''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' is a 2010 American
action 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 ...
fantasy film
Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...
directed by
Jon Turteltaub
Jonathan Charles Turteltaub (born August 8, 1963) is an American film director, writer and producer.
Early life, family and education
Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963, in New York City, one of two children born to comedy writer Saul Turtel ...
and written by Matt Lopez,
Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard. It is loosely based on the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” segment from
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
’s 1940 animated film
''Fantasia'', which in turn draws inspiration from
Paul Dukas’ 1897
symphonic poem and
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
’s
1797 ballad. The film stars
Nicolas Cage,
Jay Baruchel,
Alfred Molina,
Teresa Palmer, and
Monica Bellucci. The narrative follows Balthazar Blake, a master sorcerer in modern-day
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, who recruits a
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
student named Dave Stutler to help prevent the resurrection of a powerful dark sorceress.
''The Sorcerer’s Apprentice'' premiered at the
Fantasia International Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States on July 14, 2010, by
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...
. It received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office, grossing approximately $215 million worldwide against a production budget of $150 million.
Plot
In 740 AD, in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, the wizard
Merlin has three apprentices: Balthazar Blake, Veronica Gorloisen, and Maxim Horvath. Horvath betrays Merlin by aligning with the evil sorceress
Morgana le Fay, who seeks to cast a powerful spell called "The Rising" to resurrect dead sorcerers and enslave humanity. Merlin is mortally wounded, and Veronica absorbs Morgana’s soul to stop her. To prevent Morgana’s return, Balthazar traps both her and Veronica inside a magical
nesting doll known as the Grimhold. Before dying, Merlin entrusts Balthazar with a dragon-shaped ring that will identify the "Prime Merlinian"—his destined successor capable of defeating Morgana. Balthazar spends centuries capturing Morganians—sorcerers loyal to Morgana—and imprisoning them within the Grimhold, including Horvath.
In 2000, ten-year-old Dave Stutler encounters Balthazar in a
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
antique shop. When Dave tries on the dragon ring, it chooses him, revealing him to be the Prime Merlinian. Dave accidentally opens the Grimhold, releasing Horvath. In the ensuing struggle, Balthazar and Horvath are trapped inside a magical urn for ten years, while Dave escapes with the ring.
A decade later, Dave is a physics student at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. The curse ends, releasing both sorcerers. Horvath resumes his mission to free Morgana, while Balthazar seeks out Dave and convinces him to become his apprentice. Though reluctant, Dave agrees after confronting Horvath and another Morganian, Sun Lok. As his training progresses, Dave becomes romantically involved with his childhood crush, Becky, despite Balthazar’s warnings.
Horvath recruits celebrity illusionist Drake Stone to retrieve the Grimhold, but later steals his powers. He also frees other Morganians, including
Abigail Williams, whom he uses to kidnap Becky and blackmails Dave into surrendering his ring. Stripped of his magical conduit, Dave turns to his scientific ingenuity and builds weapons to counter the threat.
In the final battle at
Battery Park
The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan#Manhattan Island, Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. The park is bounded by Battery Place on the north, with Bowling ...
, Horvath releases Morgana by transferring her soul from Veronica's body. Morgana begins casting the Rising Spell while Horvath animates the
Charging Bull statue to attack. Dave intervenes using a
Tesla coil to neutralize Horvath and Becky disrupts Morgana's spell. Balthazar absorbs Morgana’s soul to protect Veronica, but Morgana escapes and fatally wounds him. Dave, using his own power without the ring, ultimately destroys Morgana with a barrage of plasma bolts. He then revives Balthazar using electric shocks, and the sorcerer reunites with Veronica. Dave and Becky depart on Balthazar’s animated steel eagle to celebrate their victory.
Cast

*
Nicolas Cage as Balthazar Blake, a millennia-old sorcerer of the 777th degree/rank; based on
Yen Sid in ''
Fantasia''
*
Jay Baruchel as David "Dave" Stutler, a highly intelligent college student who becomes Blake's reluctant apprentice
**
Jake Cherry as Young Dave Stutler
*
Alfred Molina as Maxim Horvath, an evil sorcerer and Balthazar's nemesis. Once friends with his fellow apprentices, he became embittered when Veronica chose Balthazar over himself, eventually turning against them and Merlin.
*
Teresa Palmer as Rebecca "Becky" Barnes, Dave's love interest
**
Peyton List as Young Rebecca "Becky" Barnes
*
Toby Kebbell as Drake Stone, a Morganian who supports himself as a celebrity illusionist and joins forces with Horvath when called
*
Omar Benson Miller as Bennet Zurrow, Dave's roommate
*
Monica Bellucci as Veronica Gorloisen, a sorceress and Balthazar's love interest
*
Alice Krige as
Morgana le Fay
*
Robert Capron as Oliver, Dave's childhood friend
*
Ian McShane as The Narrator (uncredited)
* James A. Stephens as
Merlin
* Gregory Woo as Sun Lok
* Nicole Ehinger as
Abigail Williams
*
Ethan Peck as Andre
*
Adriane Lenox as Ms. Jessalyn Algar
*
Henry Yuk as Chinese Dragon Carrier
Production
Development
The concept for ''The Sorcerer’s Apprentice'' originated with
Nicolas Cage, who expressed interest in playing a character with magical abilities and exploring a contemporary mystical world.
At the suggestion of producer
Todd Garner, Cage proposed expanding the "Sorcerer’s Apprentice" segment from Disney’s ''
Fantasia'' (1940) into a full-length feature.
Walt Disney Pictures officially announced the project on February 12, 2007. The film incorporates direct references to its source material, including a scene in which mops are magically animated to clean a lab, and
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
’s iconic
wizard hat, which appears in a
post-credits scene
A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...
.
Casting
Nicolas Cage was cast as Balthazar Blake, the central sorcerer, also serving as a producer through his company Saturn Films.
Jay Baruchel joined as Dave Stutler, the reluctant apprentice. The supporting cast includes
Alfred Molina as antagonist Maxim Horvath,
Teresa Palmer as Becky, and
Monica Bellucci as Veronica Gorloisen.
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 the ...
took place in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where the story is set. Key locations included
Washington Square Park,
Eldridge Street in
Chinatown, and the
New York City Hall subway station, which served as inspiration or a practical set for Dave’s underground laboratory.
Several elaborate interior sets—such as Drake Stone’s penthouse and parts of Chinatown—were constructed inside the Bedford-Atlantic Armory in
Crown Heights,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
.
During filming on May 4, 2009, a
Ferrari F430 used in a chase sequence spun out of control and crashed into a
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
Sbarro restaurant, injuring two pedestrians, including one struck by a falling lamppost. A second minor accident occurred the following night. Both incidents were attributed to wet road conditions caused by rain.
To create a grounded visual style, filmmakers emphasized practical effects. Fire was generated using real fluids and flash powders to produce colored flames, while plasma bolts were enhanced using
LED-lit gloves worn by the actors for on-set lighting references. Floating objects were manipulated via wirework or held by stunt performers dressed in green
chroma key
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a Visual effects, visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues (colorfulness, chroma range). The techniq ...
suits.
Reception
Box office
''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' was released in the United States on July 14, 2010. On its opening day, it earned approximately $3.87 million. Over its first weekend, the film grossed $17.6 million across 3,504 theaters, ranking third at the domestic box office behind ''
Inception'' and
''Despicable Me''.
The film concluded its domestic run with a total gross of $63.15 million. Internationally, it performed better, earning $152.13 million, bringing its worldwide total to $215.28 million. Notable international markets included
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and the CIS ($13.63 million),
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...
region ($12.93 million), and
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
($10.63 million).
Despite its global earnings, the film was considered a
box office disappointment. With a production budget of $150 million, the returns were insufficient to cover marketing and distribution costs. Analysts estimated that Disney's share of the worldwide gross, after theater cuts, was approximately $118.3 million, which likely covered only the promotional expenses.
In July 2010, ''
Parade'' listed ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' as the number one "Worst Box Office Disasters of 2010 (So Far)."
Critical response
''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 40% based on 174 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "It has a likable cast and loads of CGI spectacle, but for all but the least demanding viewers, ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' will be less than spellbinding."
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."
Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American 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 from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the
''Chicago Sun-Times'' awarded the film two and a half stars out of four, describing it as "a perfectly typical example of its type, professionally made and competently acted."
Peter Bradshaw of
''The Guardian'' found the film to be "an enjoyable action-fantasy adventure with a sparky script." Kirk Honeycutt of ''
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 ...
'' has said that "''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' is a tired relic of summer-movie cliches, clearly beaten to death by far too many credited writers."
Conversely, Simon Abrams of
''Slant Magazine'' criticized the film as "another slapdash, lazy, and just plain dumb fantasy that targets prepubescent boys still convinced that grand adventures await them once they grow up."
James Berardinelli of ''ReelViews'' commented on the film's predictability, stating that "only a few minutes into the production, it's possible to guess with uncanny accuracy not only how the story will end, but pretty much every step the plot will take."
Accolades
''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' was nominated for Choice Summer Movie at the
2010 Teen Choice Awards. It placed as one of the Top Box Office Films at the 2011
ASCAP Awards.
Music
The film's score was composed by
Trevor Rabin. It was released on July 6, 2010.
The songs "
Secrets" by
OneRepublic
OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...
[ Quote: it plays prominently in ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice''] and "
The Middle" by
Jimmy Eat World are used in the film but do not appear on the album.
Dukas' symphonic poem ''
The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' was used in the scene where Dave brings a broomstick to life.
Home media
''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' was released on
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
and
DVD on November 30, 2010. It has sold 1,288,735 DVD units (equivalent to $21,609,680) since its release in DVD.
Notes
References
External links
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorcerer's Apprentice
2010 films
2010s fantasy adventure films
2010s children's adventure films
2010s children's fantasy films
American fantasy adventure films
Urban fantasy films
Walt Disney Pictures films
Films set in 8th-century Anglo-Saxon England
Films set in 2000
Films set in 2010
Films set in New York City
Films shot in New York City
Films shot in New Jersey
Films directed by Jon Turteltaub
Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Films scored by Trevor Rabin
Films about magic and magicians
Films about witchcraft
Films about wizards
Arthurian films
Disney film remakes
Saturn Films films
Films based on works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
American buddy action films
American films about revenge
Films about physics
Films about dragons
American children's adventure films
American children's fantasy films
Fantasia (franchise)
Works based on The Sorcerer's Apprentice
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
Films with screenplays by Lawrence Konner
Films with screenplays by Mark Rosenthal (screenwriter)
Jerry Bruckheimer Films films
English-language fantasy adventure films
Live-action films based on Disney's animated films