Jem and the Holograms (film)

Jem and the Holograms is a 2015 American musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced and directed by Jon M. Chu, written by Ryan Landels, and starring Aubrey Peeples (as the title character), Stefanie Scott, Hayley Kiyoko, Aurora Perrineau, Ryan Guzman, Molly Ringwald, and Juliette Lewis. Borrowing elements from the 1980s animated television series "Jem" by Christy Marx, the film was produced by Hasbro Studios and Blumhouse Productions. Chu's interest in developing a film adaptation of "Jem" is based on having grown up watching the original animated series with his sisters. He had attempted to make the film 11 years earlier, but was rejected by Universal due to the cost.
"Jem and the Holograms" was theatrically released on October 23, 2015, by Universal Pictures and was a box office bomb, grossing $2 million worldwide on a $5 million budget and receiving negative reviews from critics and fans of the original series.
Plot.
Jerrica Benton and her younger sister Kimber live with their Aunt Bailey and two foster sisters, Aja and Shana. The four girls frequently videotape themselves playing music and wearing colorful '80s outfits just for fun, but Jerrica is too shy to sing on camera. Jerrica learns one day that, due to Aunt Bailey's financial problems, their house will be auctioned. She vents her emotions by recording a song with Kimber's video camera. She disguises herself by calling herself "Jem", her late father Emmett's nickname for her.
She is interrupted just before deleting the video, and an Internet-obsessed Kimber uploads it onto YouTube. The video attracts millions of views in a single day. Jerrica is offered a record deal by Starlight Productions and travels to Los Angeles with her sisters. They meet music producer Erica Raymond and her son Rio. Erica is polite and courteous with the quartet, but shows particular interest in Jerrica, who she sees as a potential superstar.
The girls settle down in L.A. and discuss their next move. They have brought along a small robot called 51N3RG.Y (pronounced "synergy"), an invention of Emmett's. The robot suddenly activates itself and leads them on a scavenger hunt. Each clue represents something Jerrica did or wanted to do with her father. The objective is to find several missing pieces designed to fit into the robot to be fully activated. The girls find the first piece on the Santa Monica Pier. They find the second clue in a guitar once owned by Emmett when, by coincidence, the band plays live.
Rio and Jerrica begin to develop romantic feelings, much to Erica's dismay. Erica assigns Rio to another singer in an attempt to keep him away from Jerrica. Aunt Bailey tells Jerrica via FaceTime that their house is going for auction in a few days. Desperate to save the home, Jerrica asks Erica for an advance. Erica says she will oblige if Jerrica agrees to leave her sisters and go solo. Jerrica relents, believing it's for the good of her family. When the others find out, they denounce her for leaving them out of the deal and depart. After a dull solo performance, Jerrica becomes depressed over her mistake and visits the L.A. house where she used to live with Kimber and her father.
Her sisters arrive and reconcile. They vow to help finish the scavenger hunt, along with Rio. Jerrica realizes that the last piece is the earrings Emmett bequeathed to her, but Erica had them taken during her first visit to Starlight. The earrings are now stored in Erica's office. Rio and the girls break into Starlight, almost getting caught by Erica, but succeed. The reward is a final holographic message from Emmett. The group also discover Rio's late father's will, which grants him a majority of Starlighy shares, effectively putting him in control of the company.
With the house safe, Jem and her sisters perform live. Rio chats with rock journalist Lindsey Pierce, who offers the band the "Rolling Stone" cover. Pierce asks Rio what to call the band; he suggests "Jem and the Holograms."
In a mid-credits scene, Erica, now terminated from Starlight, seeks out a group of punkish young women in a seedy junkyard. She attempts to convince them to form a band to rival the Holograms, but they decline, since Erica dropped them the first time they signed with Starlight. However, when Pizazz, the leader, learns that Jem and Rio are an item, she takes Erica inside. Graffiti on the side of their trailer reveals their name as The Misfits.
Cast.
Cameo appearances from the original TV series cast include: Samantha Newark, the voice of the original Jem, as a hairstylist; Britta Phillips as a stage manager; and "Jem"s creator Christy Marx as Lindsey Pierce, an editor for "Rolling Stone".
Production.
With the recent successes of the live-action reboots of "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers", Hasbro was rumored to be considering a live-action film with Universal Studios. Hasbro and Universal had signed a six-film contract in 2010, or a new incarnation of the animated series. On March 20, 2014, a live-action motion picture adaptation of "Jem and the Holograms" was announced to be directed by Jon M. Chu.
Chu has said he had spent ten years developing the film with producer Jason Blum. The film's musical producer, Scooter Braun, stated that he drew influence from his work on the career of Justin Bieber. It was later revealed that the original "Jem" writer Christy Marx was not involved in any part of the film's production. In response to her having no part or consultation on the film, Marx defended Chu's sense of ambition for the project via Facebook and left it up to the fans to decide whether or not the project was a "smart decision". Her lack of involvement was not permanent, however, and she was granted a minor speaking role near the end of the movie.
In April 2014, it was announced that Aubrey Peeples had been cast as Jem, with Stefanie Scott as Kimber, Hayley Kiyoko as Aja, and Aurora Perrineau as Shana. Peeples had admitted being initially unfamiliar with the franchise although she subsequently became familiar with it and became a fan quickly. Other parts were announced throughout the next couple of months with actor Ryan Guzman cast as Rio announced on April 30, Juliette Lewis's involvement on May 19, and Molly Ringwald on May 20. Principal photography began on April 22, 2014, in Van Nuys, later on May 19, shooting was underway in Los Angeles. Shooting ended on May 24, 2014.
On October 23, 2015, Chu confirmed his intentions to make a crossover film between "Jem and the Holograms" with "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe", but due to the film's disastrous reception combined with Chu's personal retrospective view on the film, plans to make a crossover film have likely been abandoned.
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack for the film, featuring original compositions and also songs by Hailee Steinfeld and Dawin, was released in North America by Silent Records and Republic Records on October 23, 2015.
Release.
Marketing.
On February 25, 2015, the first official image from the film was released, featuring Peeples as Jem, Scott as Kimber and Kiyoko as Aja performing on stage. On May 12, 2015, director Chu revealed the first official film poster. The next day, on May 13, a trailer was released online, which was attached to the theatrical run of fellow female-centric Universal film "Pitch Perfect 2". On August 11, a second trailer was released, this time featuring the robot 51N3RG.Y (pronounced "synergy") which itself was based on the supercomputer of the original cartoon series, which generates and holographically projects the band's images and creates their special effects during stage performances. Critics responded negatively to the May 2015 trailer, noting that the reboot seems to share little with its animated predecessor. Hillary Crosley Coker of "Jezebel" commented that the film "looks like a less interesting version of "Beyond the Lights". "Uproxx" noted the trailer's low rating on its official YouTube page, while "The Huffington Post" in Canada wrote that the changes to the original plot have "disappointed '80s kids everywhere", then highlighted multiple negative fan reactions. Williesha Morris, also writing for "The Huffington Post", criticized the film's re-imagining of the Jerrica character, stating that the original cartoon "represented female empowerment, not angst". Actress Scott and producer Blum have both addressed the negative reactions by asking fans to reserve judgment until the film is released. Scott stated that "I think that they have to see the movie to understand that things that they think are missing "are" in there." Blum has described the film as being "a hundred percent true to the spirit of Jem".
Theatrical.
"Jem and the Holograms" was theatrically released on October 23, 2015, by Universal Pictures.
Home media.
"Jem and the Holograms" received a DVD and Blu-ray/DVD combo release on January 19, 2016. Special features include twelve deleted scenes, an audio commentary by director Chu, a gag reel, a music video for "Youngblood" and a featurette titled "Glam, Glitter, Fashion, and Fame: The Reinvention of Jem".
Reception.
Box office.
The film was released in North America on October 23, 2015, alongside "The Last Witch Hunter", "" and "Rock the Kasbah", along with the wide release of "Steve Jobs". Initially projected to gross $5 million in its opening weekend, projections were lowered to $3 million after only grossing $34,000 during its Thursday night previews ($36 per theater average). It ultimately opened fifteenth at the box office with $1.4 million, the worst opening of 2015, the fourth worst opening ever for a film screening in more than 2,000 theaters and the worst ever for a film released by a major studio. On November 10, just over two weeks after release, Universal removed "Jem" from theaters entirely. Jason Guerrasio of "Business Insider" described the pull from theaters as "an unheard of move for a movie that was in theaters nationwide."
The film's international roll-out began on October 22, where it debuted to a fourth-place finish in Slovenia. It debuted in nine screens and had a weekend gross of $2,064; the total for the first week was $3,046. In its second weekend, the film dropped 37% to finish at fifth place with $1,297. Its third week resulted in a steep 84% decline to $210. Its three-week total is $6,886.
The film opened in Croatia on October 29, where it debuted in fifth-place with $1,421 from 11 screens. The film dropped over 40% in its second week with $870 from 7 screens, but the third week saw its screen count increase to 13 and it suffered a scant 8% decline to end the weekend with $801. The film's three-week total was $3,744. It opened in Iceland a day later, where it made $1,197 on opening weekend from six screens. The film retained its screen count for the next week, seeing a 41% drop to end with $698. The following week saw the film take in $195 from 1 screen, a substantial drop of 72%. Its three week-total was $2,862. The film opened in Norway on November 6. It placed number four at the box office with $14,764 from 62 screens. Its two-week total was $20,046.
The film opened in Singapore on November 26 where it grossed $9,311 from 8 screens for a 13th-place finish. Release dates for other parts of Europe was December; the film opened in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2016 and grossed $12,869. The film was released in France in April 2016. The film never made it to theaters in Australia; instead, it was released direct-to-DVD there in March 2016.
"Jem" grossed $142,526 internationally, bringing the worldwide gross to $2.3 million.
Critical reception.
The film received generally negative reviews from critics and fans of the original animated series. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 22% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 3.90/10. The site's consensus reads, ""Jem and the Holograms" ignores its source material's goofy charm in favor of bland by-the-numbers drama." Metacritic gives the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Among both positive and negative reviewers alike, Juliette Lewis's performance was singled out for praise. Pam Powell of the "Daily Journal" wrote "Juliette Lewis seems to have the most fun role as the evil, self-serving, egomaniac music manager who will stop at nothing to lure the young and trusting singer into her lair. She’s over-the-top, but in a very entertaining way... able to seem completely honest when telling reporters about how genuine and real Jem is immediately following a scene where she’s given the Holograms what amounts to forced corporate makeovers." Dominic Griffin, writing for "Spectrum Culture", noted a "career-best turn from Lewis, operating so many miles ahead of her co-stars and the film they’re all stuck in that she’s ducking clouds, meteorites and the surface of the sun itself, delivering a master class in the expressive power of narrowing one’s eyes at exactly the right moment". Courtney Howard of freshfiction.tv wrote "who really steals the show is Lewis. She brings her bonafide rock-star swagger to the fold and plays it to the hilt – never going campy. Her version of a Ra’s-Al-Ghul-esque character in this origin story exudes charisma, sass and dedication."
Charlie Anders of io9 wrote "This movie outsources its biggest moments of narrative intensity to random YouTube vids, which is a filmic choice so incomprehensible, I'm tempted to interpret it as some kind of grand statement of Dada anti-meaning." Genevieve Kosky of Vox wrote that the movie "not only fails resoundingly as a film, but also fails as a nostalgia piece — which, honestly, might be the greater sin in today’s pop cultureverse", and opined that it should have been more like 2001's adaptation of "Josie and the Pussycats". Scott Tobias of npr.org concurred with the comparison, writing "Few critics gave "Josie" enough credit for cleverly subverting the teen-pop musical, but "Jem" preys so rapaciously on its target demographic that it holds the virtues of the earlier film in sharp relief. "Jem and the Holograms" is "Mac and Me" to "Josie and the Pussycats"' "E.T."".
Geoff Berkshire of "Variety" praised Peeples' performance as Jem, noting that she "keeps the film watchable", as well as Lewis as "a nonsensical bitch-on-wheels caricature with offbeat line readings and live-wire energy", and noted that "a generally unremarkable tech package — cinematography, sound, costuming & makeup, etc. — at least provides a modest showcase for costume designer Soyon An, makeup head Mary Klimek and hairstylist Vanessa Price, who come the closest to channeling the vibrant spirit of the "Jem" cartoons that originally made fans fall in love."
Matt Zoller Seitz, editor-in-chief of RogerEbert.com, gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, stating that the film "is one of the weirdest big screen adaptations of a cheap TV cartoon that I've seen", giving his observation that the film even sometimes evokes the films of Terrence Malick, a filmmaker known for his films' lush cinematography and reflective nature. Seitz's overall conclusion is that "[the film is] not a good film in terms of plot or tonal consistency, and it offers almost nothing in the way of true conflict, but it's always an observant and sincere movie, and occasionally a beautiful and deep one."
Glen Heath Jr, writing for "Little White Lies", wrote that "If Chu can’t quite decide which genre or story to embrace – this version of Jem clumsily mixes rock opera, sci-fi and melodrama – he’s in brilliant control of certain moments that merge new technology and classical Hollywood editing... the film doesn’t deserve the vitriol lobbed at it by dismissive critics and angry fans. Chu’s weird, heartfelt vision has a distinct perspective regarding online wanderlust and understands the vibrancy of color... But most of all it appreciates the tenacious will to be real in a world where everything is an illusion"
Contest controversy.
In March 2014, the film's producers opened an online contest encouraging fans to create short videos describing their love of the original "Jem" animated series and what a film version would mean to them. The winners of the contest were initially to be offered a small role in the film; this prize was later changed to having the videos themselves featured. In the final production, the fan footage was interspersed with clips of celebrities and edited in such a manner that the fans appeared to be talking about the film's version of the characters. The fans who submitted the footage were not informed as to how it would be used in the film. This was perceived as fans being misled into providing positive reviews for a film they had not yet seen, resulting in many being upset by the manipulation of their perspectives on the character and series in light of how unlike the original series the premise of the film was.