Fantasy Island (film)

Blumhouse's Fantasy Island (or simply Fantasy Island) is a 2020 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Jeff Wadlow.[3] A horror reimagining and prequel to ABC's 1977 television series of the same name, it stars Michael Peña, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell, Portia Doubleday, Jimmy O. Yang, Ryan Hansen, and Michael Rooker.[4] Produced by Wadlow and Marc Toberoff, as well as Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner, the plot follows five people who visit the eponymous island, discovering that their dream fantasies brought to life begin to turn into horrific living nightmares they must try to survive.

Fantasy Island
Theatrical poster
Directed byJeff Wadlow
Produced by
Written by
  • Jeff Wadlow
  • Chris Roach
  • Jillian Jacobs
Based onFantasy Island
by Gene Levitt
Starring
Music byBear McCreary
CinematographyToby Oliver
Edited bySean Albertson
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14) (United States)
Running time
109 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7 million[2]
Box office$47.3 million[2]

Fantasy Island was released in the United States on February 14, 2020 by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was critically panned, but was a box office success, grossing $47 million worldwide against its $7 million production budget.

Plot

Businesswoman Gwen Olsen, former police officer Patrick Sullivan, step-brothers J. D. and Brax Weaver, and disturbed Melanie Cole win a contest to visit Fantasy Island, a tropical resort where fantasies apparently come true. Upon arrival, they meet the island's "keeper", Mr. Roarke, and are taken to their fantasies: J. D. and Brax enter a rave at a mansion; Patrick enlists in a war in honor of his late father; Melanie decides to take revenge on a bully; and Gwen accepts her boyfriend Alan's marriage proposal she rejected many years ago. Patrick is captured by a group of American soldiers and discovers that their commander is his father on his last mission before dying, while Melanie enters an underground room where she tortures her bully, Sloane Maddison, by uploading an online video of her cheating on her husband.

However, another video reveals that Sloane was kidnapped and taken to the island to perform the fantasy against her will. Melanie saves her from a masked surgeon whom she recognizes as Dr. Torture, a fictional character she had designed as a child, and they run away. As night falls, both are attacked again by Dr. Torture before he is killed by Damon, a private investigator living on the island. Damon takes them to a cave, where he explains that the fantasies are created by the spring water under the island's "heart": a glowing rock that shows a person's deepest desires. After revealing that Roarke mixed the water with his guests' drinks, Damon explains that he came to the island to investigate until Roarke offered him a wish to see his deceased daughter. Unfortunately, his fantasy turned into a living nightmare that trapped him on the island after he rejected it. The trio collect some spring water and continue to the resort to find a phone.

Gwen wakes up in the present to discover that she has a daughter with Alan. When she is reluctant to continue, Roarke appears and reveals that he has his own fantasy, which is to be with his deceased wife, and it will be fulfilled as long as he grants his guests their fantasies. Gwen manages to convince Roarke to change her fantasy by persuading him that he will continue to see his wife. However, Fantasy Island begins to turn the other fantasies into living nightmares as J. D. and Brax are attacked by a drug cartel associated with the mansion's owner, while Gwen is taken to the night she accidentally caused a fire that killed her neighbor Nick Taylor. She tries to rescue Nick, but falls unconscious in the fire, only to be rescued by Roarke's personal assistant, Julia. Gwen also realizes that all the other guests, except Melanie, were there that same night.

At the same time, Patrick attempts to leave the island with his father, but he is called to rescue some hostages, who turn out to be J. D. and Brax in the mansion. The soldiers kill the cartel, but they reanimate as zombies and murder J. D. and the rest of the soldiers. Patrick's father sacrifices himself so that his son and Brax can escape back to the resort. Melanie and Sloane are ambushed by a now-zombified Dr. Torture, until Damon leaps over a cliff with him, killing them both. Arriving at the resort, Sloane calls her husband and convinces him to call Damon's military associates. The remaining survivors regroup at the resort, but are cornered by Roarke, who reveals that the guests are part of someone else's fantasy in which they are all killed.

Realizing that everyone was involved in Nick's death, the guests deduce that this is Julia's fantasy, believing that she was Nick's mother. The guests escape to the dock to be rescued by a plane sent by Damon's associates, only for it to be shot down by the cartel. The group runs to the cave to destroy the glowing rock with a grenade that Brax is carrying. While searching, the survivors are confronted by manifestations of their personal demons, but they regroup and find the rock. Suddenly, Melanie stabs and wounds Patrick before taking Sloane as a hostage. Melanie reveals that this is her true fantasy, having orchestrated everyone's arrival to seek revenge on them for the death of Nick, with whom she was supposed to have a date on the night he died; it is also revealed that Julia is actually Roarke's wife, reappearing without knowing him as part of his fantasy, and that if he did not fulfil each guest's fantasy, including Melanie's, he would lose her again.

Julia begins to die once again, but before disappearing, recognising him, she convinces Roarke to let her go and help his guests to escape from the island. Reminded by Roarke that she can have a fantasy fulfilled, Sloane fantasizes Melanie being together with Nick. This causes Melanie to be attacked by Nick's zombified corpse, which drags her into the water. Before drowning, she detonates the grenade against the survivors, but Patrick sacrifices himself by falling on it to protect the others. The fantasy concludes, and Gwen, Sloane, and Brax wake up at the resort, discovering that Patrick died as a hero, while a now-purified Roarke finally agrees to let them go.

As the survivors board a plane to leave the now-purified Fantasy Island, Brax wishes for J. D. to come back to life and go home. Roarke explains that Brax must remain on the island for this fantasy to come true. As Gwen, Sloane, and J. D. depart on the plane, Roarke asks Brax to be his new personal assistant and to take on a nickname. Remembering a nickname that his brother gave him at school, Brax chooses to call himself Tattoo, initiating the 1977 television series' events.

Cast
  • Michael Peña as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic "keeper" of Fantasy Island and Julia's husband.
  • Maggie Q as Gwen Olsen, a businesswoman who visits the island to realize her fantasy of accepting a marriage proposal.
  • Lucy Hale as Melanie Cole, a disturbed girl who visits the island to realize her fantasy of taking revenge on a childhood bully.
  • Austin Stowell as Patrick Sullivan, a former police officer who visits the island to realize his fantasy of enlisting on a war in honor of his late father.
  • Portia Doubleday as Sloane Madison, Melanie's childhood bully, who was kidnapped and sent to the island to perform in a fantasy.
  • Jimmy O. Yang as Brax "T" Weaver / Tattoo, J. D.'s gay younger brother, who visits the island to realize his fantasy of "having it all".
  • Ryan Hansen as J. D. Weaver, Brax's older brother, who visits the island to realize his fantasy of "having it all".
  • Michael Rooker as Damon, a private investigator sent to investigate the true intentions of Fantasy Island.
  • Parisa Fitz-Henley as Julia Roarke, Roarke's deceased wife, who reappears on the island as his personal assistant on his fantasy.
  • Mike Vogel as Lieutenant Sullivan, Patrick's deceased father, who reappears as part of his fantasy on his last war mission before dying.
  • Evan Evagora as Nick Taylor, Melanie's crush, who died in a fire involving the other guests of the island.
  • Robbie Jones as Allen Chambers, Gwen's ex-boyfriend, to whom he proposed marriage.
  • Kim Coates as Devil Face, the leader of the drug cartel that seeks to kill J. D. and Brax.
  • Ian Roberts as Dr. Torture, a masked surgeon brought to the island to torture, and possibly kill, Sloane as part of Melanie's original fantasy.
  • Charlotte McKinney as Chastity, a party girl who appears as part of J. D. and Brax's fantasy of "having it all".

Production

It was announced in July 2018 that a horror film adaptation of the Fantasy Island television series was being developed at Blumhouse Productions and Sony Pictures, described as a mix of Westworld and The Cabin in the Woods. Jeff Wadlow was set to direct as well as co-write the screenplay, and co-produce.[5]

In October 2018, Michael Peña, Jimmy O. Yang, Dave Bautista and Lucy Hale joined the cast.[6][7][8][9] In November 2018, during an interview, Wadlow disclosed that Maggie Q, Portia Doubleday and Ryan Hansen were added as well, though Bautista was no longer to appear in the film.[10]

Michael Rooker, Charlotte McKinney, Parisa Fitz-Henley and Austin Stowell were cast in January 2019.[11]

Filming locations

The majority of the filming took place in Navodo Bay in Fiji.[12] Minor scenes were filmed in New York and Mississippi.

Music
Fantasy Island:
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Bear McCreary
ReleasedFebruary 14, 2020
GenreSoundtrack
Length1:11:01
LabelMadison Gate
ProducerBear McCreary
Bear McCreary chronology
Eli
(2019)		 Fantasy Island:
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2020)

On February 14, 2020, Madison Gate Records released the score soundtrack for the film composed by Bear McCreary.[13] Jared Lee performed a track titled "Don’t Wish Your Life Away", which appeared in the film's end credits and was released as a single on January 31, 2020.[14]

All tracks are written by Bear McCreary.

No.TitleLength
1."You Are One of My Guests"1:37
2."Arrival"3:45
3."Regret Is a Disease"2:26
4."Your Fantasy Begins Now"5:47
5."No Soldier"5:45
6."The Life You Wanted"2:51
7."Panic Room"2:30
8."Dog Tags"3:26
9."Brax Makes His Move"2:44
10."You Deserve It"2:04
11."The Heart of the Island"4:38
12."Fighting"4:28
13."A Devil, a Pig and a Clown"6:36
14."Not My Fantasy"2:58
15."The Island’s Secret"8:49
16."In the Cave"4:24
17."Hate in My Heart"3:05
18."Every Guest Gets a Fantasy"6:01
19."What Happens Now"2:40
Total length:1:11:01

Release

Fantasy Island was released on February 14, 2020.[15][16] It originally was scheduled to open on February 28, 2020, before being moved up, with another Blumhouse production, The Invisible Man, being set for its original date.[3]

Home media

Fantasy Island was released on digital on April 14, 2020. Later, the film released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 12, 2020.[17]

Reception

Box office

Fantasy Island grossed $26.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $20.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $47.3 million, against a production budget of $7 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Sonic the Hedgehog, The Photograph and Downhill, and was projected to gross $13–20 million from 2,770 theaters in its opening weekend.[18] It made $5.7 million on its first day, and went on to debut to $12.6 million for its first three days, and a total $14 million over four, finishing third at the box office.[19]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval percentage of 8% based on 103 critics and an average rating of 3.21/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Fantasy Island tries to show audiences the dark side of wish fulfillment, but mainly serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of exhuming long-dead franchises."[20] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 22 out of 100 based on 29 critic reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale.[22]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film "inane" and "contrived," and wrote that "it feels like someone planted about a half-dozen different scripts all over this Fantasy Island."[23] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film zero out of five stars, writing, "If crimes against cinema merited prosecution, Blumhouse's Fantasy Island would go directly to death row...The only genuine, blood-curdling scream incited by this stupefyingly dull time- and money-waster comes at the end, when the notion dawns that [the film] is meant to spawn sequels. Stop it now, before it kills again."[24] Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com wrote that the film "contains less raw terror in its entirety than Sonic the Hedgehog during any five minutes of its running time," calling it "utterly boring" and "no sane person's fantasy of a half-decent movie."[25]

References
  1. "Fantasy Island (2020)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  2. "Fantasy Island (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  3. Miska, Brad (December 1, 2018). "Sony and Blumhouse's 'Fantasy Island' is a Horror Film; Set for Release in 2020!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  4. McNary, Dave (December 1, 2018). "Michael Pena's 'Fantasy Island' Movie Lands 2020 Release". Variety. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  5. "'Fantasy Island' Movie in the Works at Blumhouse". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  6. "Michael Pena to Star as Mr. Roarke in 'Fantasy Island'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  7. "Jimmy O. Yang Joins Blumhouse's 'Fantasy Island' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  8. "Dave Bautista in Talks to Join Michael Pena in 'Fantasy Island' Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  9. "Lucy Hale Boards 'Fantasy Island' for Blumhouse and Sony". TheWrap. October 12, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  10. The Mutuals Interviews - Jeff Wadlow, retrieved February 13, 2020
  11. N'Duka, Amanda (January 18, 2019). "'Fantasy Island' Welcomes Michael Rooker, Charlotte McKinney, Parisa Fitz-Henley & Austin Stowell". Deadline. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  12. "Lucy Hale on Instagram: "Fantasy freaking Island. Here we go."". Instagram. January 14, 2019.
  13. "'Blumhouse's Fantasy Island' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  14. "Jared Lee's Original Song 'Don't Wish Your Life Away' from 'Fantasy Island' Released". Film Music Reporter. January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  15. Squires, John (August 22, 2019). "Blumhouse's 'Fantasy Island' Horror Movie Gets a New Release Date". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  16. D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 22, 2019). "Blumhouse-Sony's 'Fantasy Island' Moves Up Two Weeks – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  17. Miska, Brad (March 30, 2020). "'Fantasy Island' Gets Unrated Release With Commentary and Deleted Scenes". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  18. Rebecca Rubin (February 12, 2020). "'Sonic' to Speed Past 'Birds of Prey,' 'Fantasy Island' at Box Office". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  19. D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 15, 2020). "'Sonic The Hedgehog' Runs Up $3M In Thursday Night Previews". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  20. "Fantasy Island (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  21. "Blumhouse's Fantasy Island Reviews". Metacritic.
  22. "Home - Cinemascore". cinemascore.com.
  23. Roeper, Richard (February 14, 2020). "Blumhouse's inane 'Fantasy Island' not worth the trek to the multiplex". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  24. Travers, Peter (February 14, 2020). "'Fantasy Island' Review: A Nightmare of a Reboot". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  25. Sobczynski, Peter (February 14, 2020). "Fantasy Island movie review & film summary (2020)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
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