Wonder is a 2017 American drama film directed by Stephen Chbosky and written by Jack Thorne, Steve Conrad, and Stephen Chbosky, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by R.J. Palacio. The film stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay. The film follows a child with Treacher Collins syndrome trying to fit in. Wonder was released in the United States on November 17, 2017, by Lionsgate. The film received positive reviews from critics and audiences and grossed $299 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. At the 90th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Plot
August "Auggie" Pullman is a young boy living in North River Heights in upper Manhattan, New York. He has a rare medical facial deformity, which he refers to as "mandibulofacial dysostosis." Due to numerous surgeries, Auggie had been home-schooled by his parents Isabel and Nate, but as Auggie is approaching middle school age, Isabel and Nate decide to enroll him in Beecher Prep, a mainstream private school, for the start of middle school. At first, Auggie is ostracized by nearly all the student body, but he is soon befriended by a boy named Jack.
During Halloween, Auggie wears an old "Ghostface" mask and costume because his dog, Daisy, threw up on his "Boba Fett" costume. Unrecognized, he walks around school knowing he would not get tormented while incognito. As he walks through the door to his homeroom he overhears Jack telling Julian Albans that he was "only pretending to be friends with Auggie." Feeling betrayed, Auggie wants to stay home during trick-or-treating, but his older sister Olivia, nicknamed "Via," talks him out of it. Auggie later confides the incident to another friend, a girl named Summer, but swears her to secrecy. When Jack notices that Auggie has become quiet and distant he asks Summer why, but she only says "Ghost Face" to give him a clue. Jack is shocked when it dawns on him that it was Auggie wearing the Ghost Face costume, and thus had overheard everything he said to Julian. When Julian calls Auggie a "freak," Jack angrily punches him in the face and a fight ensues between the two, which is soon broken up by their homeroom teacher Mr. Browne and another teacher. Jack is suspended for two days for his actions, apologizes to Auggie, and the two reconcile.
During the middle of the school year, Auggie is constantly bullied by Julian and his friends Amos, Miles, and Henry; they leave hurtful and threatening notes on his desk and tape their class picture on his locker with Auggie photoshopped out. Mr. Tushman, confronts Julian and his parents using all the evidence; Julian's mother proclaims that she had Auggie edited out because she didn't want people to only care about Auggie and his family and care more about Julian. She also threatens to pull their funding from the school but Tushman still suspends Julian for two days, along with making him stay home from a nature retreat his class is going on. As he and his parents leave, a remorseful Julian, who stands to lose all his friends, apologizes to Tushman for his actions towards Auggie, which he proudly accepts.
Meanwhile, Via signs up for Drama Club at her high school after her best friend, Miranda, ignores her; in the process, she meets Justin, with whom she develops a close friendship which later turns into a relationship. Later, Via is selected to be an understudy for the lead role in the school's production of "Our Town," but when Miranda, the lead actress, realizing what she's done to Via, pretends to fall ill, Via takes her place and gives a performance that earns her a standing ovation.
During the nature retreat, Auggie and Jack are harassed by a group of seventh graders from another school. Amos, Miles, and Henry come to their defense. After their return to school, Auggie is generally more accepted by his classmates, including Amos, Miles, Henry, and the reformed Julian. At the school year's end during the graduation ceremony, Tushman announces that Auggie has been selected for the Henry Ward Beecher Medal for standing out; Auggie receives a standing ovation, and the movie ends with everyone applauding Auggie, and Isabel calling him a "wonder," followed by a brief shot of a floating astronaut, Auggie's "wonder."
Cast
Production
On November 27, 2012, it was announced that Lionsgate was developing the feature film adaptation of R. J. Palacio's debut novel Wonder, while in talks with John August to write the screenplay. Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman would be producing the film. On May 8, 2013, Jack Thorne was hired to adapt the novel, while August, who was previously reported as writer, had departed from the project. In October 2014, John Krokidas was reported to be directing the film, but in April 2015, Paul King was hired to take the directing duties. Steven Conrad was writing the script at that time.
On April 14, 2016, Jacob Tremblay was cast in to play the lead role as Auggie Pullman, while Julia Roberts was in talks to play Auggie's mother. On May 5, 2016, Roberts was confirmed to play the mother, with Stephen Chbosky signed on to direct. On June 27, 2016, Owen Wilson had joined to play Auggie's father. On July 11, 2016, newcomer Noah Jupe joined the cast as Auggie's best friend at school. On July 15, 2016, Daveed Diggs was cast as Mr. Browne, an English teacher at the school. On August 19, 2016, Sônia Braga joined the cast, portraying the role of Roberts's mother.
Jacob's prosthetic makeup, designed and created by Arjen Tuiten, took an hour and half to apply. It consisted of a skull cap with prosthetic ears attached, a facial prosthetic that covered Jacob's face, and a wig to tie it all together.
Marcelo Zarvos composed the film's score.
Music
Bea Miller composed a song entitled "Brand New Eyes." It was released on August 3, 2017.
Wonder author R.J. Palacio has often credited Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder" from her 1995 album Tigerlily as the inspiration for her best-selling book and at Merchant's invitation, the song will be featured in the soundtrack.
Release
Wonder was scheduled to be released in the United States on April 7, 2017 by Lionsgate. On February 13, 2017, it was announced that the release date for Wonder had been pushed back to November 17, 2017. Wonder had its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on November 14, 2017.
Box office
Wonder grossed $132.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $167.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $299.8 million, against a production budget of $20 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the film made a net profit of $55.3 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.
In the United States and Canada, Wonder was released alongside Justice League and The Star and was initially projected to gross around $9 million from 3,096 theaters in its opening weekend. However after grossing $740,000 from Thursday night previews and receiving a large number of group ticket sales, weekend projections were upped to $15 million. Weekend projections were again increased, this time to $28 million, after the film made $9.4 million on its first day. The film went on to debut to $27.1 million, finishing second at the box office behind Justice League. In its second weekend the film dropped just 17.7%, grossing $22.7 million and finishing third at the box office.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 156 reviews and an average rating of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Wonder doesn't shy away from its bestselling source material's sentiment, but this well-acted and overall winsome drama earns its tugs at the heartstrings." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, one of fewer than 80 films in the history of the service to receive such a score.
Some with craniofacial disorders have criticized the film for casting an able-bodied actor as Auggie, and have branded the plot an example of inspiration porn.
Accolades
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