2. Production
Will Smith conceived this story when he was watching the television show called I Shouldn't Be Alive.
It was originally not a science fiction story but about a father and son crashing their car in the
mountains with the son having to go out and get rescue for his father.
Smith then decided to change the setting to 1000 years in the future, which imposed a higher
budget.
Smith had his production company Overbrook contact Gary Whitta with a simple log line for a film.
Whitta fleshed out Smith's idea and pitched it to him, subsequently becoming the first employee on
the project.
Smith contacted M. Night Shyamalan on August 6
to persuade him to direct his film with his son Jaden as
the star.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has a first-look deal with
Overbrook, so it was expected to be the studio home
for the film.
Shyamalan later suggested the film would feature
other members of the Smith family.
In December 2011, Columbia Pictures, signed Will
and Jaden Smith to star in the film with Shyamalan
directing.
They visited sites like the Arenal Volcano, hot springs
and a lake, and some beaches to find a location.
50% of the filming was to take place at the new Sun
Center Studios in Delaware County. Other locations would be
in Costa Rica, Utah and Northern California.
After Earth became the first film from Sony to be both shot
and presented in the emerging 4K digital format.
On April 19, 2013, Shyamalan announced that the release
date had been moved a week earlier to May 31, 2013.
3. Distribution
After Earth is distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (CPII) is an American film
production and distribution studio, that is part of the Columbia
TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures
Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment, a subsidiary of
the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film
studios in the world, a member of the so-called Big Six. It was one of
the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of
Hollywood's Golden Age.
The studio, founded in 1918 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales by
brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Joe Brandt, released its first
feature film in August 1922.
It adopted the Columbia Pictures name in 1924 and went public
two years later. The name is derived from "Columbia", a national
personification of the United States, which is used as the company's
logo.
In 1982, the studio was purchased by Coca-Cola; that same year it
launched TriStar Pictures as a joint venture with HBO and CBS. Five
years later, Coca-Cola spun off Columbia, which was sold to Tri-Star
as the latter became Columbia Pictures Entertainment. After a brief
period of independence with Coca-Cola maintaining a financial
interest, the combined studio was acquired by Japanese company
Sony in 1989.
5. Marketing
The estimated worldwide marketing budget for After Earth was approximately $100 million.
Initial marketing began online with an internet marketing campaign on Facebook and
Google+, including a teaser trailer.
An image of Jaden's character in costume was
released online on February 15, 2012.
Later in the year, a theatrical teaser was released
alongside a trailer.
On March 12, a modified version of After Earth's
theatrical teaser was released as the official trailer.
The official trailer was broadcast as a TV Spot
during late May 2013.
Sony Pictures opted to feature Will and Jaden
Smith prominently in the marketing campaign.
On April 24, XPRIZE, Sony and Overbook launched
the XPRIZE After Earth Challenge, a robotics
competition to promote the May 31 release of After Earth.
The film premiered on May 29 at Ziegfeld Theatre in New
York City.
Sony Electronics hosted an exclusive 4K screening of After
Earth at the Paramount Studios Theater on Friday May 31
during the 2013 Cine Gear Expo in Hollywood.
ESA and Sony are holding the After Earth competition to
win the opportunity to go to Bordeaux, France and have a
'space experience' in weightlessness on a 'parabolic' flight on
Novespace's ZERO-G aircraft.
6. Books
After
Earth: The official novel
of the epic film After Earth
After Earth: Innocence
After Earth: United Ranger
Corps Survival Manual
After Earth: Kitai's Journal
7. Box office
During its opening weekend, After Earth took in $27,520,040 in box office
receipts in North America and $2,535,685 in South Korea.
Sony Pictures projected a launch of around $38 million, but the actual number
was 16.6% lower than the lowest pre-release expectation of $33 million
On Thursday opening night After Earth made $1 million estimated at 3,401
locations from 9 pm.
Taking into account the popularity of principal actor Will Smith, the
disappointing finish led The Wall Street
Journal to call it a "flop".
The Hollywood Reporter reported Sony insiders
estimate a potential loss at about $20 million if the
film does not gross high overseas, though estimates
of top executives at several rival studios are much
higher.
On the worldwide release the following week,
After Earth took in an estimated $45.5 million in 60
overseas markets.
After Earth made an estimated total of $48.6
million at the international box office.
A review states that After Earth ‘crashed and
Burned’ at the US box office.
8. 4K screening
Ryan Nakashima of Associated Press was generally
impressed with the film's 4K resolution picture quality.
Though the visual-effects, shots that comprised about a
third of the movie were done in 2K resolution to save on
cost and time.
Scott Wilkinson of AVS was similarly impressed by the visual
effects "Even sitting too far away, the movie itself looked
gorgeous—sharp as a tack with beautiful colours. The
smallest details, such as Jaden Smith's character in the far
distance, somehow looked clearer than I would have
expected under normal circumstances; I got the distinct
impression that the image could have been blown up by
quite a bit and no detail would have been lost. The CGI
animals did look a bit artificial, but that didn't bother me
very much at all."
9. Home media
After
Earth was the ninth top-selling DVD
and Blu-ray in the United States on the
week commencing 11/04/2013.
It was also the top rental.
10. Reviews
Some reviews for After Earth were positive but most of the
reviews I have read have been negative.
One good review I found on the website common sense
media ‘Parents need to know that After Earth -- which stars
Will Smith and his son Jaden and was directed by M. Night
Shyamalan -- is a scary monster movie with a few dead
bodies and some blood. The alien monster is grotesque,
overpowering, and able to trick humans into feeling fear,
and viewers see a few of his human victims impaled on tree
branches. No main characters die, but a majestic eagle
who saves a boy's life sacrifices its own to do so, and
viewers see animal carcasses. Punctuating the exciting and
violent sci-fi action are laughs and scenes of strong family
warmth and bonding, strong role models, and positive life
lessons learned.’
One bad review I found was on the website rotten
tomatoes ‘After Earth is a dull, ploddingly paced exercise in
sentimental sci-fi -- and the latest setback for director M.
Night Shyamalan's once-promising career.’
