White Bird (film) explained

White Bird
Director:Marc Forster
Screenplay:Mark Bomback
Cinematography:Matthias Koenigswieser
Editing:Matt Chessé
Music:Thomas Newman
Distributor:Lionsgate
Runtime:120 minutes
Country:United States
Language:English
Gross:$3 million[1]

White Bird (marketed with the subtitle A Wonder Story) is a 2024 American coming-of-age period drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, based on the 2019 graphic novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio. Serving as both a prequel and sequel to Wonder (2017), the film stars Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Gillian Anderson, and Helen Mirren, with Gheisar reprising his role as Julian from Wonder.

White Bird was released in Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia on January 4, 2024; it is scheduled to be released in the United States by Lionsgate on October 4, 2024.

Plot

After the events of Wonder, Julian has left Beecher Prep for good. He is visited by his grandmother Sara (whose professional name is Grandmère) from Paris, who, in response to Julian's reflection about his need to be socially passive in order to fit in at his new school, tells him about her childhood as a young Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

In 1942, Sara evades being rounded up by the German troops and spends more than one year being hidden by her classmate Julien (one of whose legs is congenitally paralysed by poliomyelitis) in a barn of the house where he lives with his parents. She is instructed never to leave the barn so as not to be discovered by the neighbours suspected of being informants for the Germans. At night, Julien teaches Sara what he has learned at school during the day. Affection between them eventually grows into love.

In 1944 after the liberation of Monte Cassino, Julien is stopped on his way to school at a German checkpoint by the Milice and thrown into the back of a lorry for transportation to a remote camp in the mountains. During an escape attempt by the other prisoners, he is shot dead. At the end of the war, Sara is reunited with her father, but she finds out that her mother has been killed at KZ Auschwitz.

Cast

Production

Development

In October 2019, Lionsgate acquired the rights to R.J. Palacio's . Palacio said, "[t]he team at Lionsgate values artists and storytellers and has been crucial to expanding the fan community surrounding Wonder. They have been enormously supportive as I have been writing White Bird and I could not feel more secure that my new graphic novel is in the right creative hands at the right studio."[2]

The film was produced by Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman from Mandeville Films, with Jeffrey Skoll and Robert Kissel from Participant serving as executive producers. Marc Forster was announced as director, with Mark Bomback writing and acting as executive producer.[3] [4]

Casting

In February 2021, it was reported that Helen Mirren, Gillian Anderson, Orlando Schwerdt and Ariella Glaser joined the cast. Bryce Gheisar was confirmed to reprise his role as Julian from the 2017 film Wonder.[5]

Filming

Principal photography commenced in February 2021 in the Czech Republic.

Locations gallery

Release

White Bird: A Wonder Story was initially scheduled for a wide release on September 16, 2022,[6] but was later delayed to October 14, 2022.[7] In September 2022, Lionsgate removed the film from its release schedule.[8] The film, presented as a "sneak preview", premiered at the 43rd San Francisco Jewish Film Festival on July 30, 2023, with a taped introduction by producer Lieberman.[9]

In January 2023, it was announced that White Bird was scheduled to debut in a limited release on August 18, 2023, followed by a wide release on August 25, 2023.[10] However, in July 2023, as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike, Lionsgate pushed the release to an unspecified date in the fourth quarter of 2023.[11] In December 2023, Lionsgate rescheduled the film for a wide release in the United States on October 4, 2024.[12]

White Bird was released in Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia on January 4, 2024.[13] On January 18, 2024, the film was released in Portugal, followed by its theatrical release in Poland on February 2, 2024 (with box office takings from Polish cinemas making up more than half of the film's worldwide gross revenue as of May 2024).

, more than 90% of the film's worldwide revenue originated from two countries: Italy ($845,028) and Poland ($1,257,423).

Reception

Writing for Variety, Dennis Harvey gave White Bird a positive review, saying that "Marc Forster’s film elevates somewhat contrived material with tastefully lyrical craftsmanship" and further adding,[14]

Hannah Brown was more reserved in her review for The Jerusalem Post, describing the cast as "compelling" and praising the storyline for its power "to carry the drama", but criticising the film for its "moments of heavy kitsch toward the end" and crediting Helen Mirren with saving White Bird single-handedly from being a much worse movie than it turned out to be in actuality. She concluded,[15]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: White Bird . Box Office Mojo. August 14, 2024.
  2. Web site: Lionsgate Reunes With 'Wonder' Author R.J. Palacio on 'White Bird: A Wonder Story' . October 1, 2019 . Variety . Dave . McNary . June 7, 2023 . June 7, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230607023938/https://variety.com/2019/film/news/lionsgate-white-bird-rj-palacio-wonder-1203354603/amp/ . live .
  3. Web site: Marc Forster Directing Lionsgate & Mandeville's 'Wonder' Universe Title 'White Bird' . Deadline . October 29, 2020 . Anthony . D'Alessandro . June 7, 2023 . November 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201101043054/https://deadline.com/2020/10/white-bird-a-wonder-story-marc-forster-directing-liongate-movie-1234605856/ . live .
  4. Web site: Participant To Executive Produce & Co-Finance Lionsgate Mandeville's 'White Bird: A Wonder Story' . April 15, 2021 . June 7, 2023 . Deadline . Anthony . D'Alessandro . June 7, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230607023938/https://deadline.com/2021/04/participant-to-executive-produce-white-bird-a-wonder-story-lionsgate-movie-1234735210/ . live .
  5. Web site: Helen Mirren Joins Gillian Anderson In Lionsgate's 'White Bird: A Wonder Story' . February 25, 2021 . June 7, 2023 . Deadline . Amanda . N'Duka . April 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210416135407/https://deadline.com/2021/02/helen-mirren-gillian-anderson-white-bird-a-wonder-story-lionsgate-1234701030/ . live .
  6. Web site: Lionsgate Dates Samuel L. Jackson's The Protege, Jennifer Lopez's Shotgun Wedding & White Bird: A Wonder Story. Deadline Hollywood. Anthony. D'Alessandro. April 28, 2021. April 28, 2021. July 14, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230714205735/https://deadline.com/2021/04/lionsgate-dates-samuel-l-jacksons-the-protege-jennifer-lopezs-shotgun-wedding-white-bird-a-wonder-story-1234746046/. live.
  7. Web site: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret Set for September Release by Lionsgate. The Wrap. January 31, 2022. Jeremy. Fuster. February 2, 2022. February 8, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220208165331/https://www.thewrap.com/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret-lionsgate-release-date/. live.
  8. Web site: Robbins . Shawn . September 16, 2022 . Long Range Box Office Forecast: Halloween Ends, Plus Don't Worry Darling and Avatar Updates . October 7, 2022 . Boxoffice . en-US . October 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221007095040/https://www.boxofficepro.com/long-range-box-office-forecast-halloween-ends-and-white-bird-a-wonder-story/ . live .
  9. Web site: White Bird . . July 30, 2023 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230731031419/https://jfi.org/sfjff-2023/film-guide/white-bird . July 31, 2023.
  10. Web site: Watson . Madalyn . January 20, 2023 . White Bird: A Wonder Story Sets Summer Release Date . January 20, 2023 . . January 22, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230122094152/https://collider.com/white-bird-wonder-story-release-date/ . live .
  11. Web site: Dirty Dancing Sequel & White Bird Release Dates Move Due to Dual Strikes . . D'Alessandro . Anthony . July 20, 2023 . July 20, 2023.
  12. Web site: D'Alessandro . Anthony . 2023-12-14 . Lionsgate's White Bird Flies Back To Theatrical Schedule . 2023-12-14 . Deadline Hollywood.
  13. Web site: White Bird. Box Office Mojo. 5 May 2024.
  14. Web site: 'White Bird' Review: Teen Romance Flowers Amidst Nazi Persecution in a Refined YA Adaptation. Variety. Dennis. Harvey. August 4, 2023 . 27 March 2024.
  15. Web site: 'White Bird': A Holocaust movie saved by Helen Mirren - review. The Jerusalem Post. Hannah. Brown. April 6, 2024 . 4 May 2024.