Zathura: A Space Adventure
Short description
Zathura: A Space Adventure follows two brothers, Walter and Danny Budwing, who are left at home under the care of their older sister, Lisa, while their father goes to work. After the boys quarrel, Danny finds an old metal board game in the basement and starts playing it alone. The game turns out to be far from ordinary: it launches their house into outer space, and the brothers must keep playing to have any hope of getting back to Earth. Along the way they encounter a stranded astronaut, a hostile robot and lizard-like aliens.
The film was directed by Jon Favreau as his third feature, arriving between Elf and Iron Man, from a screenplay by David Koepp and John Kamps. It is based on Chris Van Allsburg's book. The cast includes Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo as the brothers, Dax Shepard as the astronaut, Kristen Stewart as Lisa, Tim Robbins as their father and Frank Oz as the voice of the robot. It runs 101 minutes.
Produced by Columbia Pictures with Michael De Luca Productions, Radar Pictures and Teitler Film on a budget of 65 million dollars, the film took in about 64 million dollars worldwide, falling short of its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.3/10 from 125,000 votes and on TMDB 6.5/10 from 3,714 votes, with critics rating it 6.7/10 from 159 reviews, slightly above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The beginning and end of the film were shot in the same sets without any changes. Throughout the film, the sets were damaged and destroyed, so the film had to be shot in sequence – according to the script. The only exception was the very beginning and end, which were filmed one after the other.
- The studio created several full-size robot mock-ups. One was metallic and couldn't speak, and was used in scenes where the robot breaks through doors and walls. The second was a full-body puppet, but in fact, they most often filmed simply an actor dressed accordingly.
- Initially, a sequel to the film "Jumanji" (Joe Johnston, 1995) was planned, but the film company "Sony Pictures" decided to abandon the idea of a sequel in favor of "Zathura."
- Stan Winston's team (1946-2008) devised and created the Zorgon puppets in three parts. The actor's head and neck, covered in a blue hood, protruded between the Zorgon’s shoulder blades, and were subsequently worked on by digital artists. The Zorgon’s electronic-mechanical head emerged from the actor’s chest and was operated by puppeteers, resulting in it roaring and blinking.
- John Bobo lost 4 teeth during filming, so he had dentures made.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
