The 33

''The 33'' ( es, Los 33) is a 2015 biographical disaster- survival drama film directed by Patricia Riggen and written by Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten, Michael Thomas, and José Rivera. The film is based on the real events of the 2010 Copiapó mining disaster, in which a group of thirty-three miners were trapped inside the San José Mine in Chile for 69 days. The film stars Antonio Banderas as trapped miner Mario Sepúlveda.

It was released in Chile on August 6, 2015 by 20th Century Fox and in the United States on November 13, 2015 by Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment.

Plot

Dozens of people from Copiapó, Chile, work in the San José mine. The owner ignores the warnings of the failing stability of the mine, which collapses a short time later. The only path inside the mine is completely blocked, and the thirty-three miners manage to get to the rescue chamber. They discover that the radio is useless, the medical kit is empty, the ventilation shafts lack the required ladders, and there is very little stored food. Mario Sepúlveda becomes the leader of the miners, dividing the food rations and stopping the outbursts of violence and despair. The mine company does not attempt any rescue, and the relatives of the miners gather around the gates.

The government of Chile decides on active intervention, and orders the use of drills to reach the chamber. The first exploratory boreholes move off-target, but a later one reaches the required destination. The miners attach a note to the drill bit to announce their survival. They receive new food and clothing, and television communication with the surface. A second, bigger, drill system is prepared to retrieve the miners one by one.

There is drama and tension during the weeks before the successful rescue of all 33 miners, over two months after they became trapped. The story is derived from the August 2010 mine collapse and subsequent rescues in Copiapó, Chile.

Cast

* Antonio Banderas as Mario Sepúlveda, public face for the group of miners, who made daily video logs to assure the public that they were all right.
* Rodrigo Santoro as Laurence Golborne, the Minister of Mining of Chile.
* Juliette Binoche as María Segovia, Darío's sister.
* James Brolin as Jeff Hart, a driller who supervises the drilling operation to save the miners.
* Lou Diamond Phillips as Luis "Don Lucho" Urzúa, the shift foreman, who took a leading role while the miners were trapped and helped make more accurate maps of the cave for the rescue crews.
* Mario Casas as Álex Vega, a miner who suffered from kidney problems and hypertension.
* Gabriel Byrne as André Sougarret, the mining engineer who masterminded the escape operation.
* Bob Gunton as Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile.
* Paulina García as Isabel Pereira, assistant to president Piñera.
* Adriana Barraza as Marta Salinas.
* Kate del Castillo as Katy Valdivia de Sepúlveda.
* Cote de Pablo as Jessica Vega, the wife of Álex Vega.
* Juan Pablo Raba as Darío Segovia, drill operator and son of a miner.
* Jacob Vargas as Edison "Elvis" Peña, the miners' song leader, who requested that Elvis Presley songs be sent down the mine.
* Naomi Scott as Escarlette Sepúlveda Valdivia, Mario and Katy's daughter.
* Marco Treviño as José Henríquez, the miners' pastor, who led daily prayers within the shelter.
* Oscar Nunez as Yonni Barrios.
* Alejandro Goic as Franklin Lobos.
* Cristián Campos as Hurtado, a drill expert engineer
* Tim Willcox as himself.
* Federico Luppi
* Tenoch Huerta as Carlos Mamani, a Bolivian miner who moved to Chile a decade prior to the events.
* Pedro Calvo
* Macarena Pizarro as herself, news announcer
* Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco) as himself.
* Gustavo Angarita as Mario Gómez.

Production

Development

The film is based on the events of the 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known as the "Chilean mining accident". It is directed by Patricia Riggen and written by Mikko Alanne and José Rivera. Producer Mike Medavoy, who also produced ''Apocalypse Now'', worked with the miners, their families, and those involved to put the film together. On 13 August 2014, it was announced that ''The 33'' would be the first film to receive the Colombian Film Commission's incentive, which includes 40% for film services and 20% for film logistics services of the amount spent in the country.

Casting

Antonio Banderas, who portrays "Super" Mario Sepúlveda, is the public face for the miners who sent videos to the rescuers to update them on the miners' condition. The actual Sepúlveda expressed his enthusiasm and approval towards having Banderas in the role. Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro plays Laurence Golborne, Minister of Mining. On 17 June 2013, it was announced that Jennifer Lopez had joined to lead the cast of the film, but later left due to scheduling conflicts with ''American Idol''. She was replaced by Juliette Binoche.

On 10 January 2014, Cote de Pablo joined the cast of the film; she plays the wife of one of the trapped miners. On 27 January 2014, Gabriel Byrne joined the cast of the film, to play the role of Andre Sougarret, the engineering genius who masterminded the miraculous rescue of the 33 trapped miners. Next day on 28 January, Bob Gunton joined the cast of the Chilean miner filming, then shooting in Colombia; he plays the role of Chilean President Sebastián Piñera.

Filming

Principal photography began in December 2013 in Colombia. Before shooting began, Riggen interviewed each of the miners and their families. After the shooting wrapped up in Nemocón, Colombia in January, crews started filming again in Copiapó, Chile on 5 February 2014, which was the actual place of the incident. On 18 February 2014, news told that more than half of the filming was done in the salt mine of Nemocón, Colombia, and rescue scenes were being filmed in Tierra Amarilla, Chile. Filming wrapped up on 20 February 2014.

Music

In October 2014, James Horner was hired to compose the music for the film. It was the second of two scores he had completed in 2015, before his death on 22 June of that year.

Release

''The 33'' was released across Latin America through 20th Century Fox starting from 6 August 2015 in Chile. It debuted in Colombia on 20 August 2015, along with the rest of Central America. Brazil was the last, where the film was released on 29 October 2015. Its United States and Canada theatrical releases were handled by Warner Bros. on 13 November 2015. The premiere in Santiago was attended by most of the leading cast, in addition to several of the miners, former President Sebastián Piñera and former minister Laurence Golborne.

Distribution

On 28 April 2015, Alcon Entertainment acquired North American and the majority of international distribution rights to ''The 33'', with Warner Bros. to distribute it. On the same day, Warner Bros, where Alcon has its output deal, set the film's release date for 13 November 2015.

Reception

Box office

According to Box Office Mojo ''The 33'' grossed $12.2 million in North America and $12.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $24.9 million, against its production budget of $26 million. The data is inaccurate though since Box Office Mojo e.g. for the UK and Germany only has data for the first weekend and data for France is missing completely even though the film has been released in the country.

In North America, ''The 33'' opened alongside ''Love the Coopers'' and '' My All American'' on 13 November 2015 with a very poor performance. In its opening weekend, the film was projected to gross $7–8 million from 2,452 theaters. The film grossed $1.8 million on its opening day and $5.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing below studio projections.

In Chile, the film grossed $1.6 million on its opening weekend, 6 August 2015, showing on 140 screens. This is the second biggest opening for a Chilean film (5% behind ''Stefan v/s Kramer''), despite coinciding with a severe storm that caused flooding in Santiago and other parts of the country and also marked the sixth-highest opening for Fox International Productions. It topped the box office there for five consecutive weekends and became the second highest-grossing Chilean film. The film grossed a total of $4.9 million in Chile.

In Mexico it opened at No. 3 with $1.3 million, but ended up grossing only a total of $3 million there after three weeks in release.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 48%, based on 155 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''The 33'' offers an appropriately inspirational account of real-life heroism, but its stirring story and solid performances are undermined by a flawed focus and an overreliance on formula." On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Scott Tobias of ''Variety'' said, "''The 33'' aims for a comprehensive survey of efforts above ground and below, but winds up looking less like a sober docudrama than a ginned-up Irwin Allen disaster movie."

Chilean critics had mixed reviews. Ana Josefa Silva gave a mildly positive review, saying that the movie "excites and entertains", but that the good rhythm of the first half becomes stalled. She praised the acting, but criticized the use of many clichés, like the heroic young character (Golborne), the "inhumane" politician (Piñera) or the brave, "badass" Latina woman (Segovia). ''Las Últimas Noticias'' stated that "while the epic of the rescue is observed thanks to the effective recreation, the agony of the rescued remains in debt in the staging", and also noted the "young and handsome" hero stereotype. '' La Segunda'' described it as "a catastrophe film with a life message and sentimental vocation that is not willing to give up to truisms associated with the image that Hollywood has of Hispanic America". ''El Mercurio'' gave a negative review, criticizing the absence of people responsible for the precarious working conditions of the miners, although praising the recreation of the mine and the catastrophe.

Accuracy

Among the differences between the film and the real life story, Alex Vega was not the first man to be rescued, but Florencio Ávalos. Also, Vega's wife was not pregnant at the time. In the film, the ''Fénix'' capsule arrives empty at the rescue chamber, but actually there was a rescuer inside of it. The capsule did not get stuck with a miner inside; André Sougarret did not order the end of the rescue works before the contact with the miners; and María Segovia never slapped Laurence Golborne in the face.

See also

*Survival film

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:33, The (film)
2015 films
2010s disaster films
2015 biographical drama films
Chilean drama films
Colombian drama films
American disaster films
American survival films
Disaster films based on actual events
Drama films based on actual events
Dune Entertainment films
Films scored by James Horner
Films directed by Patricia Riggen
Films set in 2010
Films set in Chile
Films shot in Chile
Films shot in Colombia
Films about mining
Phoenix Pictures films
2010s Spanish-language films
Warner Bros. films
20th Century Fox films
2010 Copiapó mining accident
2015 drama films
2010s English-language films
2015 multilingual films
American multilingual films
2010s American films