30 Days of Night (film)


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30 Days of Night

Teaser poster
Directed by David Slade
Produced by Sam Raimi
Ted Adams
Rob Tapert
Written by Steve Niles
Stuart Beattie
Starring Josh Hartnett
Melissa George
Danny Huston
Ben Foster
Mark Boone Junior
Mark Rendall
Music by Brian Reitzell
Cinematography Jo Willems
Editing by Art Jones
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) October 19, 2007
Running time 113 min.
Country  United States
Language English
Budget $32 million
Gross revenue $70,806,224
(worldwide)
Preceded by 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails
The introduction to this article may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, it should be expanded to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points.

30 Days of Night is a 2007 horror film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name. The film is directed by David Slade and stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George and Danny Huston. The film was released in the U.S. on October 19, 2007, and November 1, 2007, in the UK by Columbia Pictures. The story focuses on an Alaskan town beset by vampires as it enters into a thirty day long period without sunshine. The film follows a group of humans who struggle to survive until sunlight returns.

Contents

Plot

Barrow, Alaska, is preparing for its annual "30 days of night", a period during the winter when the sun will not be seen: some inhabitants leave for Fairbanks or other parts south. As the town gets ready, the Stranger (Ben Foster) rows ashore from a large ship and once in Barrow, he sets about sabotaging the town in the belief that the vampires will make him one of them if he helps them with their plans.

Barrow's sheriff, Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) investigates these crimes. As he does so, he learns that his estranged wife, Stella Oleson (Melissa George), missed the last plane out of town and will have to spend the 30 day period in Barrow. Although they try to avoid one another, when Eben confronts the Stranger in the town diner, she helps subdue him and take him to the station house.

From the jail cell, the Stranger taunts Eben, Stella, Eben's teenage brother, Jake (Mark Rendall) and grandmother, telling them that death is coming for them. Just then, vampires attack the local telecommunications center and power supply, rendering the town dark and cut off from the outside world. Eben goes to the telecommunications center and finds the operator's head on a spike. He and Stella then go through town, trying to find the ones responsible for the gruesome crimes.

Meanwhile, the vampires, led by Marlow (Danny Huston) attack the town. The vampires speak in an ancient, guttural language, clarified by subtitles. Unless they are shot in the head, bullets are useless against them, and they slaughter most of the town, including Eben's grandmother, while the survivors congregate in the diner. The vampires attack Eben and Stella but Beau Brower (Mark Boone Junior), the local snowplow driver, rescues them. Everyone decides to go to the boarded up house of someone who had left town earlier that day. The house has a hidden attic where they will be able to hide. Marlow finds the Stranger in the jail and assures him that they will will take care of him. Then, rather than turning him into a vampire as the Stranger wished, Marlow kills him instead. Marlow orders the vampires not to transform anyone into one of them; they will slaughter the town and then disappear in order to preserve modern humanity's belief that vampires are "only bad dreams" and nothing more.

Over the next week, Eben, Stella, Jake and seven others stick it out in the attic. They fight about leaving but most stay; only Wilson and his senile father, Isaac are lost. Eben ventures out to try to help a stray survivor, being used by the vampires as bait for any other survivors. During his attempt, he finds John Riis, in the crawlspace under a building and attempts to help him. He discovers however that he had become a vampire, and ends up killing him. In the process he learns that beheading the vampires will kill them.

When a blizzard hits, Eben and the others use the whiteout conditions to make it to the general store. There, a young girl vampire attacks and wounds one of them. The whiteout conditions end, preventing them from making it back to the abandoned house under cover. Eben decides everyone should go to the police station. He will provide a diversion by running to his grandmother's house to retrieve an ultraviolet lighting system. Eben makes it to the house, turns on the generator and turns the light on the vampires who have followed him. It hideously burns a female vampire named Iris, forcing Marlow to kill her. Eben escapes the house followed by the vampires. Beau comes to the rescue, killing many of the vampires with his backhoe. He crashes into a hotel and then ignites a box of dynamite using road flares, trying to kill himself. His ploy is unsuccessful though as Beau lives through the blast and Marlow crushes his skull, but it gives Eben the time to make it to the police station. There, the wounded member, Carter Davies (Nathaniel Lees) turns into a vampire. With some shred of his humanity left, he asks Eben to behead him because he wants to remain faithful to the team and not harm them. Eben complies.

Two more weeks pass. Stella and Eben find his deputy, Billy Kitka (Manu Bennett), signaling them with a flashlight from across the street. Eben and Stella make it to Billy's house. When the vampires attacked, he killed his wife and daughters but his gun apparantly jammed when he tried to commit suicide. Stella and Eben take him back to the station house. There they learn that the others have made it to the utilidor, a power station that controls the oil pipeline, the only structure that still has power. Eben, Stella and Billy begin to sneak towards the utilidor. Stella stops to rescue a young girl, Gail Robbins, who is being stalked by a vampire, Zurial (John Rawls). Eben and Billy try to distract him while Stella gets the girl to safety. Instead, Billy and Eben are separated. They both eventually make it to the utilidor, but another vampire follows Billy inside.

Eben is happy to see the rest of the survivors have made it alive. The vampire attacks Billy, ripping into his neck and dazing him. When the vampire turns to attack Eben, Billy gets up and knocks it into the gears of the utilidor's pump, shredding the creature. Billy's arm gets caught in the gears as well and his entire forearm is completely gone. Billy screams in pain as Eben tries to calm him down. Eben then realizes that Billy's screams become vampiric shrieks. Eben is then forced to kill Billy with an axe, beheading him.

The sun is due to rise in a few hours. The vampires decide to burn the town to cover their tracks to preserve the thought that they don't exist. Stella radios to Eben that she and the young girl are hiding under an abandoned truck across the street from the utilidor, the flames rapidly approaching them. Realizing he cannot beat the vampires as a human, Eben injects himself with Billy's infected blood so he can fight them as a vampire. He and Marlow fight a vicious battle. As the battle comes to a close, Marlow charges Eben as Eben throws a punch. The punch, empowered by Eben's vampiric super-strength, runs through Marlow's mouth and out the back of his head, killing him. Leaderless, with the sun about to rise, the other vampires disappear.

Eben and Stella watch the sunrise together. While Stella rests on Eben's shoulder, they share one last kiss. Stella holds Eben tightly in her arms as he lets out a bloodcurdling scream. His body slowly burns until there is nothing left but ash. The end of the film is marked as Stella closes her eyes, cradling Eben's ashen corpse.

Production

Following the publication of the 30 Days of Night comic book miniseries in 2002, studios, including DreamWorks, MGM and Senator International, bid in the $1 million range for rights to a potential vampire film based on the story. Director and producer Sam Raimi expressed interest in adapting the miniseries and was negotiating a production deal with his producing partner Robert Tapert to establish a label with Senator Entertainment, of which Senator International is the sales division.[1] In July 2002, Senator International acquired the rights for 30 Days of Night in a seven figure deal with Raimi and Tapert attached as producers. 30 Days of Night author Steve Niles originally conceived of the story in the form of a film but after meeting a lack of interest in initial pitches to studios, Niles was able to produce it as a comic with Ben Templesmith deciding to collaborate on the project and provide artwork. When Niles and his agent, Jon Levin, shopped the comic around as a potential film adaptation, Niles found that the idea "went shockingly well," with Sam Raimi and Senator International picking up the property rights based on the original concept and Templesmith's unique mood and concepts for the vampires.[2] According to Raimi, the potential project was "unlike the horror films of recent years".[3]

By October 2002, Niles was working on adapting 30 Days of Night for the big screen, keeping the film true to the miniseries, though fleshing out the characters more significantly in the adaptation process.[4] In February 2003, Columbia Pictures partnered with Senator International to work on 30 Days of Night, which was developing under Senator internationals newly-established production company, Ghost House Pictures. Mike Richardson, the Dark Horse Comics publisher who supported the adaptation project from the beginning, after having turned down an offer to initially publish the project, was attached as executive producer.[5] The following March, Richardson revealed that Steve Niles had turned in the initial draft for the 30 Days of Night screenplay.[6] In March 2004, however, Columbia Pictures requested that Niles's initial screenplay to be rewritten in preparation for production.[7] Sue Binder, the business manager of Ghost House Pictures, indicated that filming for 30 Days of Night was still at least a year away, as Ghost House planned to produce three films before the vampire thriller.[7] The following May, Stuart Beattie, one of the writers for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, was rewriting Niles's 30 Days of Night draft for production.[8] Niles was pleased with Beattie's faithfully rewritten script, which was submitted to the studio in October 2004.[9]

In September 2005, it was announced that director David Slade had signed on to 30 Days of Night, which would be distributed by Columbia Pictures mainly in North America and Mandate Pictures in international territories.[10] In March 2006, Slade revealed that screenwriter Brian Nelson, who wrote the screenplay for Slade's previous film Hard Candy, was writing a new draft of the 30 Days of Night script, replacing Beattie's draft.[11] The director said that filming would begin in summer 2006 in Alaska and New Zealand.[11]

In June 2006, it was announced that Josh Hartnett was cast as the husband of the married couple that serves as the town's sheriff team.[12] Melissa George joined the 30 Days of Night cast as the wife of Hartnett's character.[13] Danny Huston joined the cast as the leader of the vampires.[14] Filming did not begin immediately, but in a September 2006 interview, executive producer Mike Richardson said that 30 Days of Night would be shot on 35 mm film, though there had been discussion to shoot the film on Genesis.[15] In an interview prior to filming, Slade explained that the illustrations of the graphic novel's illustrator, Ben Templesmith, would be reflected in production design. Slade also considered Nelson's draft to be the most faithful to the graphic novel. He also stated his intention to make a "scary vampire film", of which he didn't think there were many. "The rest of them, they fall into all kinds of traps. We're going to try to do our best... and one of the ways we have to do it is be more naturalistic than the graphic novel, because it's very over-the-top," said Slade.[16]

By February 2007, the production phase was completed, and a rough cut of the film was prepared.[17] In April, composer Brian Reitzell was hired to score the film.[18]

Differences from the real Barrow

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008)
  • The number of dark days in Barrow, Alaska, is 67 rather than 30.
  • The polar night is not characterized by a plunge into and out of total darkness, as suggested by the film; rather a period of bright twilight exists during the midday hours except close to the winter solstice.
  • Barrow is not isolated without outside contact while the sun is down as portrayed in the film, but in fact has daily commercial 737 airline service from other cities in Alaska[19] even during the depths of winter. That fact has been noted in a number of sources, including the comic, by AP movie reviewer David Germain[20], and others[21].
  • Inupiat people make up 60% of the town, contrasting sharply with the film which presented the town with a largely white population.[22]
  • There is no Sheriff department in Alaska, but there is a Police department.
  • Barrow's population is more than 4000, a far cry from the 500 depicted in the movie.

Reception

Box office release

30 Days of Night was released in 2,855 theaters in the United States and Canada on October 19, 2007. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $15,951,902,[23] placing first in the box office.[24] As of November 18th 2007, 30 Days of Night has grossed $39,141,000 in the United States and Canada and $10,986,792 overseas. It has grossed $70,806,224 worldwide.[23]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of the 143 film critics gave the film positive reviews.[25] On Metacritic, the film received a metascore of 53 out of 100 from 29 reviews, considered to be mixed or average reviews.

DVD release

30 Days of Night was released February 26, 2008 on DVD, Blu-Ray, and UMD for PSP in the United States. The DVD is a single disc and includes 8 featurettes, one of which is a full episode of the hit anime Blood+. The UK Region 2 release is a two disc special edition, released in April 2008. Despite being exactly the same as the theatrical release, the BBFC re-rated the film from a 15 to an 18. Even though it still only has the eight featurettes on the second disc, it includes a bonus 30 Days of Night graphic novel.


Trivia

The language the vampires speak in the film was a language which was created specifically for the film. Vampiric was created by a lecturer of linguistics at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Raimi Mulls 30 Days", Sci Fi Wire (2002-07-15). Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  2. ^ SCI FI Wire (2007-07-30). "30 Days grabbed Raimi's Eye", SCI FI Wire. Retrieved on 30 July 2007. 
  3. ^ Jonah Weiland (2002-07-22). "Niles Looks Forward to At Least '30 Days' of Screen Time", Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  4. ^ Ace MacDonald (2002-10-14). "Horror is October Month", Comicon.com. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  5. ^ "Columbia Acquires 30 Days of Night", Ghost House Pictures (2003-02-27). Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  6. ^ Jonah Weiland (2003-03-31). "Dark Horse's Mike Richardson Talks Comic Book Movies", Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  7. ^ a b Kyle Hopkins (2004-03-03). "Bloodthirsty in Barrow", Anchorage Press. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  8. ^ "Steve Niles Talks Movies", Comic Continuum (2004-05-04). Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  9. ^ "30 Days Moves Forward", Sci Fi Wire (2004-10-13). Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  10. ^ Tatiana Siegel (2005-09-07). "Slade has eyes for Col's 'Night'", The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  11. ^ a b Edward Douglas (2006-03-24). "David Slade on 30 Days of Night", SuperHeroHype.com. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  12. ^ "Hartnett in Flight with Sony 'Night'" (2006-06-15). Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  13. ^ "30 Days of Night, Melissa George and Josh Hartnett". MelissaGeorge.co.uk (2006-07-31). Retrieved on 2006-10-13.
  14. ^ Borys Kit (2006-09-11). "'Night' dawns for Huston in Col horror pic", The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  15. ^ Robert Sanchez (2006-09-28). "Exclusive Interview: Part II With Dark Horse's Mike Richardson", IESB.net. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  16. ^ Daniel Fienberg (2006-04-13). "'Candy' Director Prepares for '30 Days of Night'", Zap2it.com. Retrieved on 13 October 2006. 
  17. ^ Andy Khouri (2007-02-24). "NYCC, DAY 2: MYSPACE MYSTERY PANELISTS REVEALED!", Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on 6 April 2007. 
  18. ^ "Brian Reitzell: 30 Days of Night", Film Music Weekly (2007-04-03). Retrieved on 10 April 2007. 
  19. ^ "Alaska Airlines / Horizon Air". Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
  20. ^ Germain, David (2007-10-18). "‘30 Days of Night’ feels about that long", Associated Press, Associated Press. Retrieved on 18 January 2008. 
  21. ^ Biancolli, Amy (2007-10-18). "Lovely gothic carnage", Houston Chronicle, Hearst Corporation. Retrieved on 18 January 2008. 
  22. ^ Mouawad, Jad (2007-12-04). "In Alaska’s Far North, Two Cultures Collide" (in English), New York Times. Retrieved on 18 January 2008. 
  23. ^ a b "30 Days of Night (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
  24. ^ Pamela McClintock (2007-10-21). "Audiences sink teeth into 'Night'", Variety. Retrieved on 21 October 2007. 
  25. ^ "30 Days of Night (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.

Further reading

  • Tim Lebbon (25 September 2007). 30 Days of Night, Pocket Star. ISBN 1416544975. 

External links


Preceded by
Why Did I Get Married?		 Box office number-one films of 2007 (USA)
October 21, 2007		 Succeeded by
Saw IV
v • d • e
30 Days of Night
Creators
Steve Niles • Ben Templesmith • Dan Wickline • Matt Fraction • Kelly DeConnick
Comics
30 Days of Night • Dark Days • Return to Barrow • Bloodsucker Tales • Three Tales • Spreading the Disease • Eben & Stella • Red Snow • Beyond Barrow
Novels
Screen
30 Days of Night • Blood Trails
Characters
Eben Olemaun • Stella Olemaun • Marlowe • Vicente • Lilith • Brian Kitka • John Ikos • Andy Gray






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