Make It Happen (film)

"What attracted me to "Make It Happen" was the fact that I could really just incorporate a lot of styles that I had done over the years. You have the dance element, and each little dance routine was going to be like its own little music video," Grant explains. When it came to helping the director to tell the story, Grant went to work with longtime collaborator, 1999 Kodak Cinematography Award winner David Claessen. "I've worked with David since I was a PA and an electrician, and I always liked the way he lights. We've done music videos that have been amazing and every frame is like a portrait or a picture."

On July 10, 2007, the casting of Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the lead role was announced.[3][4] Winstead was excited by the challenge of taking on a lead role and getting to dance onscreen.[5] Winstead, who started dancing at the age of four, was thrilled and a little shocked to be offered the role of Lauryn. "I actually got offered the role kind of out of the blue. And I was extremely excited because it's a dance film and dance has been a passion of mine for a long time, especially growing up, so it was just a really great opportunity." Soon after, Winstead began practicing the dance moves with choreographer Tracy Phillips. In June, Riley Smith announces his association with the film in his official website.[6] On August 16, Ashley Roberts was announced as joining the film by Entertainment Sunflashes.[7]

The film was shot on location in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from August 8 until September 17, 2007.[8] They also shot briefly in Chicago for two days.[5]

In mid July, promotions for the film began in UK. On July 11, the theatrical international trailer was released through Optimum Releasing, followed by promotional and production stills. Soon after, promotional clips began sneaking their way into the Internet, and TV spots started airing in UK TV channels. The theatrical trailer was released thereafter. The first UK review surfaced on August 3. Make It Happen was released in the UK on August 8, 2008.

The film was further released in Iceland on the 28th of August, and then in Singapore and Australia on September 4. The film debuted in the Philippines on 1 October, and recently premiered in Hong Kong theaters on November 13. The film was also released in Netherlands on February 5, 2009 and Belgium on the 18th.

Make It Happen made its final theatrical run in France, on 10 June 2009, exactly a year after the film's shooting production began.

Make It Happen was released first in the UK on Friday, the 8th of August. During its initial release, the film grossed $945,349 over the weekend and ended up fifth on the box office chart. It spent a total of one week on the top 10 chart, before dropping down to the 12th position in its second week, earning $216,923 as the weekend gross. The film grossed $2,616,579 a total of over its run in the UK. It was further released on the 4th of September in both Australia and Singapore, where it went on to collect a total of $1,526,207 and $91,686 respectively. It made $108,174 in the Philippines after its debut on 1 October. The film was released direct to DVD in the US on December 9, 2008.

Make It Happen sat on #5 in the box office chart in Slovakia, earning $18,202, and ended up with $62,362 throughout its release in Slovakia. The film was later released in Netherlands on 5 February 2009. In its first week, the film stood at #8 in the chart, charting $113,045, and raked up $414,585 throughout its release. The film was released on March 3, 2009 in Hungary, where it collected a total of $19,830 for four weeks. Make It Happen stands at #6 during its weekend gross in Thailand, where it collected $42,693 in its first weekend. In Italy, where the film came out on 5 April, it made $1,588,417. Furthermore, the film was released on 16 March in Russia and on the 23rd in Malaysia. It made a feeble $41,443 during its 4 weeks run in Malaysia, but in a contrast, made $492,825 during its 6 weeks run in Russia.

Make It Happen was released in France on 10 June 2009, where the film collected a total of $1,209,457. The film made its final run in theaters in Lebanon, where it went on to collect $8,481. In total, Make It Happen made $10,153,961 in the international box office.[1]

The film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 22% based on reviews from 18 critics. The site's consensus states: "Cheap, predictable, formulaic and unimaginative generic dance film. Comes across as Showgirls for simpleton teens, but with much less flesh on show".[9]

Critics disliked the film's similarities with other dance flicks such as Save the Last Dance and Flashdance. Another criticism was that, except for a few scenes where Lauryn appears with a bare midriff, the film did not contain enough skin. One reviewer stated, "You're liable to see more flesh in a Pussycat Dolls video than here".[10] The dance moves were also criticized as being lazy, and offering nothing groundbreaking. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it 1 out of 5 and described it as "Cheesy and icky, but calamitously fails to offer any high-octane dance to ease the pain."[11]

Critics agreed that the film's biggest asset was Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Reviewer Mike Martin says, "Winstead infuses every moment with an amazing amount of charm".[12] Matthew Turner of ViewLondon even goes to say it "compensates for the generally poor direction."[13] The story has also been said to have "plenty of heart". "[...] the screenplay makes an effort to build a story and characters and interest, to put Lauryn's dancing ambition in context and the dance sequences in the third act more explosive," said critic Andrew L. Urban.[14]

The film was listed as the 36th Worst 2008 Film at Times Online.[15]