"The Sorcerer's Apprentice": actors, production, reaction of critics

In the summer of 2010 the premiere of a new film by John Terteltaub "Apprentice sorcerer" was held. Actors Nicolas Cage, Alfred Molina and Teresa Palmer performed the main roles in the film.

Production

The basis for the film "Apprentice sorcerer" was the eponymous fragment of the cartoon "Fantasy" directed by James Algar.

Disney Studio announced the beginning of work on the project in early 2007, but the process of writing the script was delayed, and the shooting started only in May 2009.

John Terteltaub, known for the adventure films "The Treasure of the Nation" and "The Treasure of the Nation: The Book of Secrets", willingly took up shooting the science fiction film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." The actors were approved in April 2009. Nicolas Cage was the first to pass the tests and immediately received the role of wizard Balthasar Blake. On the set of the film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Nicolas Cage has already collaborated with John Terteltaub for the third time after "Treasures of the Nation 1, 2". In his interview, the actor recalled that he always wanted to immerse himself in a fantastic world by playing a magician or a wizard in a movie, and thanks to this film his dream came true.

For the role of Dave Stutler, a clever, shy guy who had become a disciple of the magician Balthasar, the young Canadian actor Jay Baruchel was chosen . Prior to that, Jay appeared in several popular films, including "A Little Bit Pregnant", "Be My Boyfriend for Five Minutes", "Night at the Museum - 2".

The role of Becky Barnes, the girl of Stutler, was performed by Australian actress Teresa Palmer.

The main antagonist of the picture, the evil sorcerer Horvath, was played by Alfred Molina.

A small role Veronica, beloved Balthasar, played the Hollywood star Monica Bellucci.

In the film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" actors Jake Cherry and Payton Roy List played Jay and Becky in their childhood.

As a composer, Trevor Rabin, a longtime friend of the director John Terteltaub, made a speech. Previously, Rabin wrote the soundtrack to the paintings "Treasure of the Nation", "Witch Mountain", "Rescuer", "Coach Carter".

The main part of the filming was in New York. The world premiere was held on July 6, 2010.

Plot

Balthasar Blake is a wizard who has protected the world of people from the forces of evil for many centuries. To defeat his longtime opponent, the evil and powerful Croatian magician, Balthazar will have to enlist the help of Dave, the most ordinary guy who does not believe in magic and does not want to be a hero. But only Dave, Merlin's successor, can help Balthazar protect the city from evil sorcerers and their faithful servants, capable of plunging the world of people into darkness and chaos.

Criticism

Despite the good cast, the film received mixed reviews of film critics. It was not adopted as warmly as the previous projects of Terteltaub. The well-known film critic Roger Ebert gave the picture two and a half stars out of four, describing the film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" thus: " This film is much more successful than the" Master of the Elements ", but it is obvious that every weekend brings another well-sold" comedy " Which soon evaporates from memory. "

. The Hollywood Reporter magazine also spoke about the picture not enthusiastically: "The" Sorcerer's Apprentice "is an example of a cliche of the summer movie, ruined by a huge number of writers. "

Boxing-office

The painting "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (the actors or the director were not marked with any movie awards, but many film fans enjoyed watching the new film with Nicolas Cage) with a budget of 150 million dollars raised at the box office more than 215 million, of which 18 million in the first weekend, Slightly losing the ribbons "The Beginning" of Christopher Nolan and "The Ugly I" by Pierre Coffin. In the United States and Canada, the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" collected at the box office relatively little - $ 63 million, the bulk of the proceeds came from Europe and China.

Although the film did not fail at the box office, the box office was much lower than the producers expected. A small box office put an end to the possible continuation of the picture.