Hunter': Q&A". Deadline.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Ashcraft, Brian (4 December 2020). "The Monster Hunter Movie Was Inspired By A Metal Gear Solid Collab". Kotaku.
  6. Hopewell, John (11 May 2018). "Constantin Sets September Shoot for Paul W.S. Anderson's 'Monster Hunter'(EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  7. Kit, Borys (25 September 2018). The Hollywood Reporter https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/ti-harris-ron-perlman-joining-monster-hunter-movie-1146178. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. Kit, Borys (26 September 2018). "Tony Jaa Joins Milla Jovovich in 'Monster Hunter'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. Jim Vejvoda and Casey DeFreitas (20 November 2018). "Monster Hunter: Exclusive First Look Photo From the Video Game Movie Starring Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa". IGN.
  10. Wong, Alistair (17 June 2019). "Monster Hunter Movie Trailer Shows Off First Look At Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, And Rathalos". Siliconera.
  11. Skrebels, Joe (28 February 2020). "Monster Hunter Movie: Two Exclusive New Posters". IGN.
  12. McClintock, Pamela (10 July 2020). "'Monster Hunter' Movie Delays September Release to Spring 2021". The Hollywood Reporter.
  13. Nancy Tartaglione and Anthony D'Alessandro (19 November 2020). Deadline https://deadline.com/2020/11/monster-hunter-release-date-change-milla-jovovich-1234591362/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. Dela Paz, Maggie (20 November 2020). "Monster Hunter Release Date Moves Up to Christmas Day". ComingSoon.net.
  15. LeBlanc, Wesley (8 December 2020). "Monster Hunter Movie Now Opening December 18". IGN.
  16. "Artemis "Monster Hunter" Movie Quest Special Collaboration". monsterhunter.com. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  17. "Monster Hunter — trailer, release date in Ukraine". Film Planet (in українська). Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  18. D'Alessandro, Anthony (20 December 2020). "'Monster Hunter' Takes In $2.2M Over Poor Pre-Christmas Pandemic Weekend Before 'Wonder Woman 1984' Shakes Up Theatrical Window – Sunday Final". Deadline.
  19. Davis, Rebecca (5 December 2020). "'Monster Hunter' Pulled From Chinese Cinemas Over Scene Said to Be Racial Slur". Variety.
  20. Tartaglione, Nancy (8 December 2020). "'Monster Hunter' Director Paul W.S. Anderson, Co-Star MC Jin Apologize Over Scene That Caused China Backlash". Deadline.
  21. Tartaglione, Nancy (6 December 2020). "China-Halted 'Monster Hunter' Bows At No. 1 In Other Markets; 'The Croods: A New Age' Tops $60M WW; Japan's 'Demon Slayer' Closing In On 'Spirited Away' – International Box Office". Deadline.

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