Morbius
Short description
Dr. Michael Morbius has lived with a rare and dangerous blood disorder since childhood, and he has devoted his career as a biochemist to finding a cure. When his research points toward an experimental treatment involving bat DNA, he takes the risk on himself. The procedure appears to work, but it leaves him with a condition far more threatening than the illness he set out to defeat, transforming him into a creature driven by a hunger for blood. The story follows his struggle with what he has become and with the consequences his experiment has for those around him.
Morbius is a 2022 comic book adaptation directed by Daniel Espinosa, the sixth feature in his filmography following Life and preceding Madame Luna. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the screenplay, and Avi Arad, Lucas Foster and Matt Tolmach produced it for Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment. Jared Leto plays the title role, with Matt Smith as Milo, Adria Arjona as Martine Bancroft, Jared Harris as Dr. Emil Nicholas, and Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal as agents Stroud and Rodriguez.
Made for about 75 million dollars, the film took in roughly 168 million worldwide, a modest return on a production of its scale. Audience response was middling, at 5.1 out of 10 on IMDb from some 171,000 votes and 5.9 out of 10 on TMDB from about 5,000 votes, while film critics were harsher, giving it 3.8 out of 10 across 287 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The cargo ship at the beginning of the film is named “Murnau” in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1888-1931), who directed the classic horror film “Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror.” Like the cargo ship in “Nosferatu,” the cargo ship “Murnau” arrives in port with a dead crew, with all the blood drained from the bodies of the crew members.
- The scenes in New York were filmed in Manchester, UK. To do this, all traffic lights, signs, and license plates had to be changed to New York versions.
- Matt Smith joined the cast of the film after repeatedly refusing roles in superhero blockbusters in the past, because he wanted to work with director Daniel Espinosa, and because Karen Gillan, with whom he starred in “Doctor Who” and who plays Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, strongly advised him to do so.
- Towards the end of the film, Morbius's vampiric trail turns purple, as it does in the comics. According to director Daniel Espinosa, he drew inspiration from Pokémon, as well as the original comics, when it came to lighting and colors. In the comics, Morbius is often depicted with a purple trail following him, so the color change in the film's finale is a reference to his origins (in the comics) and shows that he has fully mastered his abilities.
- In the original version of the film, one of Morbius's prisoners was Carnage (but this was before the film was fully re-edited and moved back in time to be 8 films earlier relative to its initially intended position – chronologically speaking, where it was originally planned to be placed).
- Jared Leto claimed that the character of Michael Morbius is similar to himself, so he didn't even have to try hard playing the role. However, it can't be said that the role came to him completely easily and effortlessly.
- J.K. Simmons originally filmed scenes as J. Jonah Jameson for this film, but during the time between the initial filming of this film and the release of Jon Watts' superhero blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), the filmmakers realized that Morbius couldn’t exist in the same universe as Jameson as portrayed by Simmons, so the scenes with Jameson were cut from the film.
- At the 66th minute of the film, when Morbius arrives at the counterfeiters' hideout, the film "Flying Guillotine 2" can be seen on a television screen in the background.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
