''Rampage'' is a 2018 American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
monster film
A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall und ...
directed by
Brad Peyton
Brad Peyton (born May 27, 1978) is a Canadian film director, writer, and producer, best known for directing the Dwayne Johnson star vehicles '' Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'' (2012), '' San Andreas'' (2015), and '' Rampage'' (2018) as well ...
and based on
the video game series of the same name by
Midway Games
Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...
, from a screenplay by Ryan Engle,
Carlton Cuse
Arthur Carlton Cuse (born March 22, 1959) is a screenwriter, showrunner, producer, and director, best known for the American television series ''Lost'', for which he made the ''Time'' list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010. ...
,
Ryan J. Condal and
Adam Sztykiel
Adam John Sztykiel is an American television and film producer and screenwriter known for such television series and films as ''Undateable'', which he also created based on the book, ''Undateable: 311 Things Guys do That Guarantee They Won't be Da ...
. The film stars
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...
in the lead role,
Naomie Harris
Naomie Melanie Harris (born 6 September 1976) is a British actress. She started her career when she was a child, appearing in the television series ''Simon and the Witch'' in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film ''28 Days Later'' (2002 ...
,
Malin Åkerman
Malin Maria Åkerman (born 12 May 1978) is a Swedish actress. In the early 2000s, she had several small television and film parts in both Canadian and American productions, including '' The Utopian Society'' (2003) and ''Harold & Kumar Go to Wh ...
,
Jake Lacy
Jake Lacy (born February 14, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Pete Miller on the ninth and final season of ''The Office (U.S. TV series), The Office'', as Fran Parker in the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's ''Girls (T ...
,
Joe Manganiello
Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of ...
and
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor of television and film, best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022), for which he has received critical acclaim. He ...
. It follows a
primatologist who must team up with George, an
albino
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
western lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...
who turns into a raging creature of enormous size and growing into bigger and larger sizes as a result of a rogue experiment, to stop two other mutated animals from destroying
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
The film is the third collaboration between Peyton and Johnson, following ''
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'' (2012) and ''
San Andreas'' (2015). It also marked the final released Warner Bros. film to be financed by
Access Entertainment
Access Industries, Inc. is an American privately held multinational industrial group. It was founded in 1986 by businessman Leonard "Len" Blavatnik, who is also its chairman. Access's industrial focus is in four areas: natural resources and c ...
/
RatPac-Dune Entertainment as the studio had ended their partnership with the company due to sexual harassment allegations against RatPac-Dune owner
Brett Ratner
Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, ''The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several films ...
(which resulted in the company going uncredited);
the company subsequently dissolved later that year.
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 ...
began in April 2017 in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. The film was released in the United States on April 13, 2018, by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
, in 2D,
RealD 3D
RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopy, stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by app ...
and
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
. The film had grossed over $428 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, but positive reception from audience, with praise for its performances (particularly Johnson and Morgan), action sequences and visual effects, but criticism of its screenplay, pacing and storyline.
Plot
Athena-1, a
space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...
owned by gene-manipulation company Energyne, is destroyed after a
laboratory rat
A laboratory rat or lab rat is a brown rat of the subspecies '' Rattus norvegicus domestica'' which is bred and kept for scientific research. While less commonly used for research than mice (see laboratory mouse), rats have served as an importa ...
mutates and wreaks havoc. Kerry Atkins, the lone surviving crew member, manages to escape in the escape pod when the station implodes, along with
pathogen
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...
canisters that Energyne
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Claire Wyden orders her to retrieve, but the pod disintegrates upon re-entry, killing her and leaving a trail of debris across the United States. One canister is swallowed by an
American crocodile
The American crocodile (''Crocodylus acutus'') is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts ...
in the
Everglades
The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...
and another lands in a
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
forest where a
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
is exposed to the pathogen.
Primatologist Davis Okoye, a former
Special Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
soldier and member of an anti-poaching unit, works at the
San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary. He has befriended a rare
albino
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
western lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...
named George that he saved from
poachers
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
who killed his mother and communicates with him using
sign language
Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...
. One of the canisters crash-lands in George's habitat and he is exposed to the pathogen.
As George grows considerably larger and becomes more aggressive, Davis is contacted by
genetic engineer
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
Dr. Kate Caldwell, who explains that the pathogen was developed by Energyne to rewrite genes on a massive scale. She had hoped to advance research on
CRISPR
CRISPR () (an acronym for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments of bacte ...
as a potential cure for diseases, but discovered Energyne's plans to use it as a
biological weapon
A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterroris ...
and was falsely incarcerated, during which her terminally ill brother died. George escapes from captivity and goes on a rampage at the preserve. George calms down, but is soon captured by a government team led by Agent Harvey Russell and put on a
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...
airplane. Meanwhile, Claire and her brother Brett oversee a
mercenary
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
team's attempt to capture the mutated wolf, Ralph, which goes awry, and the entire team is slaughtered.
Claire, hoping to capture Ralph and use George to cover up her plot, uses a massive transmitter atop the
Willis Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...
to lure the animals – engineered to respond aggressively to a certain
radio frequency
Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the upp ...
– to Chicago, unconcerned about the massive risk to civilian lives this poses. George reacts violently to the sound and crashes the plane, though Davis, Kate, and Russell parachute to safety. George survives the crash and joins Ralph as they make their way to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, while Davis and Kate are aided by Russell in stealing a military helicopter in pursuit.
They arrive to find George and Ralph rampaging through the city as the
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
struggles to contain them. The situation worsens when the mutated crocodile, Lizzie, joins the duo, causing even more casualties. Planning to steal an
antidote
An antidote is a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek term φάρμακον ἀντίδοτον ''(pharmakon) antidoton'', "(medicine) given as a remedy". Antidotes for anticoagulants are s ...
to turn the animals back to normal, Davis and Kate infiltrate Energyne's base of operations at the tower and take several vials of it, but are caught by the Wydens as Claire reveals that the antidote only eliminates the animals' enhanced aggressiveness rather than reversing the other effects and shoots Davis, but he survives. When George climbs to the top of the tower, Claire orders Davis to distract it while she attempts to escape with Kate at gunpoint. Kate slips a vial into Claire's handbag and pushes her toward George, who devours the terrorist along with the vial, returning him to his normal personality. Down below, Russell takes incriminating evidence from Brett, who is crushed to death by falling debris. As the damaged tower topples, Davis and Kate survive by crash-landing a helicopter on the
Federal Plaza.
Davis stays to help George defeat the other animals, while Kate and Russell rush to prevent the military from deploying a
MOAB
Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀
''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...
against them. George battles against Ralph, whom Davis tricks into advancing towards Lizzie, who decapitates him using her jaws. Lizzie chases Davis, but George intervenes in time for Davis to incapacitate her using
grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
s. However, Lizzie survives and overpowers George, who is impaled by a
rebar
Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a Tension (physics), tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concr ...
. Davis distracts Lizzie using a fallen
Apache attack helicopter, but is nearly killed before George pierces Lizzie through the eye with the same rebar, killing her.
With the threat neutralized, the airstrike is aborted. In the aftermath, George and Davis, joined by Kate and Russell, help clear the city of debris and rescue civilians.
Cast
Humans
*
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...
as Davis Okoye, a former US Army Special Forces soldier as well as primatologist and head of an anti-poaching unit.
*
Naomie Harris
Naomie Melanie Harris (born 6 September 1976) is a British actress. She started her career when she was a child, appearing in the television series ''Simon and the Witch'' in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film ''28 Days Later'' (2002 ...
as Katherine "Kate" Caldwell, a disgraced genetic engineer who teams up with Okoye.
*
Malin Åkerman
Malin Maria Åkerman (born 12 May 1978) is a Swedish actress. In the early 2000s, she had several small television and film parts in both Canadian and American productions, including '' The Utopian Society'' (2003) and ''Harold & Kumar Go to Wh ...
as Claire Wyden, the CEO of Energyne, the company responsible for the pathogen that caused George, Lizzie and Ralph's mutations.
*
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor of television and film, best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022), for which he has received critical acclaim. He ...
as Harvey Russell, a government agent who works for the "
Other Government Agency".
*
Jake Lacy
Jake Lacy (born February 14, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Pete Miller on the ninth and final season of ''The Office (U.S. TV series), The Office'', as Fran Parker in the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's ''Girls (T ...
as Brett Wyden, Claire's dimwitted brother.
*
Joe Manganiello
Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of ...
as Burke, the leader of a private military group.
*
Marley Shelton
Marley Eve Shelton (born April 12, 1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Wendy Peffercorn in David Mickey Evans's coming-of-age comedy '' The Sandlot'' (1993), the Customer in Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's neo-noi ...
as Kerry Atkins, a scientist and astronaut.
*
P. J. Byrne as Nelson, a scientist and friend of Okoye.
*
Demetrius Grosse
Demetrius Grosse (born February 26, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Rock in the feature film ''Straight Outta Compton'', Emmett Yawners in the Cinemax television series ''Banshee,'' Errol in the FX televi ...
as Colonel Blake
*
Jack Quaid
Jack Henry Quaid (born April 24, 1992) is an American actor. He made his acting debut with a minor role in the dystopian film ''The Hunger Games'' (2012) before his breakout role as vigilante Hughie Campbell in the Amazon Prime Video superhero se ...
as Connor
*
Breanne Hill
Breanne Hill is an actress from Salem, New Hampshire.
Early life
Formerly known as Breanne Parhiala, she went to North Salem Elementary School and graduated from Salem High School in 2008. Hill attended Boston University before dropping out to ...
as Amy
*
Matt Gerald
Matt Gerald (born May 2, 1970) is an American actor and screenwriter.
Gerald was born in Miami, Florida. A graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, he is best known for his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) roles as White Power Dave in ''All Ha ...
as Zammit
*
Will Yun Lee
William Yun Lee (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Danny Woo in the supernatural drama ''Witchblade'' and Jae Kim in the sci-fi series '' Bionic Woman''. He has also appeared in th ...
as Agent Park
*
Urijah Faber
Urijah Faber (born May 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and actor who is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He competed as a bantamweight and formerly competed as a featherweight. He is also the founder of Team Alpha Male, ...
as Garrick
Gorillas
* Jason Liles as the motion-capture performance for George, an albino western lowland gorilla (comparable to
Snowflake
A snowflake is a single ice crystal that has achieved a sufficient size, and may have amalgamated with others, which falls through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. ...
) raised and trained by Okoye. George becomes one of the animals affected by Energyne's pathogen that increases their sizes and turns and mutates them into giant rampaging monsters.
* Skye Notary and Willow Notary as the motion-capture of a pair of female gorillas who also live in George's habitat.
* Vincent Roxburgh as the motion-capture of Paavo, a young male gorilla who lives in George's habitat (uncredited).
Production
Development
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
acquired the film adaptation rights to the 1986
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
''
Rampage'' in 2009, as part of their acquisition of Midway Games for $33 million.
The project was announced in November 2011, with John Rickard set as a producer.
Rickard said that he decided to work on the movie by searching the list of titles to which Warner held the adapting rights and, upon finding ''Rampage'', remembering playing the arcade game.
["Not Just a Game Anymore" eaturette ''Rampage'' DVD. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment] In June 2015,
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...
was set to star, re-teaming with New Line and producer
Beau Flynn
Beau Flynn (born March 23, 1970) is an American film producer. He is best known for producing blockbuster films such as '' Skyscraper'', '' Rampage'', '' San Andreas'', and ''Hercules'', all of which starred Dwayne Johnson. Flynn has also produc ...
, while the studio was looking for a director to start production in mid-2016.
Johnson mentioned that he loved the game as a child, playing the arcade game in a pool hall and later owning it on the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
.
During the search for a script, writers offered many takes, including a faithful one to the game where the monsters were mutated humans, before the producers settled on the one by Ryan Engle, who aimed to make a "love letter to the monster movies I grew up watching", such as ''
Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'' and ''
Jurassic Park
''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...
'', while making it clear that the animals were not the heroes.
After Dwayne Johnson was cast, in July,
Brad Peyton
Brad Peyton (born May 27, 1978) is a Canadian film director, writer, and producer, best known for directing the Dwayne Johnson star vehicles '' Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'' (2012), '' San Andreas'' (2015), and '' Rampage'' (2018) as well ...
went to direct and produce. Peyton later described the film to "be a lot more emotional, a lot scarier and a lot more real than you'd expect". Between January and July 2017, the rest of the supporting cast was assembled.
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 ...
on the film began on April 17, 2017, in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. The film also was shot in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
.
Easter eggs to the original game were featured, as Energyne's offices have a ''Rampage'' arcade machine, George eats a person who he pulls out of a building he punched, and Claire is devoured while wearing a red dress, just as the woman featured in the arcade's opening screen.
Visual effects
The visual effects were primarily provided by
Weta Digital. Effects supervisor
Erik Winquist
Erik Winquist (born January 2, 1975) is an American New Zealander visual effects supervisor. He is best known for his work on three prominent film franchises featuring large computer generated animal effects: Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005), Pla ...
and a small crew travelled to Chicago to create a model of the
Chicago Loop
The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...
that would be destroyed in the climactic battle, learning the building materials and architecture styles. Up to 15,000 photographs were taken with 3D scanners, while motion cameras covered downtown Chicago. As reference for the building destruction, the artists studied both the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
collapse from 2001 and implosions of buildings affected by the
2016 Kaikoura earthquake
Sixteen or 16 may refer to:
*16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17
*one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016
Films
* '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film
* ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film ...
in Weta's hometown of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
. One of the more challenging aspects for Weta was figuring out how the weight and mass of the monsters would affect the city environment and destruction.
Given Weta had plenty of experience creating animated apes in ''
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
'' and ''
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
''Rise of the Planet of the Apes'' is a 2011 American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It is a reboot of the ''Planet of the Apes'' film franchise, which is based on the 1963 nov ...
'' and its sequels ''
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...
'' and ''
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
'', it helped the studio create George "in a much shorter time than it may have 10 years ago", according to Winquist. Motion capture coach
Terry Notary
Terry Notary (born August 14, 1968) is an American actor, stunt co-ordinator/double and movement coach. Notary mainly portrays creatures and animals for the film and television industry, and is known for his motion capture performances in films ...
even took a break from ''
Avengers: Infinity War'', which was also filmed in Atlanta, to help Jason Liles in his performance as George. On the other hand, the lack of motion capture for Ralph and Lizzie let the animators go loose with how these monsters were portrayed, such as "a wolf that has porcupine spines and wings".
Other VFX companies like
Hydraulx hy*drau"lx, alternatively spelled HYDRAULX and Hydraulx, is a visual effects (VFX) company based in Santa Monica, California.
History
Hydraulx was founded in 2002 by Greg and Colin Strause, directors of '' Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem''. In 2005, ...
,
Scanline VFX
Scanline VFX is a global visual effects and animation company founded 1989 in Munich. The studio is led by VFX Supervisor Stephan Trojansky. The company has 7 locations including Munich, Stuttgart, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, London, and Se ...
and UPP contributed to the film.
Music
The music was composed by
Andrew Lockington
Andrew Lockington (born January 31, 1974) is a Canadian film score composer.
Life and career
Lockington was born in 1974 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. He has composed the complete scores for over three dozen films, including ''Journey to the Ce ...
. The film marked Lockington's fourth collaboration with director
Brad Peyton
Brad Peyton (born May 27, 1978) is a Canadian film director, writer, and producer, best known for directing the Dwayne Johnson star vehicles '' Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'' (2012), '' San Andreas'' (2015), and '' Rampage'' (2018) as well ...
. An exclusive track was also released by
Kid Cudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...
titled "The Rage" which plays in the film's end credits. The soundtrack was released digitally on April 13, 2018, by
WaterTower Music
WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
.
Marketing
As part of the promotion, three new games were made available: one is a browser game called ''Rampage: City Smash''; another an arcade beat 'em up playing more as a
redemption game
Redemption games are typically arcade games of skill that reward the player proportionally to their score in the game. The reward most often comes in the form of tickets, with more tickets being awarded for higher scores. These tickets can then ...
, was made available at
Dave & Buster's
Dave & Buster's is an American restaurant and entertainment business headquartered in Dallas. Each Dave & Buster's has a full-service restaurant and a video arcade. As of October 2022, the company has 151 locations in the United States and two ...
; and a free VR game called ''Project Rampage VR''.
Release
Theatrical
''Rampage'' was released on April 13, 2018, in 3D and
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
, by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
, after initially being set for release a week later, on April 20. The release date was moved up after ''
Avengers: Infinity War'' had also shifted its release up by a week, to April 27, so as to provide ''Rampage'' with a two-week cushion. The film was coincidentally released 3 weeks after ''
Pacific Rim Uprising
''Pacific Rim Uprising'' is a 2018 American science fiction monster film directed by Steven S. DeKnight (in his feature-film directorial and writing debut), and written by DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder and T.S. Nowlin. It is the ...
'', another American film.
Home media
''Rampage'' was released on Digital HD on June 26, 2018, and on 4K UHD, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on July 17, 2018. To date, ''Rampage'' has sold $28.7 million worth of DVDs and Blu-rays in North America.
Reception
Box office
''Rampage'' grossed $101 million in the United States and Canada, and $327 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $428 million, against a production budget of $120 million
plus another $140 million for the marketing budget.
''
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 ...
'' reported that the film was likely to break even two years after its release after accounting for all revenue streams.
In the United States and Canada, ''Rampage'' was released alongside the openings of ''
Truth or Dare
Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, ...
'' and ''
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero'', as well as the wide expansion of ''
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ham ...
'', and was projected to gross $35–40 million from 3,950 theaters in its opening weekend.
The film made $11.5 million on its first day (including $2.4 million from Thursday night previews), $13.9 million on Saturday, and a total of $35.7 million over the weekend, finishing first at the box office. Like many films starring Johnson, the audience demographics were diverse, with 43% being Caucasian, 21% Hispanic, 19% African American and 14% Asian.
The film dropped 41% in its sophomore weekend to $21 million, finishing second behind ''
A Quiet Place
''A Quiet Place'' is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by John Krasinski and written by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and Krasinski, from a story conceived by Woods and Beck. The plot revolves around a father (Krasinski) and a mo ...
'', which was in its third week. In its third weekend the film fell 64% to $7.1 million, finishing fourth. It fell 35% in its fourth weekend, grossing $4.6 million and finishing fifth. In its fifth weekend it fell just 27% and grossed $3.3 million and finished seventh.
Critical response
On review aggregator
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 based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads: "''Rampage'' isn't as fun as its source material, but the movie's sheer button-mashing abandon might satisfy audiences in the mood for a brainless blockbuster." It became the best-reviewed live-action video game film in the history of the site until the release of ''
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
''Detective Pikachu'' (also known as ''Pokémon: Detective Pikachu'' and released as in Japan after the original game) is a 2019 comedy film directed by Rob Letterman. Based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise, the film is a loose adaptation of the ...
'' the following year. 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 has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 46 critics, 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 "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while
PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...
reported adult and children filmgoers gave it respective overall positive scores of 90% and 86%.
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''s Peter Debruge gave the film a moderately positive review, saying: "However derivative it may be, ''Rampage'' knows its audience—namely, ''
Transformers
''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...
'' fans and kids born after 9/11 for whom elaborately orchestrated scenes of falling skyscrapers carry nary a whiff of real-world trauma.... What director Peyton lacks in artistic vision he compensates for in his ability to wrangle such a CG-intensive production".
Brian Tallerico of
''RogerEbert.com'' gave the film 2.5/4 stars, and wrote that "when Johnson is doing that movie action star thing he does so well and giant animals are going enormous-mano-a-enormous-mano, there’s undeniably goofy fun to be had. You just have to be patient during the downtime". The ''
Mir Fantastiki
''Mir Fantastiki'' (russian: Мир фантастики), officially abbreviated as ''MirF'', is a Russian monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine. The name also refers to the website run by the magazine, Mirf.ru.
''Mir Fantastiki'' litera ...
'' review gave the movie 7/10, claiming it's a stupid movie, but one that's good at what it's supposed to be, and honest about not being any more than that.
Michael Phillips of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, reviewing: "''Rampage'' is a drag. Three times during the thing, I wrote down the phrase 'NO FUN', with increasingly impatient underlines". In an article for ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', Nick Allen wrote about what he called the film's "disastrous" tone, saying that "despite the ''Rampage'' arcade cabinets being constantly visible in its villains’ headquarters, director Brad Peyton's live-action adaptation comes off as too emotionally glib and mean-spirited, even for a mega-budget B-movie".
''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' described it as quintessential Johnson project: "it sounds like a dreadful basis for a movie. And it sort of is, but it’s also sort of a lot of fun". ''Empire'' notes that the film is not as tongue-in-cheek as viewers might expect, concluding that "''Rampage'' is big dumb fun, but not as big, dumb and fun as it could have been".
Accolades
''Rampage'' was nominated for three
Teen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United S ...
, in the category
Choice Sci-Fi Movie, and for the acting performances of Dwayne Johnson (
Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actor) and Naomie Harris (
Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actress).
Director Brad Peyton was asked if the rat in the beginning of the film was based on "Larry" from the Atari Lynx port of the original game. Peyton responded: "We didn't name him Larry, but I'm going to use that, if there is a sequel, I'm going to make the rat's name Larry". The film was also speculated to be a prequel to ''
The Walking Dead''
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
because of the similarities between
Negan
Negan, later revealed as Negan Smith in the television series, is a fictional character in the comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and in the television series of the same name. He was the leader of the Saviors, a group of survivors in the S ...
and Harvey Russell, both of whom are played by
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor of television and film, best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022), for which he has received critical acclaim. He ...
.
Lawsuit allegations
In late March 2018, German director
Uwe Boll
Uwe Boll (; born June 22, 1965) is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of video game franchises which often starred international stars like Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Christian Slater, E ...
, famous for his movie adaptations of video games, threatened to file a lawsuit against Warner Bros. if the studio did not change the film's title. Boll, who produced and directed an unrelated
''Rampage'' film trilogy, about a spree killing revolutionary who shares Boll's political views, claimed that the Warner Bros. film would "shrink" his brand and revenues he could use for future installments of his ''Rampage'' films. He also went on to say that the Warner Bros. film "confuses the audience" and is "one of those typical feelgood, popcorn movies..."
As of 2022, Boll has not sued.
Potential sequel
In July 2017, Dwayne Johnson discussed the potential for a sequel and offered an appearance role to Mike Matei.
By April 2018, director Brad Peyton stated that he was open to returning as director for a potential sequel, while confirming that a concept for the project's story is mapped out.
Johnson referred to his repeated works with Peyton as his director, stating that he enjoys working with the filmmaker from a creative standpoint and looks forward to future collaborations.
Reports from insiders later stated that a sequel is indeed in development,
with some stating that Johnson intends to complete a trilogy of films.
In December 2021, Hiram Garcia confirmed that Warner Bros. Pictures wants a sequel, while Seven Bucks Productions delayed development in favor of other projects.
See also
*
List of films based on video games
This page is a list of film adaptations of video games. These include local, national, international, direct-to-video and TV releases, and (in certain cases) online releases. They include their scores on Rotten Tomatoes, the region in which they ...
*
List of films featuring space stations
There is a body of films that feature space stations. Science fiction films have featured both real-life space stations such as the International Space Station and ''Mir'' as well as fictional ones such as the Death Star and the Satellite of Love. ...
*
Planet of the Apes franchise
''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
References
External links
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