Aquamarine is an American-Australian co-production 2006 film starring Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton. The film, which was made in both the United States and Australia, was released in North America on March 3, 2006. The movie, loosely based on a children's book on the same name by Alice Hoffman, and directed by American director Elizabeth Allen was filmed in Queensland, Australia.
Plot
Two teenage best friends, Claire (Emma Roberts) and Hailey (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) regret that they will be separated in five days, since Hailey has to move to Australia because of her mother's job. One night, after a violent storm they find a mermaid named Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) in the swimming pool of their beach club. The girls are frightened at first, but then curious. They start to talk with Aquamarine and promise her they will be back in the morning.
When they return, they find Aquamarine in the beach's snack shack, but with a human body instead of a mermaid's. Aquamarine tells them she can assume human form on land during the day if she does not get wet. Claire and Hailey befriend Aquamarine, who tells them that she came to land to find love, an idea she knows nothing about, but desires desperately. She tells them that she made a deal with her father that if she can prove love is not a myth, she will not have to undergo an arranged marriage -- but, she only has three days to do it. She notices a handsome lifeguard named Raymond (Jake McDorman) - whom Claire and Hailey have admired for a while - and enlists the help of the two girls to win his heart in return for granting their wish. The girls see their opportunity to keep Hailey from moving and quickly work on prepping Aquamarine on the how-tos of attracting a man. These self-educated relationship experts, having gained all their knowledge from reading magazines every day and often quote them, soon realize it's a lot easier said than done.
Claire and Hailey's rival — a spoiled, rich girl, Cecilia (Arielle Kebbel) — tries her best to stop them, but fails. Also prominent is an eccentric, compassionate caretaker, Leonard, who rescues Aquamarine from public discovery. Eventually, it is not Raymond that convinces Aquamarine that humans can love, but Claire and Hailey, who are willing to give up their wish and their lives in the aiding of a friend. Raymond and Aquamarine share a kiss and promise to meet up again in the future, Raymond promises he'll wait for her. Hailey and Claire get their wish from Aquamarine, but decide not to use it until later. But it is mentioned that they plan to use it to make sure all three of them can visit each other every summer.
Cast
Production
The movie, which is set in Florida, was filmed in Australia, with some scenes filmed at Sea World marine park in Gold Coast, Queensland. American production designer Nelson Coates designed and built The Capri Beach Club and adjacent houses on a remote section of beach near Burleigh Heads, Queensland, to resemble an American East Coast beach club built in the 1930s but updated.
The producers only employed five actors from the USA; the actors who portrayed Hailey, Claire, Aquamarine, Cecilia and Raymond. The rest were Australian actors, some of whom are well-known in Australia. Roy Billing and Julia Blake, who play Claire's grandparents, have had long distinguished acting careers. Claudia Karvan, who plays Hailey's mother is an award winning TV star. Tammin Sursok (Marjorie) is a TV and pop star. Shaun Micallef (Cecilia's father) is an Australian comedian and TV presenter. Bruce Spence (Leonard) has had a long Australian career and is remembered for his role in The Road Warrior. Dichen Lachman (Beth-Ann) used to play Katya Kinski in Neighbours. Lincoln Lewis is known in Australia and the UK as Home & Away teen Geoff Campbell.
Sara Paxton required two and a half hours to don and remove Aquamarine's tail. The tail was heavy for the actress to wear, weighing over 100 pounds and was around eight feet long. When wearing the tail, Sara was carried to and from the set on a custom built stretcher. Paxton took a month of swimming lessons beforehand.
Original soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on February 21, 2006.
- Cheyenne Kimball – "One Original Thing"
- Nikki Flores – "Strike"
- Sara Paxton – "Connected"
- Teddy Geiger – "Gentleman"
- Teitur – "One and Only"
- Atomic Kitten – "Right Now 2004"
- Emma Roberts – "Island in the Sun"
- Jonas Brothers – "Time For Me To Fly"
- Courtney Jaye – "Can't Behave"
- Nikki Cleary – "Summertime Guys"
- Mandy Moore – "One Way or Another"
- Stellastarr – "Sweet Troubled Soul"
- Bodyrockers – "I Like the Way You Move"
Other songs featured in the film include[1]:
Original Film Score by Dave Hirschfelder
- Main Titles
- The Storm
- Washed Ashore
- Claire Falls In
- Meeting Aqua
- The Next Morning / Shell Phone Call
- Making The Deal
- Ray & Aqua / Magazines
- Paddleboat Date
- The Water Tower
- Hailey Rides The Dolphins
- Aqua’s Decision
- First Kiss
- Cecilia Climbs The Tower
- Hailey And Claire Argue
- The Pier / Storm / The Buoy
- The Tear / Goodbyes
- Finale
Additionally, in 2008 La-La Land Records released a limited edition CD (1000 pressings) of David Hirschfelder's score for the movie.
Awards
This movie did not receive any awards.
Reception
The reviews for Aquamarine were fairly close, according to Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 52% of critics and a 54% of the selected "top critics".
Box office
- Aquamarine was very successful. The film grossed $40 million at the United States box office and a total of $85 million worldwide. Additionally the film has grossed 50 million dollars in DVD rentals and DVD sales. The budget was $12 million.
DVD release
The film was released on DVD on June 13, 2006. The special features included are as follows[2]:
- Widescreen & Full Screen Presentations (Flipper Disc)
- English DD5.1 Surround
- French & Spanish Dolby Surround
- English & Spanish subtitles
- Scene Specific Cast Commentary
- Director and Producer Commentary
- 6 Deleted Scenes
- Featurette: "Awesome Auditions"
- Featurette: "It's All About The Fashion"
- Featurette: "Kickin' It On Set"
The film was released on DVD in Australia on 21 March 2007 with the following features[3]:
- Widescreen Presentations
- English DD5.1 Surround
- English subtitles
- Introduction by director Elizabeth Allen
- 6 Deleted Scenes
- Featurette: "Awesome Auditions"
- Featurette: "Kickin' It On Set"
References
External links
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