Burlesque (2010 American film)

Burlesque is a 2010 American backstage musical film written and directed by Steven Antin and starring Cher and Christina Aguilera along with Eric Dane, Cam Gigandet, Julianne Hough, Alan Cumming, Peter Gallagher, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Dianna Agron, and Tyne Stecklein. Filming took place from November 2009 to March 2010. It was released on November 24, 2010, in North America.
Cher and Aguilera contributed to the soundtrack album, with Aguilera contributing eight out of the 10 songs and Cher taking the remaining two. The album was released in the United States on November 22, 2010, and received two nominations at the 54th Grammy Awards. The song "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me", penned by Diane Warren and sung by Cher, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 2011, while the film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award in the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category. The film has grossed about $91 million worldwide, and an additional $42 million in domestic video sales (DVD and Blu-ray).
Plot.
Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera), whose mother passed when she was seven, moves to Los Angeles after she quits her bar job when her boss refuses to pay her. Once in L.A., she tries and fails at every audition she does until one night, she finds herself unknowingly in a burlesque club when she hears the music on the street. She finds Tess (Cher) and the dancers performing “Welcome to Burlesque” and decides to pursue a career on stage once she meets Jack (Cam Gigandet) at the club's bar. Jack refers her to Tess for an audition, but she is instantly rejected and ushered out by Sean (Stanley Tucci). Instead of leaving, Ali begins serving customers at the club as a waitress.
When Georgia (Julianne Hough) becomes pregnant, auditions are held to replace her. Ali begins her audition when everyone leaves, and after performing "Wagon Wheel Watusi", persuades Tess to allow her to become one of the club's dancers, much to the annoyance of Nikki (Kristen Bell), the lead performer and a drunk. One day Ali has to replace Nikki on stage because Nikki is too drunk to perform. Nikki sabotages the performance by turning off the music that the dancers usually lip sync to, but before the curtain is dropped down, Ali impresses everyone with her amazing singing skills. Tess immediately decides to have Ali become the main star of a whole new show at the club. It becomes increasingly popular and Ali enjoys her newfound stardom while Nikki fumes in the background. Despite the club's growing success, Tess is still unable to pay the bank the money that she owes.
One night after the club closes, Tess, worried with the club's economic prospects, sings "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me". A very jealous Nikki shows up drunk and picks a fight with her. She feels that Tess has rejected their long-term friendship for Ali. Tess, who has grown frustrated with Nikki, defends Ali and questions her gratitude for the help she has received from her during her many drunken binges. Angered, Nikki quits on the spot (before falsely claiming that she slept with Vince (Peter Gallagher) after his and Tess's honeymoon), and the altercation ends when Tess angrily retaliates by smashing the passenger side window on Nikki's convertible with a crowbar.
Meanwhile, Ali and Jack become romantically attracted to each other. However, Jack is unable to act on his growing feelings for Ali due to his engagement to his girlfriend, who is away in New York City for work as an actress; Jack is encouraged by Sean to end the engagement as Ali is a better person than his shallow fiancée. Marcus (Eric Dane) begins to become increasingly infatuated with Ali, who begins to spend time with him, making Jack jealous. At Georgia's wedding, Jack appears to call off his engagement and becomes drunk. That night, Ali and Jack sleep together, but the following morning Jack's fiancé, Natalie (Dianna Agron), unexpectedly returns from her play and finds the two in bed together, angrily insisting that she and Jack never broke up. Jack denies this, and while trying to fix things, he asks Ali to leave. Feeling heartbroken and betrayed, Ali runs to Sean for support, and learns that Sean is gay; he has just spent the night with the DJ from Georgia's wedding. While making coffee, Ali receives a call from Marcus, and Sean prompts her to go with Marcus after his phone call, while Sean and Mark the DJ (David Walton) go on a date.
While spending time with Marcus, Ali learns about "air rights", which refers to the empty space above a building and what can be done with it. Ali breaks things off with Marcus after she sees his plans to build a skyscraper on the property the club is on; Marcus protests this, asking why this suddenly makes him "the bad guy", to which Ali replies, "It doesn't, Marcus. It just makes you the wrong guy". Ali tells Tess about the predicament, and together they inform the owner (James Brolin) of the new million-dollar condos across the street; fearing the loss of business that would result from the obstruction of his prospective tenants' view, he purchases the air rights to the club's property. The resulting money is enough for Tess to buy out Vince's share (as they are divorced and he wanted out of the club), pay off the bank, and re-fashion the club to her own vision. She also makes up with Nikki, who tells Tess that she claimed she slept with Vince just to hurt her, and rehires her at the club after Nikki tells her she wants to "come home".
Ali reunites with Jack after he tells her that it's over with Natalie for good; Natalie was in denial, having cared more about her job than her relationship with Jack. After she finally earns Nikki's respect, Ali performs "Show Me How You Burlesque", written by Jack (who refused to allow Ali to listen or see his music throughout the movie due to it not being "ready") with all of the dancers on stage, much to the crowd's delight.
Production.
Steven Antin's sister Robin was a member of the modern burlesque troupe the Pussycat Dolls. Circa 2002, the group performed at the Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, with multiple artists—among them Christina Aguilera—and Steven Antin directed some of these shows. The first outline of the screenplay was written by Antin and Clint Culpepper, the Screen Gems' president. It was about "a girl escaping her life", showing up in a neo-burlesque club and launching a career as a performer.
Cher accepted the supporting role of Tess Scali because she wanted to sing in a movie and thought this would be her last opportunity to do so. While on the film set, she went on to praise co-star Christina Aguilera's acting abilities, revealing to "Entertainment Tonight": "She was keeping up, and she was hot. I mean, it was, like, she was really up there. Her game is good." Canadian actor Shawn Roberts, who was previously cast in another Screen Gems production "", was briefly considered for the role of Jack Miller.
"Burlesque" started shooting on November 9, 2009 and ended on March 3, 2010. Although director Steven Antin wrote the original screenplay, Diablo Cody ("Juno") revised it uncredited. It was later further revised by Susannah Grant, also uncredited. "Burlesque" is Screen Gems' most expensive film, with the exception of the "Resident Evil" films, with costs of $55 million.
Filming locations included the exterior and adjacent parking as the "Burlesque Lounge" of the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood, as well as the interior of the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana. 
The film marked Aguilera's film debut and Cher's first musical.
Music.
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack album features ten tracks: eight performed by Aguilera including "Express"; and two performed by Cher which are her first original recordings in 7 years. The soundtrack includes a mix of original and cover songs. Both the ballads from the soundtrack – "Bound to You" performed by Aguilera and "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" performed by Cher – were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Cher's "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me", which was written by Diane Warren, won the award. In the United States, the soundtrack was certified Gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies in October 2011.
Release.
Marketing.
The theatrical trailer was attached to screenings of "Step Up 3D" and "Easy A". The first TV spot premiered during the season 2 premiere of Fox's "Glee" on September 21, 2010. A third TV spot also aired the following day during "Dancing with the Stars", later followed by another during MTV's "Jersey Shore". Several teasers have been released for promotional purposes including the Etta James's "Something's Got a Hold on Me". This was then followed by the track "But I Am a Good Girl" which was released in November 2010.
Aguilera performed "Bound to You" on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and gave an interview and performance on "Conan". Aguilera also gave an interview to show host Chelsea Handler to discuss the film and other subjects. On November 19, 2010, Aguilera also gave a television interview to Ellen DeGeneres. She then performed a track from the soundtrack, the Etta James track "Something's Got a Hold on Me". Aguilera performed "Express" at the American Music Awards of 2010 and "Show Me How You Burlesque" at the "Dancing with the Stars" finale. She also performed "Express" on the final of the seventh series of "The X Factor" which received criticism and complaints for the raunchy content.
Home media.
The DVD and Blu-ray were released in North America on March 1, 2011. A Blu-ray/DVD combo has been released as well. The DVD and Blu-ray sales exceed one million units and have grossed $20,563,918 in the United States alone; and, , it is the 19th highest selling movie of the year. In all, the DVD has sold over 1.4 million units in the United States. Overall, it has grossed over $30,053,366 on video sales (DVD and Blu-ray sales) in United States alone.
Reception.
Critical reception.
"Burlesque" received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 36% based on 176 reviews, with an average rating of 4.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Campy and clichéd, "Burlesque" wastes its talented cast (including a better-than-expected Christina Aguilera) on a movie that wavers uncertainly between 'bad' and 'so bad it's good.'" On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 47 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" said, "The choicest dialogue in "Burlesque" provokes the sort of laughter that other, intentionally funny films only dream of generating." Mick LaSalle from "San Francisco Chronicle" gave the movie a full score and praised Aguilera's acting, calling her "jaw-droppingly good in several numbers" and said, "Aguilera knows how to listen to her fellow actors, to react and be spontaneous, and it makes all the difference". Kirk Honeycutt of "The Hollywood Reporter" called Burlesque "a refreshing throwback to movie musicals that celebrates its stars while indulging in sexy fun" and also praised Aguilera's acting and singing. Lou Lumenick of the "New York Post" said, "Aguilera can dance like nobody's business, but her acting debut isn't going to keep Anne Hathaway awake at night." Stanley Tucci's performance received praise from "Entertainment Weekly" and "Empire" thought the dance numbers were thrilling. "Time Out" labelled the drama "perfunctory" while Roger Ebert said that ""Burlesque" shows Cher and Christina Aguilera being all that they can be, and that's more than enough." "Variety" observed that the film "wants to be "Cabaret", but lacks the edge and historical context to pull it off." "The New York Times" said that the story line "had already gathered dust by the time [of] the 1933 musical "42nd Street"".
Box office.
"Burlesque" was released on Wednesday, November 24, 2010, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States; on its opening day, it came in third to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" and "Tangled". On Thursday, November 25, 2010, it dropped down to fourth place in the box office behind "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1", "Tangled" and "Unstoppable" and went down to fifth on Friday, November 26, 2010. On Sunday, November 28, 2010, it went back up to third place behind "Tangled" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1". It stayed in the top five until December 10, 2010, when it fell to sixth behind "", "The Tourist", "Tangled", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" and "Unstoppable". By the Christmas weekend, it was number 15 at the box office.
The week after Thanksgiving, "Burlesque" experienced a substantial decrease on ticket sales, earning $9.65 million ($6.1 million for the weekend), for a total of $26.98 million for its first twelve days. , it had grossed $39.4 million in North America, and, , $51.1 million in foreign countries, for a total of $90.6 million worldwide.
Legacy.
According to Joey Nolfi of "Entertainment Weekly", since its release the movie "inspired everything, from drag queen revues to viral internet moments". Nolfi applauded "Burlesque" as "a campy, niche classic". In 2019, a full length "Burlesque" tour, based on the movie, embarked, including at British venues. It starred Farrah Moan as Ali Rose and Chad Michaels as Tess Scali. The "Burlesque" stage musical was supposed to open at the Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey, in Autumn 2020, followed by a Broadway theatre adaptation, but the plans were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie was also referenced in the third season of the VH1 reality show "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars". In a 2020 interview Antin revealed a "hybrid television event/series", based on the movie, was under development.
In January 2021, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. During the 2020–21 season they danced to a medley of Aguilera's "Burlesque" songs, which included "Express".