''Grimsby'' (released in the United States and Canada as ''The Brothers Grimsby'') is a 2016

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

directed by

Louis Leterrier Louis Leterrier (; born 17 June 1973) is a French film director and producer. Best known for his work in action films, he directed the first two '' Transporter'' films (2002–2005), '' Unleashed'' (2005), '' The Incredible Hulk'' (2008), ''Clas ...

and written by

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

, Phil Johnston, and

Peter Baynham Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter and performer. He is best known for appearing in a series of comedic Pot Noodle television adverts in the 1990s. His work largely represents collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve C ...

. The film stars Baron Cohen,

Mark Strong Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963), is a British actor, best known for his film roles such as Prince Septimus in '' Stardust'' (2007), Archibald in ''RocknRolla'' (2008), Lord Henry Blackwood in ''Sherlock Holmes'' (20 ...

Rebel Wilson Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson (born Melanie Elizabeth Bownds; 2 March 1980) is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003, Wilson began appearing as Tou ...

Isla Fisher Isla Lang Fisher (; born 3 February 1976) is an Australian actress and author. Born to Scottish parents in Oman, she moved to Australia at age six where she began appearing in television commercials. Fisher came to prominence for her portrayal ...

Annabelle Wallis Annabelle Wallis (born 5 September 1984) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jane Seymour in Showtime's period drama ''The Tudors'' (2009–2010), Grace Burgess in the BBC drama ''Peaky Blinders'' (2013–2022), Mia Form in th ...

Gabourey Sidibe Gabourey Sidibe ( ; born May 6, 1983) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the 2009 film '' Precious'', a role that earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, in addition to nominations for the Golden Globe an ...

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (; ; born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British A ...

, and

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004 ...

. It was co-produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

LStar Capital Lone Star Funds, legal name of main entity Lone Star Global Acquisitions, Ltd. is an American private equity firm that invests in distressed assets in the U.S., Canada and internationally. The founder of Lone Star established its first fund in 1 ...

Village Roadshow Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures is the American subsidiary of the Australian co-producer and co-financier of major Hollywood motion pictures established in 1986. It is a division under Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG), which in turn is o ...

, Four By Two Films,

Big Talk Productions Big Talk Productions Limited is a British film and television production company founded by Nira Park in 1994. Big Talk was acquired by ITV Studios in 2013. Film Filmography Released Upcoming Critical reception Commercial performance T ...

and

Working Title Films Working Title Films is a British film studio that produces motion pictures and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by Tim Bev ...

. ''Grimsby'' was released by

Sony Pictures Releasing Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (commonly known as Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

on 24 February 2016 in the United Kingdom and 11 March 2016 in the United States. It received mixed reviews and proved to be a box-office failure, ultimately not recouping its budget.

Plot

Kyle Alan "Nobby" Butcher had been separated from his little brother Sebastian Butcher for 28 years. During their years apart, Nobby became an alcoholic

football hooligan Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...

who started a life with his girlfriend Dawn and their 11 children in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

. Meanwhile, Sebastian is now known as Sebastian Graves and has become one of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

's top agents. After completing an interrogation, Sebastian gets information regarding philanthropist Rhonda George, who is hosting a benefit called WorldCure and is a potential target for assassination, and is assigned to go. Nobby's friends at the pub also find out that Sebastian will be at WorldCure, and convince Nobby to go there and reconnect with him. At the event, Sebastian sees hitman Pavel Lukashenko, who plans to assassinate Rhonda with a gun disguised as a video camera. As Sebastian prepares to shoot the camera, Nobby sees him and gives him a hug, accidentally causing him to shoot an

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-infected Jewish-Palestinian boy named Schlomo (Yusuf Hofri). The spray of blood lands in

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

's mouth, infecting him with AIDS. The brothers go on the run from the authorities and other criminals. Despite Sebastian's protests, Nobby convinces him that it would be best to hide out at his home in Grimsby. Meanwhile, believing that Sebastian has gone rogue, MI6 orders an assassin named Chilcott to track him down. Sebastian calls his handler Jodie and proclaims his innocence. Chilcott and his men find the two brothers at a pub; they both manage to escape, though Sebastian is hit with two ''

Lonomia The genus ''Lonomia'' is a moderate-sized group of fairly cryptic saturniid moths from South America, famous not for the adults, but for their highly venomous caterpillars, which are responsible for a few deaths each year, especially in southern ...

'' poison darts in his shoulder and testicle. Nobby is reluctantly forced to suck the poison out of both places, saving Sebastian's life. Sebastian learns from Jodie that Lukashenko was going to make a deal with Joris Smit in a South African lodge, so the brothers travel there. Sebastian accidentally injects himself with

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

, mistaking it for the bone-strengthening treatment for his broken ankle. Nobby then assumes his brother's identity and goes undercover. He mistakenly seduces a cleaner named Banu as she wore similar clothing to Joris' wife Lina and is interrupted by Joris and his two men. Sebastian arrives in the nick of time and saves Nobby. Lina tells them that Lukashenko purchased some sort of virus, but she is fatally shot by Chilcott's men from a distance before she can reveal any further information. To outrun Chilcott's men, the brothers are forced to hide inside an elephant's vagina, but end up covered in elephant semen due to several males having sex with the female while they are inside. After the brothers have cleaned themselves up, Sebastian asks why Nobby abandoned him as a child. Nobby explains that Sebastian's adoptive parents only wanted to adopt one of the brothers but were unable to decide, and he ran away so Sebastian could have a better life. Sebastian apologises to Nobby. The brothers travel to Chile, the venue of the football cup final between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. They realise that the syndicate plans to unleash their weapon in the arena, but the syndicate captures Sebastian. Rhonda, the real mastermind of the plot, visits Sebastian and tells him her plans to launch the virus (called WorldCure) into the arena via fireworks. Nobby kills Lukashenko and other henchmen on his way before rescuing Sebastian. The brothers race back to the arena and spot Rhonda. Chilcott attempts to kill Sebastian, but Nobby's kids throw Schlomo's wheelchair at him, knocking him over and impaling him on a helmet while Nobby goes after Rhonda. Nobby then tries to shoot Rhonda but his gun jams and he realises he must stop the fireworks himself. He sits on one of the fireworks containing the virus; Sebastian sits on the other at the last minute, reaffirming his brotherhood with Nobby. The fireworks go off with the two atop them and the brothers are knocked unconscious upon landing. Nobby's gun goes off and shoots Daniel Radcliffe, whose AIDS-infected blood spills into

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's mouth. The news reports state that Rhonda has been arrested, the Grimsby brothers have "died" after saving the world, and that Trump has AIDS. Schlomo is in custody after "killing" Chilcott. The brothers are actually recovering in the hospital, and Jodie visits and gives them new identities, informing them that the virus did not affect them because its antidote is elephant semen. Nobby's family visits them. Eight weeks later, Nobby and Sebastian are on a mission in Indonesia. On a boat, Nobby is approached by a team of gunmen, whom he quickly kills. He reaches Sebastian, who asks him if he has met the team, and Nobby realises too late that the gunmen were his team. In a

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

, the brothers are in a car and stop to ask a man for directions to a football stadium. After receiving directions, Nobby shoots the man in order to "leave no witnesses", disturbing Sebastian.

Cast

as Kyle Alan "Nobby" Butcher, a

and the older brother of Sebastian. *

as Sebastian Graves, the best MI6 agent to date and the younger brother of Nobby. *

as Jodie Figgs, Sebastian's handler. *

as Dawn Grobham, Nobby's girlfriend and mother of his 11 children. *

as Rhonda George, an actress who wants to help cure the world of disease. *

as Banu, a South African hotel maid *

as Lina Smit *

David Harewood David Harewood MBE (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in ''Homeland'' (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / C ...

as Black Gareth * John Thomson as Bob Tolliver *

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in ''Brookside'', DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' and Jim Royle in ''The Royle Family'', and playing the titular char ...

as Paedo Pete *

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

as Milky Pimms *

Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the ''Undisputed franchise''. He has played Yuri Boy ...

as Lukashenko *

Sam Hazeldine Samuel Hazeldine (born 29 March 1972) is an English actor working in film, television and theatre. He is the son of actors James Hazeldine. and Rebecca Moore. Early life Sam Hazeldine was born in Hammersmith, London. He is the son of actors ...

as Chilcott * Barkhad Abdi as Tabansi Nyagura *

Tamsin Egerton Tamsin Olivia Egerton (born Tamsin Olivia Egerton-Dick; 26 November 1988) is a British actress known for her roles as Chelsea Parker in the 2007 film ''St Trinian's'', Holly Goodfellow in the 2005 film ''Keeping Mum'', and Guinevere in the 2011 t ...

as Carla Barnes *

as MI6 Spy Boss (uncredited) *

Miles Jupp Miles Hugh Barrett Jupp (born 8 September 1979) is an English actor, singer, and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children's television series ''Balamory''. He also played ...

as Policeman * Nathan Joel Jukes as Stabber *

as Parking Warden (uncredited)

Production

Development

In October 2013,

was spotted attending a football match between

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

and

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

. Baron Cohen, who was dressed in a Grimsby shirt, was also spotted talking with Town fans in a nearby pub after the game. It was later confirmed that he was scouting towns for the film, and had also checked out

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

, Hull and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

in order to find inspiration for his new role. On 3 December 2013,

was set to direct.

Casting

On 24 April 2014,

joined the film to play a British black-ops spy and brother of Baron Cohen's character. On 25 April,

joined the cast of the film. On 11 June,

, and

were confirmed as cast members. On 12 June, Baron Cohen's wife

was announced in a supporting role. The same day,

was announced, followed by

on July 9.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

of the film commenced on 4 June 2014, at

North Weald railway station North Weald railway station is on the Epping Ongar Railway, a heritage railway, located in North Weald, Essex. The station was opened in 1865 by the Great Eastern Railway, on its extension from Loughton to Ongar. It was latterly a Central line ...

, and around the

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

area in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. The shooting lasted for six weeks in the UK and then moved to South Africa. On 3 July, comedian

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...

tweeted a photo from the set with Baron Cohen. On 10–11 July, Baron Cohen was filming ''Grimsby'' in

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

, which was modelled to resemble 1980s

. On 14 July, Baron Cohen and Strong were spotted filming some scenes for the film in the streets. A number of residents of Grimsby were upset with Baron Cohen for negative stereotypes portraying their town as a rubbish-strewn, violent ghetto in which drunks urinate from windows and mothers hand children cans of beer in the street.

Release

On 13 February 2014, the film moved from

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, and it was announced that the film would be released in the U.S. on 31 July 2015. On 21 January 2015, the film's U.S. release date was moved back to 26 February 2016. The film was then scheduled to be released on 4 March 2016, but was again moved back, to 11 March 2016.

Reception

Box office

''Grimsby'' grossed $6.9 million in North America and $21.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $28 million, against a budget of $35 million. In the United States and Canada, the film opened on 11 March 2016 alongside '' 10 Cloverfield Lane'', ''

The Young Messiah ''The Young Messiah'' is a 2016 American biblical drama film directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and co-written by Betsy and Cyrus Nowrasteh, based on the novel '' Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt'' by Anne Rice. The film stars Adam Greaves-Neal, Sean Bean, ...

'' and '' The Perfect Match''. It was originally projected to gross $7–8 million in its opening weekend, however, after grossing just $1.2 million on its opening day, estimates were lowered to $3–4 million. It wound up grossing $3.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing 8th at the box office. ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' attributed the film's poor opening to its British content and marketing tactics alienating American audiences, much like ''

Eddie the Eagle Michael David Edwards (born 5 December 1963), better known as Eddie the Eagle, is an English ski-jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor since 1928 to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping, finishing last in the ...

'' several weeks prior, with ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' adding some possibly saw the film as Baron Cohen "doing the same shtick." Sony Pictures' distribution head said, " ecertainly wanted more... we tried to crack the code on it, but it just didn't happen for us." After its opening weekend, the film was deemed a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

by numerous publications.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 36% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 4.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Brothers Grimsby'' showers viewers with a steady stream of Sacha Baron Cohen's edgy humor, but too many gags hit the wrong side of the line between audacious and desperate." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film received a score of 44 based on 34 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

References

External links

* * * * {{Louis Leterrier 2016 films 2016 action comedy films 2010s spy comedy films Big Talk Productions films British action comedy films British sports comedy films American action comedy films American sports comedy films American spy comedy films American spy action films Films about bioterrorism Columbia Pictures films Films about brothers Films about terrorism in Europe Films directed by Louis Leterrier Films produced by Eric Fellner Films set in Chile Films set in Indonesia Films set in Lincolnshire Films set in London Films set in South Africa Films shot from the first-person perspective Films shot in Essex Films shot in South Africa Films with screenplays by Sacha Baron Cohen Films with screenplays by Peter Baynham Grimsby HIV/AIDS in British films British spy action films Tilbury Village Roadshow Pictures films Working Title Films films 2010s sports comedy films 2016 comedy films Films scored by David Buckley Films scored by Erran Baron Cohen Films shot at Pinewood Studios 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films