The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


image_size =
caption =
director = David Fincher
producer = Kathleen Kennedy
Frank Marshall
Ceán Chaffin
writer = Eric Roth
starring = Brad Pitt
Cate Blanchett
music = Alexandre Desplat
cinematography = Claudio Miranda
editing = Kirk Baxter
Angus Wall
distributor = Paramount Pictures (USA)
Warner Bros. (Overseas)
released = December 25 2008
runtime =
country = United States
language = English
budget = $150 million [cite news | author=Alexandyr Kent | url= | title=ACTION! | publisher=The Times | date=2006-10-23 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ]
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.benjaminbutton.com
amg_id = 1:331176
imdb_id = 0421715

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a 2008 film in a modern setting loosely adapted from the 1922 short story of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film is directed by David Fincher, and stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The film will be released December 25 2008. Unlike Fincher's earlier work, the film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "Brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking", making it his first PG-13 film.

Premise

Adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" follows a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century. "Benjamin Button," is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

David Fincher said "It's dark, it's romantic, and it also deals with mortality in a pretty unflattering way."

Cast

*Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button
*Cate Blanchett as Daisy
*Taraji P. Henson as Queenie
*Julia Ormond as Caroline
*Jason Flemyng as Thomas Button
*Elias Koteas as Monsieur Gateau
*Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth Abbott

*Ed Metzger as President Theodore Roosevelt
*Elle Fanning as Daisy - Age 6
*Madisen Beaty as Daisy - Age 10
*Spencer Daniels as Benjamin Button - Age 12

-Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Brad Pitt's daughter, has a small cameo in the film playing the part of Benjamin and Daisy's daughter. [http://celebrities.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=145332&showcomments=true]

Production

As early as summer 1994, Maryland Film Office chief Jack Gerbes was approached with the possibility of a film adaptation of the 1922 short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which takes place in Baltimore.cite news | author=Michael Sragow | url= | title='BUTTON' TURNS UP NOSE AT MD. | publisher=The Baltimore Sun | date=2007-01-19 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In October 1998, screenwriter Robin Swicord wrote for director Ron Howard an adapted screenplay of the short story, a project which would potentially star actor John Travolta. [cite news | author= | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117481695.html?categoryid=3&cs=1 | title='Husband' vows renewed; doc on saint set | publisher=Variety | date=1998-10-22 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In May 2000, Paramount Pictures hired screenwriter Jim Taylor to adapt a screenplay from the short story. The studio also attached director Spike Jonze to helm the project. [cite news | author=Claude Brodesser | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117781892.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | title=Taylor sews up deal to adapt 'Button' | publisher=Variety | date=2000-05-19 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman had also written a draft of the adapted screenplay at one point. [cite news | author=Steve Chagollan | url= | title=F. Scott Fitzgerald Gets a Second Act After All | publisher=The New York Times | date=2005-08-21 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In June 2003, director Gary Ross entered final negotiations to helm the project based on a new draft penned by screenwriter Eric Roth. [cite news | author=Cathy Dunkley | coauthors=Dave McNary | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117887259.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1 | title=Par popping its 'Button' | publisher=Variety | date=2003-06-02 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In May 2004, Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures joined to co-finance the project, with Paramount Pictures marketing the film in foreign territories and Warner Bros. handling domestic distribution (those were eventually switched). In the same month, director David Fincher entered negotiations to replace Ross in directing the film.cite news | author=Dave McNary | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117904653.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | title=WB snaps Par 'Button' coin | publisher=Variety | date=2004-05-10 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In May 2005, actors Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett entered negotiations to star in the film as Benjamin Button and Daisy, respectively. [cite news | author=Liza Foreman | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000905109 | title=Blanchett, Pitt on 'Case' for Fincher | publisher=The Hollywood Reporter | date=2005-05-04 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In July 2005, Fincher negotiated a deal with the studios to direct "Benjamin Button" and "Zodiac" back-to-back, with "Zodiac" being produced first. For "Benjamin Button", New Orleans, Louisiana and the surrounding area was chosen as the filming location for the story to take advantage of the state's production incentives, and shooting was slated to begin in October 2006. [cite news | author=Dave McNary | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117925441.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1 | title=Par pinches Fincher | publisher=Variety | date=2005-07-04 | accessdate=2007-07-04 ]

In September 2006, actors Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, and Taraji P. Henson entered negotiations to be cast into the film.cite news | author= | url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=16644 | title=Swinton Set to Push "Benjamin Button" | publisher=ComingSoon.net | date=2006-09-24 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] The following October, with production yet to begin, actress Julia Ormond was cast as Daisy's daughter, to whom Blanchett's character tells the story of her love affair with Benjamin Button. [cite news | author= | url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=17071 | title=Ormond Joins Fincher's "Benjamin Button" | publisher=ComingSoon.net | date=2006-10-18 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] Filming of "Benjamin Button" began on November 6, 2006 in New Orleans. The following December, actor Ed Metzger was cast to portray President Theodore Roosevelt. [cite news | author=Stacy Dodd | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955457.html?categoryid=28&cs=1 | title=Ed Metzger | publisher=Variety | date=2006-12-10 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In January 2007, Blanchett joined the shoot. [cite news | author=Michael O'Sullivan | url= | title=Blanchett hits buzz in provocative roles | publisher=The Journal Gazette | date=2006-12-29 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] Fincher praised the ease of accessibility to rural and urban sets in New Orleans and said that the recovery from Hurricane Katrina did not serve as an atypical hindrance to production.cite news | author=Doug MacCash | url= | title=Camera ready | publisher=The Times-Picayune | date=2007-03-07 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] In March 2007, filming moved to Los Angeles for two more months of filming. Principal photography was targeted to last a total of 150 days, excluding the time it would take to create the visual effects for the metamorphosis of Brad Pitt's character to the infant stage. [cite news | author=David M. Halbfinger | url= | title=Lights, Bogeyman, Action | publisher=The New York Times | date=2007-02-18 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] The director used a camera system called Contour, developed by Steve Perlman, to capture facial deformation data from live action performances. [cite news | author = Nick Wingfield | url = http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115430654184321852-RRodziPMtqtxOQx6F1Go8kwytHg_20070730.html | title = Digital Replicas May Change Face of Films | work = The Wall Street Journal | date = 2006-07-31 | accessdate = 2008-08-26] This data then was filtered into a new physically accurate character rigging system created just for the film, called "AnEmotion", which assisted with the recreation of believable synthetic actors to illustrate the reverse aging of Brad Pitt's character, Benjamin Button. [cite news | author=John Markoff | url= | title=Now Starring . . . Digital People | publisher=The New York Times | date=2006-07-31 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] Overall production was finished in September 2007.cite news | author=Kadee Krieger | url= | title=FILMED IN MANDEVILLE | publisher=The Times-Picayune | date=2007-01-24 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ]

Music

The score to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was written by French composer Alexandre Desplat, who recorded his score with an 87-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage.cite news | author=Dan Goldwasser | url=http://www.scoringsessions.com/news/151 | title=Alexandre Desplat scores David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" | publisher=ScoringSessions.com | date=2008-08-11 | accessdate=2008-08-11 ]

Promotion

The film's trailer features the "Aquarium" movement of Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals. The choir singing in the trailer is Libera, a group of boys from South London.

Release

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was originally slated for release in May 2008, [cite news | author=Julie E. Washington | url= | title=Arts & Entertainment Weblog | publisher=The Plain Dealer | date=2006-09-22 | accessdate=2007-04-28 ] but was pushed back to November 26, 2008. [cite web | url=http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=20703 | title=The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | publisher=ComingSoon.net | accessdate=2007-06-26 ] The release date has since been moved to December 25 2008.

References

External links

*" [http://www.benjaminbutton.com The Curious Case of Benjamin Button] " official site
*imdb title|id=0421715|title=The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
*amg movie|id=1:331176|title=The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* [http://www.scoringsessions.com/sessions/29813 Scoring Session Photo Gallery at ScoringSessions.com]