Case 39
Short description
Emily Jenkins has spent years as a social worker and believes she has encountered every kind of family crisis, until she is assigned the case of ten-year-old Lilith Sullivan. Convinced the girl is being abused by her parents, Emily intervenes when they attempt to kill their only daughter and takes Lilith into her own home while a foster placement is arranged. It soon becomes clear that the child is not as innocent as she appears, and that the danger Emily thought she had rescued Lilith from may lie with the girl herself.
Case 39 was directed by Christian Alvart, his third feature after Antibodies in 2005 and Pandorum earlier in 2009, from a screenplay by Ray Wright. Renée Zellweger plays Emily, with Jodelle Ferland as Lilith, Ian McShane as Detective Mike Barron, Bradley Cooper as Douglas J. Ames, Adrian Lester as Wayne and Kerry O'Malley as Margaret Sullivan. The production was handled by Paramount, Misher Films, Anonymous Content and Paramount Vantage, with Steve Golin, Kevin Misher and Lisa Bruce producing.
Made for around 27 million dollars, the film returned roughly 29 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.2 out of 10 from about 99,000 votes, close to the 6.3 from roughly 2,400 users on TMDB, so general audiences are somewhat more favourable than the critics' rating of 4 out of 10 from 74 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- “Case 39” marked Alvart’s Hollywood debut.
- The most challenging task for the filmmakers during pre-production was finding an actress to play the antagonist Zellweger – a little girl named Lilith. After a lengthy casting process in Canada, Jodelle Ferland was chosen.
- Filming began in Vancouver on September 8, 2006, and continued until early November.
- In August 2007, some scenes, including the film's finale, were reshot in Los Angeles. Zellweger, Ferland, and McShane participated.
- The role of Lilith could have gone to Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Fuhrman.
- In modern Satanism, the name 'Lilith' means 'Black Goddess, destroyer of the seeds of Light.' According to some accounts, Lilith was Adam's first wife.
- The most challenging task for the creators at the pre-production stage was finding an actress for the role of Lilith. After a lengthy casting process in Canada, the choice fell on Jodelle Ferland.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
