Seventh Son (film)

Seventh Son is a 2014 American fantasy film directed by Sergei Bodrov and starring Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, and Julianne Moore. It is loosely based on the 2004 novel "The Spook's Apprentice" (titled "The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch" in the United States) by Joseph Delaney. The story centers on Thomas Ward, a seventh son of a seventh son, and his adventures as the apprentice of the Spook. After having its release date shifted numerous times, the film was released in France on December 17, 2014, and in Canada and the United States on February 6, 2015, by Universal Pictures. "Seventh Son" received generally negative reviews from film critics and it earned $114 million on a $95 million budget.
Plot.
In 1572 the witch Mother Malkin is imprisoned underground by Gregory, the last of a knightly order known as the Falcons, who have long defended mankind against supernatural threats. Several decades later, Gregory now works as a "Spook" – a roving witch hunter.
The rise of the centennial blood moon allows Malkin to regain much of her power and escape. She kills Gregory's apprentice, William Bradley, and flees to her dilapidated mountain fortress. She restores the fortress and her sister, Bony Lizzie.
Gregory seeks out Tom Ward – the seventh son of a seventh son – as his new apprentice. Tom's mother gives him her necklace as a talisman, traveling to Gregory's home. Tom sees a girl about to be burned by a mob as a witch. Recognizing her from his clairvoyant visions, Tom frees her. The girl, Alice, warns him not to tell Gregory about her. Alice is revealed to be Lizzie's daughter, spying on Gregory for her mother. Malkin begins gathering an army of minions.
Tom meets Gregory's assistant, Tusk. With only a week before the blood moon is full, reviving Malkin's full power, Tom must rush through his training while the trio head to Malkin's fortress. En route, Gregory is summoned to a walled city by an inquisitor whose forces have subdued one of Malkin's followers, a werebear named Urag. Tom hesitates when instructed to burn the werebear alive, causing Gregory to dismiss him while burning Urag himself. When Tom meets Alice again, the two share their feelings for each other and they fall in love. They briefly consider running off, but Tom has a vision of Malkin killing Gregory and unleashing destruction upon the world. Tom returns to Gregory, who reveals that he loved Malkin, and that is why he imprisoned her rather than killing her. Gregory feels responsible for every person since killed by Malkin, and warns Tom that Alice must also be killed.
The trio are attacked on the road by an enormous boggart, and Tom narrowly manages to kill it and survive being swept down a waterfall. Tom is then confronted by Bony Lizzie, who attacks but is repelled by his Mam's necklace. Gregory recognizes the pendant as the Umbran Stone, which increases the power of witches. It originally belonged to Malkin, but one of her witch followers, Mam, stole it, weakening Malkin enough for Gregory to trap her.
Malkin instructs Alice to steal the stone, promising to spare Tom's life. Malkin and her minions then destroy the walled city to avenge the death of Urag. Tom's family happens to be in the city, and his mother manages to kill Strix the warlock and confront Malkin with her own powers. Malkin kills her, mocking her for giving away the stone that would have saved her life.
Alice finds Tom and pleads with him to leave with her, Gregory tries to kill her, but Tom intervenes. He lets Alice flee, but Gregory points out she has taken the necklace, and the trio pursue her. When Malkin's servant Radu attacks them, Radu captures Gregory and drives Tusk and Tom over a cliff, believing them dead. Tom has a vision of his Mam telling him that as both the seventh son of a seventh son, and the son of a witch, he has a unique power to defeat Malkin.
The witches gather as Malkin attempts to seduce Gregory. Alice is horrified when told that Tom is dead, and grabs the stone from Malkin, breaking Malkin's hold on Gregory. As Malkin transforms into a dragon, Lizzie also transforms, protecting her daughter. Tom retrieves the stone and, fighting together, Gregory, Tom and Alice kill several of Malkin's minions. Malkin kills Lizzie, but is seriously wounded. Gregory confronts Malkin in her room. She appears close to death, recalling her and Gregory's relationship, but then seizes him with her claws. Tom arrives and hurls a blade at Malkin, freeing Gregory. Tom then kills Malkin, burning her body.
Gregory brands Tom's hand, declaring him a Falcon knight. Alice appears, but accepts that Tom's new vocation means they cannot be together at present and promises that they'll meet again. Gregory leaves for parts unknown, leaving Tom and Tusk to continue his work.
Production.
Sam Claflin was in negotiations to star as Tom Ward, but in June 2011, negotiations with Claflin fell through and Ben Barnes replaced him.
Production began on March 19, 2012, in Vancouver, British Columbia. In February 2013, Legendary Pictures agreed to give $5 million to recently bankrupt visual effects house Rhythm and Hues Studios so they would complete their work on "Seventh Son".
China Film Group made an "eight-figure" equity investment in "Warcraft" and "Seventh Son".
Music.
It was originally announced that A. R. Rahman and Tuomas Kantelinen would compose the score for the movie. However, in July 2013, Rahman left the project due to scheduling conflicts. A. R. Rahman revealed that he backed out from the project to compose for "Kaaviya Thalaivan", a Tamil historical fiction film, because it gave him the scope to innovate with folk music like never before. Subsequently, in December 2013, Kantelinen was replaced by Marco Beltrami.
Release.
The film was originally scheduled for release on February 15, 2013, but was moved back to October 18, 2013, to complete post-production. It was moved again to January 17, 2014, due to the film's production partner Legendary Pictures parting ways with Warner Bros., who were initially intended to distribute the film. On August 15, 2013, it was announced that Legendary had sold the distribution rights to their new partner Universal Studios, which pulled the film again. On November 27, 2013, it was announced that the film was pushed back to February 6, 2015. The film premiered in France on December 17, 2014.
International Broadcast.
The film also aired on the Philippine Network ABS-CBN through Kapamilya Channel during the Holy Week Special.
Reception.
Box office.
"Seventh Son" grossed $17.2 million in North America and $93.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $110.6 million.
North America.
The film featured in the list of "The Riskiest Box Office Bets of 2015" published by screenrant.com. The film posted a gross of $295,000 from the Thursday preview. The film earned an opening day gross of estimated $2,300,000, an estimated $3,000,000 for its second day and $1,801,000 for its third day. The film was a commercial disaster, according to "Variety" the film has a "projected loss of $85 million", earning only $7,101,000 weekend gross, by playing in 2,875 theaters, with a $2,470 per-theater average and ranking #4.
Other territories.
The film opened in France and Lebanon on December 21, 2014, a month and a half ahead of its North America release, and earned $1.2 million. The following weekend the film added $18.4 million from 24 new markets where it debuted at #1 in Russia, Romania, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Russia opened with $8.6 million while Spain generated $1.2 million.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has an approval rating of 12% based on 119 reviews and an average rating of 3.73/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Seventh Son" squanders an excellent cast and some strange storyline ingredients, leaving audiences with one disappointingly dull fantasy adventure." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 30 out of 100 based 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.
Peter Debruge of "Variety" gave a negative review criticizing the film's tired plot, special effects, lack of chemistry, and of the cast's performances such as that of Bridges' and Moore's, and calling the film an "over-designed" and "under-conceived fantasy epic". "The Hollywood Reporter"s Jordan Mintzer writes that it "takes an A-list crew and cast—including Moore sporting a black feather dress and matching eyeliner—and goes nowhere new with it, investing lots in VFX and locations but not enough in an original story anyone cares about". "Los Angeles Times" Betsey Sharkey said that the movie would "certainly be a contender" for "the worst movie of the year"; she notes, "For acclaimed Russian director Bodrov, this foray into English-language filmmaking is a rare fail. Bodrov certainly knows his way around epics, as his excellent Oscar-nominated films "Mongol" and "Prisoner of the Mountains" attest. "Seventh" comes as a shock. Virtually every performance falls flat, aided no doubt by the vapid dialogue. And Bridges is saddled with an awful accent he never masters." "USA Today"s Claudia Puig says, "The 3-D effects are off-putting: Smoke spills out at the audience, and the camera swooshes high and careens over cliffs. It's more dizzying than dazzling. Further mucking up the attempts at magical fantasy is a distracting, bombastic musical score and feeble attempts at humor. "Seventh Son" is thoroughly ill-conceived, a pale imitation of its more adventurous and breathtaking brethren." "The Guardian"s Jordan Hoffman gave the movie two out of five stars and explained, "While "Seventh Son" has trace of Saturday afternoon fun, its unoriginal nature gets the better of it... There are flashes where you think "Seventh Son" is going to be wise enough to put a spin on the standard script, but by the end it just devolves into another loud, messy CGI brawl. How much more ruined masonry can moviegoers take? A lot, it seems, as this genre seems to be in no danger of going away."
The New York "Daily News" Joe Neumaier was more complimentary of Moore's and Bridges' leading performances. "Saints be praised for whatever strange magic brought Bridges and Moore together for their own little mini–"Big Lebowski" reunion, whether it was playfulness, paychecks or an open spot on their calendars. Because they save this mediocre medieval fantasy adventure from the ash heap."