Universal Studios Wiki
Advertisement

The Addams Family is a 2019 computer-animated supernatural black comedy film directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan and based on the characters created by Charles Addams. The film stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloƫ Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney.

The film was theatrically released in the United States by United Artists Releasing and internationally by Universal Pictures on October 11, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics for its narrative and screenplay, though the performances and animation were praised, and grossed $204 million on a $24 million budget.

A sequel entitled The Addams Family 2 is scheduled to be theatrically released on October 1, 2021, with Greg Tiernan returning to direct.

Plot[]

Gomez and Morticia are chased away with the rest of the Addams clan during their wedding ceremony by an angry mob that disapproves of their macabre nature. Grandmama buys Fester time to evacuate Gomez, Morticia, and Thing. Gomez and Morticia decide to move to New Jersey, a place "no one would be caught dead in." There, Gomez, Morticia, and Thing find their "perfect" home in an abandoned asylum on a hill. They meet Lurch, an escaped mental patient whom they hit when Thing was distracted driving the car, and immediately recruit him as their butler.

Thirteen years later, the Addams family continue to live their gloomy lives in isolation from the outside world. Gomez prepares his son Pugsley for his upcoming Mazurka, a rite of passage that every Addams family member takes. Morticia struggles to keep their daughter, Wednesday, from wanting to experience the world outside the mansion after a balloon and confetti appear on their property, and as the fog surrounding it begins to lift.

Elsewhere, reality TV host Margaux Needler, who is building a perfect planned community called "Assimilation" so her show will have a successful season finale, discovers the Addams family's household and becomes determined to rid the town of it when the family refuses to change. Wednesday then meets Margaux's neglected daughter Parker and convinces Morticia to let her attend junior high school. Pugsley struggles with the complicated traditions and pressure of his Mazurka, even with the guidance of Gomez and Uncle Fester. Grandmama arrives at the house for the event.

At school, Wednesday defends Parker and her twin friends Layla and Kayla from the school bully named Bethany and befriends them after she resurrects some dead frogs and commands them to attack Bethany. Later on, the two discuss their frustrations and change their dressing habits ā€“ Parker becomes more gothic and Wednesday dresses more colorfully ā€“ to the shock of both of their mothers, with Margaux vowing to destroy the Addamses. After an argument with Morticia, Wednesday decides to run away in secret and stay with Parker for a while, which Pugsley inadvertently tells Morticia.

As Cousin Itt arrives at the Addams Family house, Wednesday and Parker discover a secret room under Parker's house revealing that Margaux has planted hidden cameras in every house she designed in town. She has been spreading rumors about the Addamses through social media, claiming that they are freaks. Margaux catches the two and locks them in the attic, but Wednesday breaks them out. Margaux rallies an angry mob to attack the mansion just as the entire Addams clan arrive for Pugsley's Mazurka.

During the Mazurka, Pugsley fails in front of the whole family, but Gomez admits he forgot to let him be who he is. The mob arrives flinging boulders, severely damaging the mansion and trapping the family inside. Pugsley uses his love of bombs and destruction to defend his family and manages to destroy the mob's trebuchet. Wednesday and Parker join in and help everyone out of the wreckage safely with help of the living tree Ichabod.

As Margaux tries to take control once more, her treachery is revealed by Parker. They see that the Addamses are not monsters, but a family, as Wednesday and Parker states that everyone is weird in their own unique way, revealing that Margaux has been spying on Assimilation's civilians by putting hidden cameras in their houses. Margaux's agent Glenn carries a message from the network stating that her show is now cancelled for her crimes thanks to Parker live streaming her tirade against the civilians with her phone. As Fester comes up with a compromise for Margaux, Assimilation's civilians realize the error of their ways.

After they work together to rebuild the mansion, the Addams family and Assimilation's civilians live in peace. Margaux becomes Fester's business partner, selling homes to the other members of the Addams clan, and Pugsley completes his Mazurka.

The film ends with an animated recreation of the intro of the 1964 TV series.

Cast[]

  • Oscar Isaac as Gomez Addams, Morticia's husband and Wednesday and Pugsley's father.
  • Charlize Theron as Morticia Addams, Gomez's wife and Wednesday and Pugsley's mother
  • ChloĆ« Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams, Gomez and Morticia's daughter and Pugsley's older sister.
  • Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley Addams, Gomez and Morticia's son and Wednesday's younger brother.
  • Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, Gomez's brother.
  • Snoop Dogg as Cousin Itt, Gomez and Fester's hairy cousin.
  • Bette Midler as Grandmama Addams, Gomez and Fester's mother.
  • Allison Janney as Margaux Needler, a sly and greedy reality TV show host and homemaking guru.
  • Conrad Vernon as
    • Lurch, the Addams Family's butler.
    • An unnamed priest that presides over Gomez and Morticia's wedding and is one of their relatives.
    • The spirit that haunts the abandoned asylum Gomez and Mortica move to, demanding the place be left undisturbed.
    • Dr. FlambĆ©, a demon-like relative of the Addams family whose head can light on fire.
  • Martin Short as Grandpa Frump, Morticia's late father, whom she contacts through a sĆ©ance.
  • Catherine O'Hara as Grandma Frump, Morticia's late mother, whom she contacts through a sĆ©ance.
  • Tituss Burgess as Glenn, Margaux's agent.
  • Jenifer Lewis as Great Auntie Sloom, Grandmama's strict and cold sister with a missing left eye and stilts under her dress that judges Pugsley's Mazurka.
  • Elsie Fisher as Parker Needler, Margaux's neglected and rebellious daughter who befriends Wednesday.
  • Aimee Garcia as Denise, a camera operator who works for Margaux.
  • Scott Underwood as Mitch, a member of Margaux's film crew.
  • Mikey Madison as Candi, a barista that works in Assimilation.
  • Chelsea Frei as Bethany, the popular girl who picks on Parker.
  • Pom Klementieff as Layla and Kayla, twin girls who are Parker's friends.
  • Deven Green as Ms. Gravely, a teacher at Parker's school.
  • Maggie Wheeler as Trudy Pickering, an inhabitant of Assimilation.
  • Harland Williams as Norman Pickering, the husband of Trudy.
    • Williams also voices Gerri.

Production[]

In 2010, after Illumination Entertainment acquired the rights to The Addams Family comics, they began work on the film at Universal Pictures as a stop-motion animation directed by Tim Burton and produced by Chris Meledandri.[1] After development stopped, however, in 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures announced that they would produce the animated film based on The Addams Family comics, with Pamela Pettler then writing the screenplay.[2][3] In June 2019, it was announced that Bron Creative is co-financing the film with MGM as part of a multi-picture co-financing agreement with the studio.[4] In October 2017, it was announced that the film would be directed and produced by Conrad Vernon. Additionally, Gail Berman, Alex Schwartz, and Alison O'Brien also produced the film. Matt Lieberman wrote the finished screenplay, with story by credit for Lieberman, Rivinoja, and Vernon. The film was animated by Nitrogen Studios and Cinesite Studios, with Tabitha Shick overseeing it for MGM.[5][6] In December 2017, it was reported that Oscar Isaac was in talks to voice the role of Gomez Addams in the film.[7] In June 2018, Isaac was officially cast, alongside Charlize Theron, Allison Janney, Bette Midler, Chloƫ Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard and Nick Kroll.[8] In July 2018, Aimee Garcia joined the voice cast,[9] and in August 2018, Elsie Fisher was added as well.[10] In November 2018, Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short were added as Morticia's parents,[11] and in August 2019, Snoop Dogg, Tituss Burgess, and Jenifer Lewis joined as Cousin Itt, Glenn, and Great Auntie Sloom, respectively.[12]

Music and soundtrack[]

Migos, Karol G, Snoop Dogg, and Rock Mafia recorded a song for the film called "My Family", which was released on September 13, 2019 and plays during the end credits; while Christina Aguilera released the song "Haunted Heart" from the film's soundtrack on September 27, 2019, which plays in the film's opening.[13] HeathisHuman created an updated version of Vic Mizzy's original theme song that plays at the film's ending.[14]

Release[]

Theatrical release[]

The film was theatrically released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer through United Artists Releasing in the United States on October 11, 2019 with Universal Pictures handling the international rights.[10] It was previously set for October 18, 2019[15][7] before being moved up to October 11, 2019 to avoid direct competition with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.[16]

Marketing[]

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer launched the film with a global promotion partner campaign worth $150 million, their largest ever outside the 007 franchise.[17] They spent a total of $72 million on prints and advertisements for the film.[18]

Home media[]

The film was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment digitally on December 24, 2019, followed by a DVD and Blu-ray release on January 21, 2020.

Reception[]

Box office[]

The Addams Family grossed $100 million in the United States and Canada and $103 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $203 million.[19][20] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $76Template:Nbspmillion, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[18]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Gemini Man and Jexi and was projected to gross $28ā€“30 million from 4,007 theaters in its opening weekend.[21] The film made $9.7 million on its first day including $1.25 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $30.3 million, finishing second behind holdover Joker.[22] It made $16.3 million in its second weekend, $12 million in its third and $8.2 million in its fourth, finishing fourth, third and sixth, respectively.[23][24][25]

Critical response[]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% and an average rating of 5.29/10, based on 154 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Addams FamilyTemplate:'s starry voice cast and eye-catching animation aren't enough to outweigh its saccharine handling of the delightfully dark source material."[26] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported that surveyed children and parents gave it 4 and 3.5 out of 5 stars, respectively.[22]

Accolades[]

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2019 HMMA Award Best Original Song ā€“ Animated Film
("Haunted Heart")
Christina Aguilera (written and performed by)
Antonina Armato (written by)
Tim James (written by)
Template:Nominated

Sequel[]

On October 15, 2019, it was announced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that a sequel entitled The Addams Family 2 is scheduled to be released on October 22, 2021, with Conrad Vernon returning to direct while Nitrogen Studios and Cinesite Studios return as production partners.[17][28][29] On October 8, 2020, Bill Hader and Javon Walton joined the cast, Hader plays a new character named Cyrus while Walton replaces Finn Wolfhard as the voice of Pugsley, and it was moved up by two weeks to October 8, 2021.[30] On January 21, 2021, it was moved up by one week to October 1, 2021.[31]

References[]

  1. ā†‘ Fleming, Mike, Jr. (March 18, 2010). "Tim Burton's Next 3D Animated Film? Da Da Da Da, Snap Snap: 'The Addams Family'"..
  2. ā†‘ Eisenberg, Eric. "New Animated Addams Family Movie Is In The Works"..
  3. ā†‘ McNary, Dave (October 31, 2013). "'Addams Family' Reborn As Animated Movie At MGM"..
  4. ā†‘ Siegel, Tatiana (June 6, 2019). "Bron, MGM Ink Multipicture $100M Co-Financing Deal"..
  5. ā†‘ Hipes, Patrick (October 12, 2017). "MGM's CG 'The Addams Family' Movie Gets Animated"..
  6. ā†‘ Trumbore, Dave (October 13, 2017). "Addams Family Animated Movie Hires Director Conrad Vernon"..
  7. ā†‘ 7.0 7.1 McNary, Dave (December 15, 2017). "Oscar Isaac in Talks to Voice Gomez Addams in Animated 'Addams Family'"..
  8. ā†‘ "'Addams Family' Movie Scares Up Charlize Theron, Bette Midler, Allison Janney & More For Voice Cast". (5 June 2018).
  9. ā†‘ ""Lucifer" Star Aimee Garcia Joins 'The Addams Family'". IMDb.
  10. ā†‘ 10.0 10.1 "'Eighth Grade' Star Elsie Fisher Joins Animated 'Addams Family' Movie (Exclusive)"..
  11. ā†‘ Wakeman, Gregory (November 23, 2018). "Martin Short and Catherine Oā€™Hara join the animated 'Addams Family' movie". 
  12. ā†‘ Trumbore, Dave (August 7, 2019). "Official Trailer and Images for ā€˜The Addams Familyā€™ Bring the Title Terrors into the Light". Collider.
  13. ā†‘ Moreland, Quinn (September 13, 2019). "Snoop Dogg and Migos Share New Song for The Addams Family: Listen". Pitchfork.
  14. ā†‘
  15. ā†‘ Kroll, Justin (October 12, 2017). "'Sausage Party's' Conrad Vernon to Direct Animated 'Addams Family' Movie"..
  16. ā†‘ Pederson, Erik (March 6, 2019). "Universal Shifts Damon Lindelof's 'The Hunt' To October; 'Addams Family' Moves Up A Week ā€“ Update". Deadline Hollywood.
  17. ā†‘ 17.0 17.1 D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 15, 2019). "ā€˜The Addams Family 2ā€™ Is In The Works After Great $35M+ 4-Day Weekend, MGM/UAR Set Fall 2021 Release". (en) Deadline Hollywood.
  18. ā†‘ 18.0 18.1 D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 13, 2020). "ā€˜The Addams Familyā€™ Snaps To No. 20 On Deadlineā€™s 2019 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament"..
  19. ā†‘ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BOM
  20. ā†‘ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NUM
  21. ā†‘ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 9, 2019). "ā€˜Jokerā€™ Breaks Tuesday October Record With $13.9M, Will Continue To Make Serious B.O. This Weekend With $42M+"..
  22. ā†‘ 22.0 22.1 D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 13, 2019). "ā€˜Jokerā€™ $55M+ Scores 2nd Weekend October Record, ā€˜Addams Familyā€™ Rich $30M+, ā€˜Gemini Manā€™ Still Not Dazzling $20M ā€“ Sunday B.O. Update"..
  23. ā†‘ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 20, 2019). "ā€˜Maleficent: Mistress Of Evilā€™ No Magic With $36M+, ā€˜Jokerā€™ Still Stealing 2nd Place From ā€˜Zombieland 2ā€™ With $28M+"..
  24. ā†‘ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 28, 2019). "ā€˜Maleficent: Mistress Of Evilā€™ Tricks ā€˜Jokerā€™ & Steals No. 1 With $19.37M After Dead Heat B.O. Battle"..
  25. ā†‘ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 4, 2019). "How ā€˜Terminator: Dark Fateā€™ Conked Out With $27M+ & Why ā€˜The Irishmanā€™ Is Not A Missed Strategic Opportunity ā€“ Box Office". Deadline.
  26. ā†‘ "The Addams Family (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  27. ā†‘ "The Addams Family (2019) Reviews". Metacritic.
  28. ā†‘ Ridgely, Charlie (November 6, 2019). "The Addams Family Directors Explain Their Approach to the Upcoming Sequel". (en) Comicbook.
  29. ā†‘ The Addams Family Will be Back Soon!
  30. ā†‘ Anthony D'Alessandro (October 8, 2020). "ā€˜The Addams Family 2ā€™: Bill Hader & Javon "Wanna" Walton Join Voice Cast". Deadline Hollywood.
  31. ā†‘ McClintock, Pamela (January 21, 2021). "James Bond: 'No Time To Die' Release Date Delayed to Fall". (en) The Hollywood Reporter.
Advertisement