The Dead Don't Die (2019 film)

The Dead Don't Die is a 2019 American comedy horror film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It features an ensemble cast including Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Carol Kane, and Selena Gomez and follows a small town's police force as they combat a sudden zombie invasion.

The Dead Don't Die
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJim Jarmusch
Produced by
Written byJim Jarmusch
Starring
Music bySQÜRL
CinematographyFrederick Elmes
Edited byAffonso Gonçalves
Production
companies
Kill the Head[1][2]
Distributed byFocus Features
Release date
  • May 14, 2019 (2019-05-14) (Cannes)
  • June 14, 2019 (2019-06-14) (United States)
Running time
103 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States[2]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$15.3 million[4][5]

The film had its world premiere as the opening film at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2019, and was theatrically released in North America on June 14, 2019, by Focus Features. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $14.9 million.

Plot

Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray) and Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver), police officers in rural Centerville, respond to a report from farmer Frank Miller (Steve Buscemi) regarding a missing chicken and briefly interact with Hermit Bob (Tom Waits), a baroquely bearded eccentric, in the woods. On their way back to the station, Cliff notices there is still daylight after 8 pm. Ronnie's watch and cell phone stop working. Later, at a diner, hardware store owner Hank Thompson (Danny Glover) hears a radio report about polar fracking. When a song called "The Dead Don't Die" plays on the radio, Ronnie tells Cliff that it is the theme song.

Two zombies obsessed with coffee reanimate when night falls and kill the two diner employees, who are discovered by Hank the next morning. Ronnie believes zombies killed the employees. Travelers Zoe, Jack, and Zach stop for gas and buy Sturgill Simpson's "The Dead Don't Die" compact disc from the gas station owner, Bobby (Caleb Landry Jones).

The travelers check into the Moonlight Motel; owner Danny Perkins (Larry Fessenden) identifies them as "hipsters, probably from Pittsburgh." At the Centerville Juvenile Detention Center, Geronimo (Jahi Winston) tells fellow inmates Olivia (Taliya Whitaker) and Stella (Vaya DelMont) that polar fracking has altered the Earth's rotation.

Cliff and Ronnie find open graves at the cemetery, while Hermit Bob spies on them. Cliff emphatically rejects Ronnie's suggestion of informing Hermit Bob of the general suspicion that zombies are on the loose. Ronnie teaches Cliff how to kill zombies, and Bobby and Hank prepare weapons. Motel owner Danny Perkins watches news about pets behaving strangely. His cats are missing. Other of Farmer Miller's animals have disappeared.

That evening, more zombies rise, and Danny is attacked and transformed into a zombie. Cliff and Ronnie bring supplies to the station and tell Officer Mindy Morrison (Chloë Sevigny) about the zombies. Mallory (Carol Kane) appears in the police station, undead, to illustrate appropriate zombie-killing technique (beheading). Ronnie decapitates a zombie.

Two corpses reanimate at the funeral home and are beheaded by Zelda Winston (Tilda Swinton) the undertaker, with a sword. Zelda , a dead aim with a samurai sword, beheads additional zombies on the street en route to the police station. Her superpower? "She's Scottish." At the station, the three officers leave her in charge, with computer access and a "red convertible Smart car." The cops drive their squad car through town and find the three travelers dead at the motel, behind "Door Number Three." Ronnie beheads the bodies, to Mindy's distress, and takes Zoe's Sturgill Simpson CD. From the police station, Winston sends an encrypted message on the police computer. Ronnie tries playing the Sturgill Simpson CD on the police car sound system, but Cliff throws the CD out the car window.

Hank and Bobby face zombies at the hardware store. Each zombie has a mantra: "chardonnay," "guitar," "coffee." Zombies maul Farmer Miller. Geronimo, Olivia, and Stella flee the detention center, again observed by Hermit Bob. When zombies overwhelm the patrol car at the cemetery, Mindy runs out to join her dead grandmother in the zombie horde. Ronnie and Cliff argue. Ronnie says he knew all would end badly because Jim gave him the entire script, while Cliff - "after all I've done for that guy...what a dick" - only got the pages for his scenes with Ronnie.

Zelda drives Ronnie's car through town, stopping to behead one last Fashion Zombie (Charlotte Kemp Muhl), and then walks calmly through the cemetery with sword in hand. Zombies amble away from the patrol car as a spinning UFO appears over the cemetery. ("Was that in the script?" "No...not the one I read.") Cliff and Ronnie watch as it beams up Zelda and flies away. The two officers leave the car, "warriors among the dead," and kill zombies including Bobby, Farmer Miller, Danny, and Mindy. Hermit Bob watches from the woods through binoculars, lamenting how the world is a terrible place, as zombies overwhelm Cliff and Ronnie. Cue music: "After life is over, the afterlife goes on..."

Cast

Production

In February 2018, during the press tour for Isle of Dogs, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton announced their involvement in a zombie film directed by Jim Jarmusch.[6]

In March 2018, Murray announced that Daniel Craig and Rosie Perez were set to costar. Speaking of the project, Murray stated:

It's a zombie movie. Jim Jarmusch has written a zombie script that's so hilarious and it has a cast of great actors: Rosie Perez, Daniel Craig. It's titled The Dead Don't Die, and it shoots over the summer. But, no, I will not play a zombie.[7]

In July 2018, it was announced that Adam Driver, Selena Gomez, Chloë Sevigny, Austin Butler, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, and Caleb Landry Jones had been cast alongside Murray, though Craig did not appear in the film. Joshua Astrachan and Carter Logan produced the movie, while Focus Features distributes.[8][9][10][11]

Filming took place in and around small communities north of New York City, including Ancram, Elizaville, Fleischmanns and Margaretville, New York.

Release

The Dead Don't Die had its world premiere as the opening film at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2019.[12] The film was released in the United States on June 14, 2019[13] and on July 12, 2019 in the United Kingdom. The studio spent $2–3 million on domestic promotion.[14]

Reception

Box office

The Dead Don't Die has grossed $6.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $12.2 million.[4][5]

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.4 million from 613 theaters.[14]

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 54%, based on 290 reviews, with an average rating of 5.78/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Dead Don't Die dabbles with tones and themes to varying degrees of success, but sharp wit and a strong cast make this a zom-com with enough brains to consume."[15] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[16]

PopMatters wrote "It's a curious film, one that acknowledges the end of the world blatantly without once forgetting to be steadfastly, almost dementedly, silly. It's a smart if minor work from a masterfully innovative director."[17]

The New York Times said "Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die respects the horror genre without really committing to it."[18]

The Hollywood Reporter said of the film "At times, the deadpan of Murray and Driver becomes, well, a bit deadening, and true wit is in short supply, even though the film remains amusing most of the way."[19]

References
  1. Gleiberman, Owen. "Film Review: 'The Dead Don't Die'". Variety. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  2. Grierson, Tim (14 May 2019). "'The Dead Don't Die': Cannes Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  3. "Official Selection". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  4. "The Dead Don't Die (2019) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  5. "The Dead Don't Die (2019)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  6. "... Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton will be doing a Zombie film with Jim Jarmusch". Twitter. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  7. Stearns, David Patrick (2018-03-21). "Bill Murray visits Philly with a high-brow variety show and a caffeinated cure-all: 'You'll be ready to peel varnish off walls'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  8. Raup, Jordan (July 13, 2018). "Jim Jarmusch in Now Filming a Zombie Movie Starring Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Selena Gomez, and Chloë Sevigny". The Film Stage. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  9. McNary, Dave (July 13, 2018). "Jim Jarmusch Is Making a Zombie Movie With Bill Murray and Selena Gomez". Variety. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  10. Galuppo, Mia (July 13, 2018). "Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton to Star in Jim Jarmusch's Zombie Comedy 'The Dead Don't Die'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  11. Kroll, Justin (23 July 2018). "Caleb Landry Jones Joins Jim Jarmusch's Zombie Movie 'The Dead Don't Die'". Variety. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  12. Keslassy, Elsa; Lang, Brent (April 10, 2019). "Jim Jarmusch's Zombie Movie 'The Dead Don't Die' to Open Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  13. McNary, Dave (March 27, 2019). "Jim Jarmusch's Bill Murray Zombie Movie to Hit Theaters in June". Variety. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  14. D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 16, 2019). "'Men In Black: International' Domestic Passport Revoked With $26M Opening, 'Shaft' Drops His Gun With $7M+: Summer Sequelitis, Here We Go Again". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  15. "The Dead Don't Die (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  16. "The Dead Don't Die Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  17. Leininger, Alex (June 19, 2019). "'The Dead Don't Die' Confronts Climate Change with Deadpan Whimsicality". PopMatters.
  18. Scott, A. O. (June 13, 2019). "'The Dead Don't Die' Review: Zombies Gobbling Up Scraps of Pop Culture". The New York Times.
  19. McCarthy, Todd (May 14, 2019). "'The Dead Don't Die': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.