Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans is a 2012 action fantasy film and a sequel to the 2010 film Clash of the Titans. The film stars Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson, with Jonathan Liebesman directing a screenplay by Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson. Wrath of the Titans takes place a decade after the events of the preceding film as the gods lose control over the imprisoned Titans (thanks to humanity's lack of prayers which also is draining their immortality) and Perseus is called, this time to rescue his father Zeus, overthrow the Titans, and save mankind.

Wrath of the Titans
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJonathan Liebesman
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based onCharacters
by Beverley Cross
Starring
Music byJavier Navarrete[1]
CinematographyBen Davis
Edited byMartin Walsh
Production
company
Legendary Pictures
Thunder Road Pictures
Cott Productions
Furia de Titanes II A.I.E.
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • March 28, 2012 (2012-03-28) (France[2])
  • March 30, 2012 (2012-03-30) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes
Country
LanguageEnglish
Budget$150 million
Box office$302 million[5]

Talk of a sequel began with the release of Clash of the Titans in March 2010. Scribes Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson were hired in June 2010 and director Jonathan Liebesman was brought on board in August 2010. The majority of the casting took place between January and February 2011. Principal photography began in London in March 2011. Like its predecessor, the film was converted to 3D in post-production. Wrath of the Titans was released in 2D and 3D on March 30, 2012 in the United States. The film received widespread negative reception from critics and grossed $301 million worldwide. A sequel entitled Revenge of the Titans was planned for a 2013 release, but was cancelled due to the two films' critical failures and too few ideas for the script.[6]

Plot

Perseus (Sam Worthington), the demigod son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), now lives as a fisherman after the death of his wife, Io (Gemma Arterton in the previous film) with his young son, Heleus (John Bell). Zeus visits Perseus and asks for his help, saying that humans are not praying to the gods and as a result the gods are losing their power and becoming mortal, they can no longer sustain the walls of Tartarus, which are crumbling and the imprisoned Titan Kronos will soon be free. Perseus, valuing his family's safety, refuses to get involved.

Zeus meets his brothers, Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Poseidon (Danny Huston) and his son, Ares (Édgar Ramírez) in Tartarus. He asks Hades's help in rebuilding Tartarus's walls, but Hades rejects the offer and attacks Zeus. Ares betrays Zeus, imprisoning him and stealing his thunderbolt. Hades and Ares plan to make a deal with Kronos; in exchange for remaining immortal, they will drain Zeus's divine power to revive Kronos. The walls of Tartarus break, unleashing monsters onto the world.

After killing a Chimera that attacked his village, Perseus travels to meet his father. He instead finds a dying Poseidon who informs him of the circumstances and tells him to find his demigod son Agenor (Toby Kebbell) who will lead him to Hephaestus, who knows the way into Tartarus. Poseidon then gives Perseus his trident and succumbs to the injuries he sustained when meeting Hades. Perseus, Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and Agenor set out to find Hephaestus on a hidden island. Agenor explains that Hephaestus created three weapons which Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon wield: Zeus's thunderbolt, Hades's pitchfork, and Poseidon's trident, and that these weapons can jointly form the Spear of Trium, the only weapon that can defeat Kronos. After an encounter with Cyclopes, the travelers eventually meet the now mortal Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) and reach the entrance of a labyrinth leading to Tartarus. Hephaestus sacrifices himself during an attack by Ares to enable Perseus, Andromeda, and Agenor to enter the labyrinth. Once inside the labyrinth they encounter a minotaur and it attacks the group, but Perseus manages to kill it.

The group eventually enters Tartarus. Meanwhile, Zeus has been almost entirely drained of power as Kronos awakens. Zeus apologizes to Hades for banishing him to the underworld and asks his forgiveness, as he has forgiven Hades for his actions. Hades decides to help Zeus and stop Kronos in contrast to Ares, who still wants to proceed to the former's revival. Perseus arrives and frees Zeus. Ares wounds Zeus with Hades' pitchfork, allowing Perseus to obtain it before he and the others escape Tartarus with Zeus.

Aiming to retrieve Zeus' thunderbolt from Ares in order to defeat Kronos, Perseus challenges him to a duel. Ares accepts. Meanwhile, Andromeda's army is overwhelmed by the Makhai. Hades revives Zeus and together they defeat the creatures. Kronos appears and begins to attack Andromeda's army. Zeus and Hades hold off Kronos while Perseus duels Ares eventually killing him with the thunderbolt. Combining the gods' weapons into the Spear of Trium, Perseus destroys Kronos by traveling to his heart and throwing the spear into it.

Zeus reconciles with Perseus and then dies of his wounds. Hades tells Perseus that now he is powerless and leaves. Perseus kisses Andromeda, and Heleus tells his father that he wants to return to his life as a fisherman, but Perseus tells him they can't. Perseus encourages Heleus to be proud of himself, as he is the son of Perseus and the grandson of Zeus. The film ends with Perseus giving his sword to Heleus.

Cast

Production

Talks of a sequel to Clash of the Titans began as early as March 2010. Tamer Hassan, who played Ares in the first film, stated at the film's world premiere that, "They want this one to do well so they can go ahead with the sequel, Return of the Gods".[7] In April 2010 it was reported that director Louis Leterrier would not return to direct, but would be an executive producer on the second installment. The report also stated that Sam Worthington was on board and that Greg Berlanti would write the story.[8]

In June 2010, Warner Bros. hired screenwriters David Leslie Johnson and Dan Mazeau to write the screenplay, with Basil Iwanyk returning as the producer.[9] Rather than being converted to 3D, it was announced that the sequel would be filmed in 3D.[9] In August 2010, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Jonathan Liebesman had signed a deal to direct the sequel.[10]

In September 2010, director Jonathan Liebesman confirmed that Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson would be returning.[11][12] However, Arterton did not reprise her role for unknown reasons, leaving her character, Io, dead in the film, which means the sequel must have been directed with the original intended ending for the first film which did not see her revived, as was the case with the final cut. In December 2010, Neeson revealed that the film would be titled Wrath of the Titans and that filming was expected to begin next March.[13]

In January 2011, it was reported that Édgar Ramírez and Toby Kebbell were in negotiations to play Ares and Agenor respectively. It was also reported that Bill Nighy was being courted to play Hephaestus. Additionally, Hayley Atwell was on the shortlist of actresses screen testing for the role of Andromeda, played in the previous film by Alexa Davalos who left due to a scheduling conflict. Other actresses being considered for Andromeda included Georgina Haig, Janet Montgomery, Dominique McElligott, and Clémence Poésy.[14]

In February 2011, it was reported that Rosamund Pike was near a deal for the part.[15] Also in February, Liebesman announced that Wrath of the Titans would be converted to 3D rather than shot in 3D as previously reported despite the negative criticism the first Clash of the Titans received for its use of post-conversion 3D. Liebesman explained, "I think what you have to remember is the first film was neither shot nor edited with 3D in mind. It was shot as a 2D movie and edited as a 2D film, and they decided to convert it with six or seven weeks to go until release, which is insane; the technology was not there. That's why we're conceiving it from the start, from the ground up, in 3D, editing in 3D for 3D." Liebesman also stated the reason behind the conversion was because he wants to shoot on film, which will give the film's imagery better texture than he would get shooting digitally.[16]

Principal photography began on March 23, 2011. Filming took place in studios outside London and later shot on location in Surrey, South Wales and in the Canary Islands on the island of Tenerife and Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia.[17]

Release

Wrath of the Titans premiered on Monday, March 26, 2012 at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City.[18]

Home media

Wrath of the Titans was released on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on June 26, 2012.[19]

Reception

Box office
There's a lesson here: It's better to burn out than to fade away, as Neil Young famously sang, but not in the film business. If Wrath of the Titans ultimately flops, then, it will do so in the exact form today's Hollywood prefers: safely, quietly, without much of a fuss.

—Robert Levin of The Atlantic regarding the film's box office prospects and results.[20]

Wrath of the Titans earned $83.6 million in North America and $221.6 million internationally for a worldwide total of $301 million, less than the $493 million grossed by its predecessor.[5] The film was co-financed by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures for $150 million, about $25 million more than it cost to produce the original.[21] It debuted day-and-date in 61 markets worldwide sans Japan and delivered a global opening of $110.3 million.[22][23]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released in a total of 3,545 theaters with 2,900 3D locations (4,400 3D screens), and 290 IMAX locations.[23] Initially, it was projected open around with $35–40 million.[24] It opened Friday, March 30, 2012 with $1 million from midnight screenings in 1,490 theaters.[23] The film went on to earn $34.2 million in North America over the weekend, finishing in second place behind The Hunger Games which was playing its second weekend.[25] The opening was over half of the original's $61.2 million debut. It played well in IMAX representing $4.7 million of the total weekend's gross. The follow-up attracted a large male contingent on its opening weekend with 66%. Roughly 65% of the moviegoers – about 55% of whom were over the age of 25 – saw the film in 3D.[21]

Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution, said the comparison between the opening of the first and second film was not fair because the original opened on Good Friday, when more teenagers were out on spring break. He lamented on the film's poor box office performance: "We made a decision to open a week before the holiday this time and generate positive word-of-mouth since we had issues with the last one regarding the 3-D conversion, we're gonna get there – we're just gonna get there in a different way."[21] However, despite not opening on a holiday weekend, the film had the advantage of playing a week before Easter in which the company could avail the spring break, which was staggered over the next two weeks. However, all this didn't necessarily aid the film's further box office performance. Warner Bros. said they didn't expect the sequel to reach the same level.[24]

Outside North America, the film had a more successful opening but this success later dwindled due to poor word of mouth and eventually was unable to topple the first film's final $332 million international gross. It opened in first place – dethroning The Hunger Games — with $76.1 million from 14,600 screens (9,766 of which were in 3D) in 60 territories. It debuted in first place in 46 markets, notably in nine of the top 12 international territories including Korea ($4.3 million), France ($3.1 million) and Italy ($1.8 million). Its biggest opening territories were Russia and the CIS ($12.8 million, representing 18% of the total weekend foreign take), Mexico ($5.2 million) and Brazil ($4.1 million). The film was ranked No. 1 in 11 markets across Latin America.[22] Also internationally, it had an IMAX opening of $4 million from 176 screens – or $22,000 per site – with Russia contributing about $55,000 per-screen at 19 IMAX locations.[22]

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 27% of 172 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.47/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Its 3D effects are an improvement over its predecessor's, but in nearly every other respect, Wrath of the Titans fails to improve upon the stilted acting, wooden dialogue, and chaos-driven plot of the franchise's first installment".[26] Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 37 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[27] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, slightly better than the first film's "B" grade.[21]

The film earned a Razzie Award nomination for Neeson as Worst Supporting Actor.[28] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called it, "A relentlessly mechanical piece of work that will not or cannot take the imaginative leaps to yield even fleeting moments of awe, wonder or charm".[29] Roger Ebert, who gave the first film three stars, awarded Wrath with only two, remarking "It lacks a comprehensible story, and you won't need your CliffsNotes on the Greek myths. You get an idea of who the major players are, and then they spend a modest amount of time shouting laughable dialogue at one another while being all but forced off the screen by special effects.".[30] Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times criticized, "Directed this time out by Jonathan Liebesman, the film lacks inspiration or zest in storytelling, performance or action. This is pure product, a movie desperately without energy or enthusiasm of any kind".[31] However, there have been some positive reviews. Andrew Barker of Variety noted that, "The [Clash of the Titans] franchise has matured ever so slightly with Wrath of the Titans, hewing incrementally more faithfully to its Greek origins and trimming the fat in essential places".[32] Richard Corliss of Time magazine wrote, "Wrath [of the Titans] radiates the straight-forward, straight-faced pleasures of the mytho-muscular epics, like Hercules and Jason and the Argonauts, produced in Europe a half-century ago".[33] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly commented, "For a movie that's basically all warmed-over pseudo-mythology and special effects, Wrath of the Titans is certainly more fun, in its solemnly junky way, than John Carter. It may also be a little more fun than its cheeseball predecessor, the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans".[34]

Cancelled sequel

Following the film's release, a second sequel, called Revenge of the Titans, was in the pipeline. However, due to Wrath's disappointing critical reception and box office returns, the project was later shelved. In May 2013, Worthington stated he did not think a third film would be made.[35] In December 2013, producer Basil Iwanyk confirmed the sequel was not happening due to a lack of fresh ideas for the script.[6]

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References
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  2. "La colère des Titans - released". AlloCiné.fr. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  3. Simon, Brent (March 28, 2012). "Wrath of the Titans". Screen Daily. Retrieved December 21, 2012.(subscription required)
  4. Buchanan, Jason. "Wrath of the Titans". Allmovie. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  5. "Wrath of the Titans". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  6. Scaefer, Sandy (December 26, 2013). "'Clash of the Titans 3' Not Happening Without 'Fresh' Ideas". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  7. Sharp, Craig (2010-03-29). "FilmShaft Exclusive! The Stars Align For Clash Of The Titans World Premiere With The SEQUEL Waiting In The Wings". FilmShaft. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  8. Flemming, Mike (2010-04-27). "Sequels For 'Clash Of The Titans' And 'Journey To The Center Of The Earth'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  9. McNary, Dave (2010-06-11). "'Clash of the Titans' sequel in the works". Variety. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  10. "Liebesman Confirmed for Clash of the Titans 2". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  11. ""Clash of the Titans 2" to Bring Back Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson". WorstPreviews. 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  12. Douglas, Edward (2010-09-10). "Clash of the Titans 2 and Expendables 2 Updates". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  13. "Neeson looks forward to Titans 2". The Belfast Telegraph. Independent News & Media. 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  14. Sneider, Jeff (2011-01-07). "Exclusive: Ramirez, Kebbell to Join 'Titans' Sequel; Atwell Testing". The Wrap. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  15. Flemming, Mike (2011-02-08). "Rosamund Pike To Play Andromeda In 'Clash Of The Titans 2'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  16. Gilchrist, Todd (2011-02-24). "'Clash of the Titans 2' Will Be Converted To 3D, Says Director Jonathan Liebesman". Moviefone. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  17. "Production Underway for Clash of the Titans 2". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. 2011-03-23. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  18. ""Wrath Of The Titans" New York Premiere - Arrivals". Zimbio. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
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  20. Robert Levin (March 30, 2012). "'Wrath of the Titans': A Worse (but Likely More Successful) 'John Carter'". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  21. Amy Kaufman (April 1, 2012). "Box Office: Greek gods, Snow White no match for 'The Hunger Games' [Updated]". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  22. Frank Segers (January 4, 2012). "Foreign Box Office: 'Wrath of the Titans' Opens No. 1 Overseas, Displacing 'The Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  23. Nikki Finke (March 31, 2012). "'Hunger Games' Passing $250M Domestic For #1 Again, #2 'Wrath Of The Titans' Can't Beat Original, #3 'Mirror Mirror' Disappoints". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  24. Pamela McClintock (March 30, 2012). "Box Office Report: 'Wrath of the Titans,' 'Mirror Mirror' Can't Overpower 'Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  25. Subers, Ray (2012-04-01). "Weekend Report: 'Wrath,' 'Mirror' No Match for 'Hunger Games'". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
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  27. "Wrath of the Titans". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  28. "The 33rd Annual RAZZIE® Awards". Razzies.com. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  29. McCarthy, Todd (2012-03-12). "Wrath of the Titans: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  30. Ebert, Roger (2012-03-28). "Wrath of the Titans". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  31. Olsen, Mark (2012-03-12). "Movie review: The gods aren't kind to 'Wrath of the Titans'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  32. Barker, Andrew (2012-03-12). "Wrath of the Titans". Variety. Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  33. Corliss, Richard (2012-03-29). "Wrath of the Titans: The God-Fathers, Part II". Time. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  34. Gleiberman, Owen (2012-03-29). "Wrath of the Titans: The God-Fathers, Part II". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  35. Radish, Christina (May 2, 2013). "Sam Worthington Talks AVATAR Sequels, Working with Schwarzenegger on TEN, How He Doesn't Think There Will be a Third CLASH OF THE TITANS, and More" (Interview). Collider. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
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