65 (film)

65 (film)
File:65 film teaser poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Scott Beck Bryan Woods
Produced by	Sam Raimi Deborah Liebling Zainab Azizi Scott Beck Bryan Woods
Written by	Scott Beck Bryan Woods
Starring	Adam Driver Ariana Greenblatt
Music by	Chris Bacon
Cinematography	Salvatore Totino
Edited by	Jane Tones Josh Schaeffer
Production company	Columbia Pictures Bron Creative TSG Entertainment Raimi Productions Beck/Woods
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release dates	March 10, 2023 (2023-03-10)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$45 million
Box office	$60.7 million

65 is a 2023 American science fiction action thriller film written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and starring Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt. It is a co-production between Columbia Pictures, Bron Creative, TSG Entertainment, Raimi Productions, and Beck/Woods. In the film, a pilot crashes on an unknown planet and attempts to escape while surviving with a young girl.

65 was released in the United States on March 10, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $60 million worldwide.

Plot

On the planet Somaris, pilot Mills convinces his wife Alya that he should take on a two-year space expedition to earn the money needed to treat their daughter Nevine's illness. During the journey, his spaceship, the Zoic, is hit by a mass of asteroids and crash-lands on an alien planet, which unbeknownst to him, is actually Earth, 65 million years ago. With his ship damaged beyond repair, he finds that his passengers have been killed and contemplates suicide until he finds a lone survivor, a young girl named Koa. Mills sends a distress beacon for rescue and decides to take care of Koa. However, they have difficulty communicating due to differing languages and a broken translator.

Mills later discovers a functioning escape shuttle from the Zoic has landed on top of a mountain. To encourage Koa to follow him, Mills lies about her family being atop the mountain, when in reality they perished in the crash. The pair quickly realize the planet is home to dangerous and aggressive alien creatures, which turn out to be Earth's dinosaurs. As Mills protects Koa, they begin to bond.

Koa watches several video messages sent by Nevine. The two are attacked by an enormous theropod, which they wound before hiding in a cave. After a rockfall separates them, Mills is attacked by an Oviraptor and Koa is attacked by a raptor-like creature which she traps in a fallen tree log; she uses bombs Mills had given her to kill the dinosaur. Mills kills the Oviraptor and escapes the cave, however he falls into quicksand while searching for Koa. Koa rescues him and they continue up the mountain. However, Mills discovers that a huge asteroid, the same one his ship crashed into, will strike Earth in less than 12 hours.

The two reach the escape shuttle, but Koa is angry when she discovers that Mills lied to her. Mills opens up to Koa about losing Nevine, who had died of her illness while he was away, and promises to protect her. Upon learning rescue is on the way, the two board the escape shuttle, but the asteroid's debris causes it to fall down the mountain. Mills and Koa manage to fend off a pair of Tyrannosaurus rex, but the same monstrous theropod they injured earlier, which turns out to be a quadruped, also attacks. Mills manages to lure it toward a large geyser while Koa stabs it in the eye with a large dinosaur tooth that she coated in poison berries earlier. The pair escapes just in time as the asteroid strikes Earth, causing a cataclysmic event and the extinction of the dinosaurs. With the pod set to meet up with a rescue vessel, the two relax and fly off into the stars.

In closing titles, the following event shows the evolution of Earth, at the spot where Mills and Koa left, through an ice age until the present day.

Cast

• Adam Driver as Mills
• Ariana Greenblatt as Koa
• Chloe Coleman as Nevine
• Nika King as Alya

Production

In September 2020, Adam Driver signed on to star in the film, to be produced, written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods; Sam Raimi would co-produce with Zainab Azizi and Debbie Liebling. Two months later, Ariana Greenblatt joined the cast. In December 2020, Chloe Coleman joined the cast.

Principal photography was expected to begin on November 16, 2020, in New Orleans, eventually beginning by December 7, 2020. Filming also occurred in the Kisatchie National Forest in Vernon Parish, Louisiana in January 2021, being halfway into production by January 16, wrapping up on February 21, 2021. Additionally, several locations in Oregon were used for filming, including Meyer’s Creek Beach in Gold Beach, Coos Bay, Whaleshead Beach in Brookings, Agness and Elk Creek Falls.

The visual effects were created by Framestore, and Ghost VFX with Chris Harvey serving as a visual effects supervisor. Shot with a budget of $91 million, the final cost of the film was $45 million after tax rebates. Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects was contracted by Sony Pictures to supply/build a spacecraft “Escape Vessel” and other set props for the mother spacecraft in the film.

Music

In February 2021, it was announced that Danny Elfman was composing the score for the film, having previously collaborated with Raimi on his directed projects. However, in March 2023, Chris Bacon, a frequent collaborator of Elfman, was revealed to have composed a new score earlier in the year; initially both composers were set to receive credit, but ultimately Bacon received sole credit, with Elfman labeled as a co-composer on select tracks. Additionally, Michael Giacchino served as "score consultant", while Gad Emile Zeitune is credited with "additional music".

Release

65 was released theatrically in the United States on March 10, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film had previously been scheduled for release, though with longer separation between announcement dates and release dates, for May 13, 2022, April 29, 2022, April 14, 2023, April 28, 2023, and March 17, 2023.

The film was released digitally on April 7, followed by a Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD release on May 30. As part of a deal with Netflix, the movie arrives on Netflix US for 18 months starting from July 8, 2023.

Reception

Box office

65 grossed $32.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $28.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $60.7 million.

In the United States and Canada, 65 was released alongside Scream VI and Champions, and was projected to gross $7–9 million from 3,350 theaters its opening weekend. The film made $4.4 million on its first day, including $1.22 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to slightly over-perform, debuting to $12.3 million and finishing third at the box office. It made $5.8 million in its second weekend, finishing in third.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 35% of 120 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sodden sci-fi that somehow finds a way to bungle Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs, 65 is closer to zero." 40 was met with 27 reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of {{{3}}}, based on {{{4}}} reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall 54% positive score, with 37% saying they would recommend the film.

See also

• List of films featuring dinosaurs

External links

• 65 at IMDb
• 65 at AllMovie