Across the Universe is a 2007 American musical film directed by Julie Taymor, produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was released in the United States on October 12, 2007. The script is based on an original story credited to Taymor, Dick Clement, and Ian La Frenais. It incorporates 33 compositions originally written by members of The Beatles.
The film, directed by Taymor, stars Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, and T. V. Carpio, and introduces Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy as actors. Cameo appearances are made by Bono, Eddie Izzard, Joe Cocker, Salma Hayek, and others.
Opening to mixed reviews, Across the Universe was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. Two members of the supporting cast, Carol Woods and Timothy T. Mitchum, performed as part of a special Beatles tribute at the 50th Grammy Awards.
Plot
The film's plot and narrative structure interweave the stories of several characters whose lives cross paths during events set against the backdrop of the turbulent middle/late 1960s. The story apparently takes place from about late 1965 to mid 1969.[1]
The story begins in Liverpool, England with a young shipyard worker named Jude (Jim Sturgess)(named after the song "Hey Jude"). Against the wishes of both his mother and his girlfriend, Jude enlists in the merchant navy and travels by ship to the United States of America. He jumps ship in New York City to search for his American G.I. father, Wes Hubert (Robert Clohessy), whom he has never met and who does not know he exists. He learns that his father works at Princeton as a janitor. After meeting his father, Jude has nowhere to go.
He befriends a Princeton student, Maxwell (Max) Carrigan (Joe Anderson)(named after the song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"), a rebellious and eccentric young man from a privileged background. Max and his friends come from upper class families who pay for their schooling, so they mess around, drink, and do drugs ("With a Little Help From My Friends"). When Max goes home for Thanksgiving, bringing Jude with him, Jude meets Max's younger sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood)(named after the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"). After a heated argument with his parents about his future, Max drops out of college and moves to New York City, accompanied by Jude. Max works as a taxi driver, while Jude pursues work as a freelance artist. They become roommates in a bohemian enclave in Greenwich Village, where they share an apartment with others, most notably Sadie (Dana Fuchs)(named after the song "Sexy Sadie"), their landlady, who is an aspiring singer and a representation of Janis Joplin. Other residents include Jojo (Martin Luther McCoy) (whose name is a reference to the protagonist of the song "Get Back"), a guitarist representing Jimi Hendrix, who arrives from Detroit, Michigan after the death of his younger brother during the 12th Street Riot ("Let It Be") ("Come Together"); and Prudence (T. V. Carpio) (named after the song "Dear Prudence") a young woman who has hitchhiked to New York City from Dayton, Ohio where she was seen pining after a fellow cheerleader. After Lucy's boyfriend, Daniel (Spencer Liff), is killed in Vietnam, she goes to New York City to visit Max before she starts college, despite the fact that her parents are against the idea ("Why Don't We Do It In The Road").
Romantic relationships develop between Lucy and Jude (If I Fell), and between Sadie and Jojo ("I Want You"). One night, Prudence (who seemingly has a crush on Sadie) becomes depressed, and hides in a closet. Upon realizing where she is, the rest of the cast coax her out of the closet ("Dear Prudence"). Prudence mysteriously leaves the group after wandering off enthralled by street performers at a peace rally. As Sadie and Max discuss Prudence's now-empty room, Max uses a hammer to bang out the first seven notes of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".
Sadie and her band, the Po Boys (referencing a line in "Down on the Corner"), with Jojo as her lead guitarist, are courted by a prospective manager, who invites them to a book function for an existential drug guru named Doctor Robert (Bono), based on Ken Kesey. After serving punch that appears to be laced with LSD (aka Kesey's Electric Kool-Aid), Doctor Robert lectures that the New Yorkers are two years behind the new agers of California, and urges everyone that "time is of the essence, we have to transcend fast" ("I Am The Walrus").
The friends embark with Doctor Robert and his followers on an epic journey inside a psychedelically painted bus named "Beyond", an allusion to Ken Kesey's real-life bus "Furthur" They wake up not knowing where they are or how they got there. They learn Doctor Robert has taken them to the spiritual retreat compound of Dr. Frank Geary, a fellow psychonaut "Navigator", and leader of a cult called the "League of Spiritual Deliverance" (Geary is an allusion to Timothy Leary, who headed the International Foundation for Internal Freedom, from his estate in Millbrook). Mirroring the real-life refusal of Leary to commune with Kesey when the latter showed up unexpectedly at Leary's rural retreat house, Geary refuses to see Doctor Robert who, resigned to this news, retires to California. The friends, however, are stranded.
At the cult compound, the friends are reunited with Prudence, who now is a performer in the circus of "Mr Kite," (Eddie Izzard) a merry entertainer, who wants to challenge the world of show business with his "blue people" (a reference to the Blue Meanies from the Beatles 1968 movie Yellow Submarine). The Marry Pranksters can also be seen playing the instrumental part of the song "MR Kite" ("Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite") ("Because").
When Max is drafted and sent to Vietnam, Lucy becomes involved in the anti-war movement, while Jude (who, despite potentially having U.S. citizenship due to his American father, is still living without a visa and thus cannot be drafted) remains comparatively apolitical ("Something"). Jude becomes unhappy with the amount of time Lucy spends with a political group, "Students for a Democratic Republic" (SDR), an allusion to the real life group Students for a Democratic Society suspecting that its leader, Paco, is a lothario. Jude's art and his relationship with Lucy both start to falter ("Strawberry Fields").
Meanwhile, Sadie has been signed to the prospective manager's record label, but he wants her to drop her backing band. She agrees, and this leads to a bitter break up between Sadie and Jojo, both musically and romantically. Sadie leaves to go on tour, while Jojo plays guitar in a local bar ("Oh! Darling").
Meanwhile, the differences and tensions between Jude and Lucy escalate. One day, Jude storms into the SDR office where Lucy works and points out the activists' hypocrisy as well as the violence their actions invite, but he is thrown out by Paco's people ("Revolution"). This leads to an argument between the couple, which results in Lucy leaving Jude ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps") ("Across the Universe"). Jude finds her at an anti-war demonstration at Columbia University during which many protesters, including Lucy, are arrested ("Helter Skelter"). Pushing through the crowd to help her, Jude is also beaten and arrested.
Lucy contacts Jude's father, Wes, who convinces the police not to press charges, but he cannot prove that Jude is his son (and thus an American citizen), so Jude is deported to England. Going back to work at the Liverpool shipyards, Jude encounters his old girlfriend, Molly. She is now pregnant by Jude's old friend and shipyard co-worker Phil Scully, which does not upset the apathetic Jude.
Max is wounded in Vietnam and is repatriated, emotionally and mentally shattered by his experiences and dependent on morphine to relieve his pain, while Lucy remains involved in her anti-war movement, which is becoming more and more violent (much as the SDS broke apart, with hard-left extremists forming the domestic terrorist group The Weathermen). Lucy finally leaves the group when she returns to the SDR headquarters one night to find the offices deserted and Paco and some of his followers making bombs. One of their bombs explodes, killing Paco and his confederates and destroying the building, an allusion to the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion that killed three members of the Weather Underground in 1970 ("Blackbird").
Jude reads about the explosion in a Liverpool newspaper and believes that Lucy has also been killed. However, he subsequently hears from Max that she is alive, and, encouraged both by a vision of Max singing "Hey Jude" to him and by his understanding mother, he arranges to legally return to the United States. He meets Max, who drives him to Sadie's music headquarters where a rooftop concert is underway that recalls the Beatles' famous 1969 performance. Jojo and Sadie have reunited, and their band (which now includes Prudence) sings "Don't Let Me Down". Lucy is supposed to be there, but she arrives late and cannot get into the building to join them on the roof. Also as lucy arrives you can spot a colorful, small Porche, which acts as an allusion to a Porche once owned by Janis Joplin, a further development on Sadie's character. After seeing Sadie's recording company logo (an abstract strawberry Jude had created - a reference to the Beatles' Apple Corps), Lucy slowly walks away, overwhelmed with grief.
The police begin to force the group to leave, a specific reference to the Beatles' rooftop concert on January 30, 1969, where "Don't Let Me Down" was one of five songs sung by the Beatles before the concert was broken up by the police.[2] Jude manages to evade the police and stay behind on the roof. Hesitantly, he begins to sing "All You Need Is Love". Sadie, Jojo and the rest of the band hear him, and the police allow them to go back onto the roof to accompany him with their voices and instruments.
Down in the street, Lucy hears Jude as well and tries to enter the building, but is turned away by the police. Max suddenly looks out across the street as everybody else sings and, at the exact moment when John Lennon self-parodies in the original release, begins to sing "She Loves You" as Jude turns to see Lucy, who is wearing a diamond necklace and stands on an adjacent roof. Jude and Lucy smile at one another with tears in their eyes, and the screen fades out to white clouds and blue sky. This is a reference to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which commences in the background.
Use of The Beatles' music
The film begins with Jude (a reference to the song "Hey Jude") singing the beginning verse of "Girl". As the opening credits roll, Sadie and her band are heard singing "Helter Skelter". The scene intercuts sceens of Lucy's prom and Jude's date at the Cavern Club in Liverpool with his girlfriend Molly. "Molly" and "Lucy" are references to the Beatles songs "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Molly and Lucy are both singing "Hold Me Tight". At the shipyard, Jude can be seen working on the yellow bottom half of a boat, perhaps a subtle reference to "Yellow Submarine." The shipyard payroll clerk says to Jude that he told himself "When I'm Sixty-Four", he was going to be out of this place. "All My Loving" is then sung by Jude to Molly prior to departing for America. When Prudence (referencing the song, "Dear Prudence") appears at football practice at her school in Dayton, singing "I Want to Hold Your Hand", she is thinking of one of the other cheerleaders, which becomes clear as she sings the line, "And let me be your man." When Jude meets his father for the first time he is mentioning his mother's name, Martha (a reference to the song "Martha My Dear"). When Jude meets Max, (referencing the song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"), "With a Little Help from My Friends" is sung around the Princeton campus, the college Max attends. Towards the climax of the musical number, the melody for the song transcends to "Dig A Pony" and reverts back to "With A Little Help from My Friends". Lucy sings "It Won't Be Long" when she gets a letter from her boyfriend saying he'll be home before he ships out to Vietnam. During the thanksgiving dinner scene Max refers to his uncle as Uncle Teddy, which could possibly be a reference to the song "Teddy Boy" (an outtake from the 1969 Let it Be sessions). At a bowling alley, Jude realizes he has feelings for Lucy, singing "I've Just Seen a Face". Max and Jude rent a New York apartment from a landlady named Sadie, (referencing the song "Sexy Sadie"), who then remarks that Max may have "murdered [his] granny with a hammer", further referencing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". The scene shifts to show a small child hiding next to a burned out car during the 12th Street riot, singing "Let It Be". The style of the song changes into a gospel rendition behind intercut scenes of the funeral of the boy, who was shot by police in the riot, and that of Lucy's boyfriend, killed in Vietnam.
As Jojo (referencing the song "Get Back") arrives in New York City, Joe Cocker sings "Come Together", switching between playing a bum, a pimp, and a street seller. When Prudence comes into the group's apartment, the lines "Hello Hello" are said in greeting and "She came in through the bathroom window" is said in response to Sadie's questioning her sudden appearance. Later, Sadie sings "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" at Cafe Huh? (a reference to Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village). Next, Jude and Lucy are at a dock, and Lucy sings "If I Fell" as she realizes her own feelings toward him. The songs ends with their kiss and embrace at a party. Max is drafted and during his recruitment tests we hear "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"; the scene later shifts to Sadie singing to Jojo and Prudence distantly singing to Sadie through her window. Prudence is heartbroken, locking herself in the closet. Sadie, Max, Lucy, and Jude sing "Dear Prudence" to convince her to come out. Max is later seen fixing a fan with a silver hammer referencing the song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". The name of Sadie's manager is Bill (both referencing "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and Billy Shears in "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"). "Flying" and "Blue Jay Way" appear in the background shortly thereafter.
Dr. Robert (a reference to the song "Dr. Robert", played by the Beatles in their album Revolver), sings "I Am the Walrus", and the song continues as they drive away on Dr. Robert's bus (a reference to the television film "Magical Mystery Tour"). They find a circus grounds and Mr. Kite (Eddie Izzard) performs "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" (the song of which his name is derived), accompanied by the Blue Meanies from Yellow Submarine. Reunited with Prudence, who was performing in the circus and is involved with a contortionist named Rita (a reference to the song "Lovely Rita"), they all lie down in a field and sing "Because", then the film moves into a surreal underwater montage.
Back in New York, Jude sings "Something" as he sketches the sleeping naked Lucy. In the apartment, the naked sketches of both Jude and Lucy on the walls are also a reference to the "Two Virgins" album by John Lennon as both appear in similar poses. Next, Sadie and her band sing "Oh! Darling" at a gig at a large venue, leading to Jojo and Sadie's breakup, where Jojo deliberately messes up the guitar and makes Sadie storm out. At some point, Jude is working on a still life drawing of an apple in reference to the Beatles record company. When Jude is working on a logo for Sadie's new record label in his bedroom, tacking strawberries on a board, he (later joined by Max, who is currently in Vietnam) sings "Strawberry Fields Forever". The sequence for this song sometimes resembles parts of the Beatles' promotional video for the song.
Jude bursts in on Lucy at the Students for a Democratic Reformation's office ("Revolution"). After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., there is a shift to Jojo, seen in the bar singing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".
Jude sings "Across the Universe" on the subway on his way to find Lucy at the Columbia University protests of 1968. He continues singing the refrain as the scene shifts between the protest and Sadie in concert singing "Helter Skelter". When Max is in the Stateside hospital, he and other wounded soldiers sing "Happiness Is a Warm Gun." When Lucy is caught in the middle of a violent demonstration, there is a slight reprise of "Revolution". Jeff Beck's version of "A Day in the Life" plays as Jude, back in the Liverpool shipyards, wanders the Liverpool streets. When Max is out of the hospital, Lucy sings "Blackbird" to him.
The scene now shifts between Jude and Max at different bars, and Max begins to sing "Hey Jude" as Jude goes back to New York. Max picks him up from the port and drives him to hear Sadie and Jojo sing "Don't Let Me Down" atop a building, in reference to the last concert of The Beatles, on the rooftop of the Apple Records building in London, where the band played some songs, "Don't Let Me Down" included. Jude then sings "All You Need is Love" a cappella. Max inserts the refrain from "She Loves You", which is doubly a propos, as John Lennon sang the line twice himself in a moment of ebullient self-parody during the live recording session for "All You Need is Love" in June 1967 (audible in the released recording's fade out)[1] - and as Lucy is revealed to be watching Jude sing from a neighboring rooftop.
Over the credits, Bono (with background vocals by The Edge) sings "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." "Flying" is reprised in a cover version by The Secret Machines.
Cast
As mentioned above, the names of the six main characters (and most minor characters) were inspired by Beatles song titles and lyrics.
Production
Dispute
In March 2007, the media reported a dispute over the final cut of the film. Concerned with the length of director Julie Taymor's cut of the film, Revolution Studios chairman Joe Roth tested a sneak preview of a shortened version without first informing Taymor. The incident sparked some heat between the two, later involving Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal urging Taymor to agree to the shorter version.[3][4][5] After several months of dispute, Taymor's version was eventually reinstated as the theatrically released version.[6]
Music
Musical numbers
Follows is a listing of the thirty-three compositions written by members of The Beatles that are heard on the soundtrack, in the order featured in the film. This listing includes notation of three compositions that are heard twice in the course of the film, so there are a total of thirty-six individual music cues.
- "Girl" — Jude
- "Hold Me Tight" — Lucy, Molly, and Prom Night Singers
- "All My Loving" — Jude
- "I Want to Hold Your Hand" — Prudence
- "With a Little Help from My Friends" — Max, Jude, and Dorm Buddies
- "It Won't Be Long" — Lucy and Students
- "I've Just Seen a Face" — Jude and Max
- "Let It Be" — Gospel Singer, Jojo's brother, and Church Choir
- "Come Together" — Pimp, Bum, Mad Hippie, Jojo, and Prostitutes
- "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" — Sadie
- "If I Fell" — Lucy
- "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" — Max, Sadie, Prudence, and Soldiers
- "Dear Prudence" — Sadie, Jude, Lucy, and Max
- "Flying" instrumental - The Secret Machines
- "Blue Jay Way" — The Secret Machines
- "I Am the Walrus" — Dr. Robert
- "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" — Mr. Kite
- "Because" — Lucy, Jude, Max, Sadie, Prudence, and Jojo
- "Something" — Jude
- "Oh! Darling" — Sadie and Jojo
- "Strawberry Fields Forever" — Jude and Max
- "Revolution" — Jude
- "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" — Jojo and Jude
- "Across the Universe" — Jude (interwoven with "Helter Skelter")
- "Helter Skelter" — Sadie (interwoven with "Across the Universe")
- "And I Love Her" (brief extract incorporated into the orchestral score during the "Across the Universe"/"Helter Skelter" sequence, also sung by McCoy in a deleted scene)
- "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" — Max, Bang Bang Shoot Shoot Nurses, and Soldiers
- "A Day in the Life" — Jeff Beck
- "Blackbird" — Lucy
- "Hey Jude" — Max and Jude
- "Don't Let Me Down" — Sadie and Jojo
- "All You Need Is Love" — Jude, Sadie, Prudence, and Jojo
- "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" — Bono and The Edge
Extended musical numbers
There is extra music, such as in "Hold Me Tight", to have more opportunity for things such as dance solos. In "Come Together" on the special features there is extra music for a dance solo and a well-planned "Six Degrees of Separation" which connects the main characters as they enter New York lifestyle. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is also extended to add time for Max's medical check-up that is shown and for the dialogue about Max eating cotton balls and other theories to get out of the draft. The extended music is used as undertone during dialogue like after "Dear Prudence", "Something", and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Other extended songs include "I Am the Walrus", "Oh! Darling", "Across the Universe", "Helter Skelter".
Soundtrack
The film's end credits identify 33 Beatles compositions featured in the film, either in their entirety or in part. All of these songs were written between the 1960s and 1970 by the members of The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) and recorded by The Beatles. Twenty-nine of them are compositions that are officially credited to the songwriting partnership of Lennon/McCartney. Three are credited to George Harrison. One title ("Flying") is a 1967 composition credited to all four members of the Beatles (Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starr).
Of the 29 songs that bear the official Lennon/McCartney credit, 16 are customarily attributed primarily to Lennon as a writer, and 10 are customarily attributed primarily to McCartney. The remaining three songs ("I Want to Hold Your Hand", "With a Little Help from My Friends", and "A Day in the Life") are titles that Lennon and McCartney have confirmed were written in collaboration.
Thirty of the soundtrack's songs feature vocals. Two of them ("And I Love Her" and "A Day in the Life") are brief instrumental versions of songs that were originally written with lyrics, although "And I Love Her" is sung in a deleted scene. One song ("Flying") was originally written as an instrumental.
Twenty-five of the vocal tracks are performed by one or more of the six lead cast members. Four of the songs are sung by stars with cameo roles (Bono, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek and Joe Cocker). One song ("Let It Be") is sung by supporting members of the cast. Another song ("Blue Jay Way") is sung by indie Texan trio The Secret Machines. In 29 of the vocal tracks, the vocalists are singing on-screen. Two of the vocal tracks ("Blue Jay Way" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") are sung by off-screen vocalists.
The remaining three of the 33 songs are instrumentals. "Flying" is performed by The Secret Machines, "And I Love Her" is heard briefly as part of the orchestral score, and "A Day in the Life" is performed on guitar by Jeff Beck in a version recorded for Sir George Martin's 1998 album In My Life.
In addition to the Beatles compositions, the soundtrack features an original score composed by Elliot Goldenthal. Goldenthal worked on Taymor's previous films Titus and Frida. (Goldenthal and director Taymor have been partners since 1982.)
Interscope Records has released three variations of soundtrack from the film — a standard edition and two deluxe editions. The standard edition contains 16 tracks from the film soundtrack, although "Let It Be" is shortened, missing the third verse. The first version of the deluxe edition features 31 tracks — all of the vocal performances and one of the three instrumental tracks.[7] In the US this 31-track version is available solely at Best Buy stores and in a digital version from iTunes, while in Europe it is available at other retail outlets. A second version of the deluxe edition is available at other retail outlets and digital download suppliers. The second version differs from the 31-track version in that it omits two tracks ("Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)").
The song "It Won't Be Long" was released as a single on iTunes on September 11, 2007. On October 15, 2007–October 17, 2007, and again on October 22, 2007–October 23, 2007, the 31-track deluxe edition was the #1 downloaded album on iTunes.
The soundtrack includes seven songs from The Beatles (also known as The White Album), five from Magical Mystery Tour, five from Abbey Road, four from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, three from With The Beatles, two from A Hard Day's Night, two from Let It Be, one from Help!, one from Rubber Soul, and three other non-album singles.
Standard edition track list
- "All My Loving" — Sturgess
- "I Want to Hold Your Hand" — Carpio
- "It Won't Be Long" — Wood
- "I've Just Seen a Face" — Sturgess
- "Let It Be" — Mitchum, Woods
- "Come Together" — Cocker
- "I Am The Walrus" — Bono
- "Something" — Sturgess
- "Oh! Darling" — Fuchs; McCoy
- "Strawberry Fields Forever" — Anderson, Sturgess
- "Across the Universe" — Sturgess
- "Helter Skelter" — Fuchs
- "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" — Anderson, Hayek
- "Blackbird" — Wood
- "Hey Jude" — Anderson
- "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" — Bono, The Edge
Deluxe Edition track list
(all tracks on CD, except where noted)
Disc 1
- "Girl" — Sturgess
- "Hold Me Tight" — Wood
- "All My Loving" — Sturgess
- "I Want to Hold Your Hand" — Carpio
- "With a Little Help From My Friends" — Anderson, Sturgess
- "It Won't Be Long" — Wood
- "I've Just Seen a Face" — Sturgess
- "Let It Be (long version)" — Mitchum, Woods
- "Come Together" — Cocker
- "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" (iTunes edition)
- "If I Fell" — Wood
- "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (iTunes edition)
- "Dear Prudence" — Anderson, Fuchs, Sturgess, Wood, Carpio
- "Flying" — Secret Machines
- "Blue Jay Way" — Secret Machines
Disc 2
- "I Am the Walrus" — Bono, The Secret Machines
- "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" — Eddie Izzard
- "Because" — Anderson, Carpio, Fuchs, McCoy, Sturgess, Wood
- "Something" — Sturgess
- "Oh! Darling" — Fuchs, McCoy
- "Strawberry Fields Forever" — Anderson, Sturgess
- "Revolution" — Sturgess
- "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" — McCoy, Sturgess
- "Across the Universe" — Sturgess
- "Helter Skelter" — Fuchs
- "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" — Anderson, Hayek
- "Blackbird" — Wood
- "Hey Jude" — Anderson
- "Don't Let Me Down" — Fuchs, McCoy
- "All You Need Is Love" — Carpio, Fuchs, McCoy, Sturgess
- "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" — Bono, The Edge
Release and reception
Release history
The film's release date and release pattern became the subject of some media and public discussion. The film had been originally scheduled for release in 2006. The release was postponed as the editing process became extended and internal disputes arose. The film was subsequently scheduled for a wide release on approximately 1,000 U.S. screens on September 28, 2007. In early September 2007, Sony Pictures announced that the release would be brought forward to September 14, 2007, with a "platform release" pattern starting on a small number of screens — with additional screens to be added in subsequent weeks. The film received its world premiere on Monday, September 10, 2007, at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was then given a very limited "platform release" on 27 screens in the U.S. on Friday, September 14. The film had the second-highest "per-screen" average on its opening weekend. In the following three weeks, the release was gradually expanded to select regions.[8] After four weeks in limited release, on October 12, the film was elevated to a comparatively broader release on 954 U.S. screens, breaking into the U.S. box office top ten at number 8.[8][9][10]
The DVD, UMD, and Blu-Ray formats were released on February 5, 2008.
Financially the film was a failure, recouping only $29 million of its $45 million budget.
General reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of 12 October 2009, the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 53% of critics (but 78% of the RT Community) gave the film positive reviews, based on 144 reviews.[11] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 56/100, based on 29 reviews.[12] However, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was extremely positive towards the film, giving it four stars, calling it "an audacious marriage of cutting-edge visual techniques, heart-warming performances, 1960s to 1970 history and the Beatles songbook" and calling Julie Taymor an "inventive choreographer". Negative reviews criticized a lack of coherence in plot and an overtly-literal interpretation of The Beatles catalogue of songs. The film did appear on a few notable critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007:[13]
Awards
Nominations
See also
References
- ^ "Movie Review". The New York City Times. September 14, 2007. http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/movies/14univ.html.
- ^ "Photos: The Beatles' Final Performance". Time.com. http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1874628,00.html. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
- ^ "A Revolt at Revolution?". Movie & TV News. IMDB.com. March 20, 2007. http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2007-03-20#film1.
- ^ "More Details of Taymor-Roth Feud". Movie & TV News. IMDB.com. March 21, 2007. http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2007-03-21#film2.
- ^ Waxman, Sharon (March 20, 2007). "Film Has Two Versions; Only One Is Julie Taymor’s". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/movies/20roth.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.
- ^ Douglas, Edward (September 18, 2007). "Julie Taymor Soars Across the Universe". ComingSoon.net. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=37341.
- ^ "Across the Universe Soundtrack : News : Across The Universe Soundtrack available 9/14!". http://www.interscope.com/artist/news/default.aspx/nid/8676/aid/570. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ a b Mason, Steve (September 22, 2007). "Friday Box Office: Resident Evil $22M 3-day; Eastern Promises strong; Into The Wild huge". Slashfilm.com. http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/09/22/friday-box-office-resident-evil-22m-3-day-eastern-promises-strong-into-the-wild-huge.
- ^ Goodman, Dean (September 30, 2007). "Game Plan conquers Kingdom at box office". Reuters.com. http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN2843783120070930?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&rpc=22&sp=true. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ "Across the Universe (2007) - Weekend Box Office". Box Office Mojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=acrosstheuniverse.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ "Across the Universe". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/across_the_universe.
- ^ "Across the Universe (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/acrosstheuniverse. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (December 20, 2007). "The year's ten best films and other shenanigans". The Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071220/COMMENTARY/176124809. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (December 23, 2007). "Films That Look Death in the Eye". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/movies/23hold.html?scp=3. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (January 15, 2008). "And the Nominees Should Be . . .". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04EEDC123EF936A25752C0A96E9C8B63&scp=4. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ^ "HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007". goldenglobes.org. 2007-12-13. http://www.goldenglobes.org/news/id/81. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ "OSCAR.com - 80th Annual Academy Awards - Nomination". http://www.oscar.com/nominees/?pn=detail&nominee=Across%20the%20Universe%20-%20Costume%20Design%20Nominee. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "19th ANNUAL GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS NOMINEES". http://www.glaad.org/publications/resource_doc_detail.php?id=4173. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
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