The Fog (2005 film)

Infobox_Film
name = The Fog

---

imdb_id = 0432291
director = Rupert Wainwright
writer = Cooper Layne (screenplay)
John Carpenter, Debra Hill (1980 screenplay)
starring = Tom Welling
Maggie Grace
Selma Blair
DeRay Davis
Rade Šerbedžija
Kenneth Welsh
producer = John Carpenter, David Foster, Debra Hill
music = Graeme Revell
cinematography = Nathan Hope, Ian Seabrook (underwater)
editing = Dennis Virkler
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = October 14, 2005
runtime = 100 min.
language = English
amg_id = 1:317305
budget = $18,000,000 (estimated) |

"The Fog" is a 2005 horror film directed by Rupert Wainwright. It is a remake of John Carpenter's film of the same name (1980), but with more of a "teen horror film" angle. The original music score is composed by Graeme Revell.

Cast

* Tom Welling – Nick Castle
* Maggie Grace – Elizabeth Williams
* Selma Blair – Stevie Wayne
* Kenneth Welsh – Tom Malone
* Adrian Hough – Father Robert Malone
* Sara Botsford – Kathy Williams
* Cole Heppell – Andy Wayne
* Mary Black – Aunt Connie
* Rade Šerbedžija – Captain Blake
* Jonathon Young – Weatherman Dan
* R. Nelson Brown – Mr. Machen
* Sonja Bennett – Mandy

Plot

The backstory of the film is somewhat similar to the original film: In 1871, a group of men conspired to mislead and murder the crew of the "Elizabeth Dane", a clipper carrying a group of lepers seeking sanctuary. The "Dane" was captained by William Blake, a wealthy man infected with leprosy who made an agreement with the town's founders to buy half of the island for a leper colony. However, when the islanders' leaders meet with Blake onboard the "Dane" to make the purchase, the islanders double-cross the lepers, loot the ship and then set the ship on fire, slaughtering everyone onboard. In this film, the town of Antonio Bay is preparing to celebrate a new statue dedicated to the "founding fathers" of the town. This awakens the ghostly crew of the "Elizabeth Dane", who have sworn revenge on the town for what the "founding fathers" did to them.

Production

The film was green lit by Revolution Studios before the script was written. When the remake was announced, rumors circulated the Internet that Charisma Carpenter had been cast as Stevie Wayne and Jessica Biel as Elizabeth. Later reports stated Carpenter was deemed 'too old' for Stevie Wayne and Biel simply did not want to do any more horror films. Similarly, reliable websites announced that Chris Isaak had signed on to play Nick Castle, which was completely untrue as the character was being rewritten to be in his mid-twenties. Before Tom Welling was cast, actors considered for Nick Castle included David Boreanaz, Jesse Metcalfe, Matthew Davis, Henry Cavill, Adam Garcia, Michael Cassidy, Oliver Hudson, and Peter Facinelli. Matthew Fox and Benjamin McKenzie were also considered for the role and met with the director, but due to conflicting television schedules they did not read for producers. Tom Welling had three weeks left on "Smallville" (2005) season 4 when he began shooting The Fog (2005). Selma Blair often joked that the director kept two cameras running during his scenes - one for The Fog, and one for Smallville.

During early development, Julia Stiles expressed interest in the role of Elizabeth. The screenplay was subsequently tailored, the character matured, and the role expanded. When Stiles did not come aboard, Maggie Grace was immediately cast, and the character of Elizabeth was rewritten to be younger and more innocent than in previous drafts. Maggie Grace beat Emilie de Ravin, her "Lost" (2004) co-star, for the role of Elizabeth.

Selma Blair did almost all of her own stunt work for the film, and spent 12 hours in a water tank (with only short surface breaks) for two straight days to shoot her underwater scenes.

The film was partially shot in and around Cowichan Bay, British Columbia.

Reception

The film was poorly received by critics and movie fans. The film was further negatively viewed due to its numerous plot holes and abandonment of many of the elements from the original film. To date, the film has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 5%. [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fog/ The Fog (2005)] ] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 27 out of 100, based on 16 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/fog?q=the%20fog|title=Reviews |publisher=Metacritic] "The Fog" was widely considered an unsuccessful remake of the original movie made in 1980, [ [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/fog/195431 The Fog Trailer, Reviews and Schedule for The Fog | TVGuide.com ] ] with the Hollywood Reporter stating that the movie "lack [ed] the scares necessary to satisfy its target audience", [ [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001306611 The Fog ] ] and Variety commented that "interest lags between the grisly deaths, and, worse, none of the characters generates rooting interest." [ [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928568.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 The Fog Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie The Fog ] ] The film was rated D- by Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly. [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1120107,00.html The Fog | Movie Review | Entertainment Weekly ] ]

The film grossed $29,550,869 domestically and further $16,650,563 internationally. [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fog05.htm The Fog (2005) ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.escapethefog.com/ Official site]
*

Box Office Leaders USA
before =
date = October 16
year = 2005
after = Doom