Black (2003 film)

Black is a 2003 American action-comedy film produced by Beyond Studios for 20th Century Fox. The nineteen feature film from Beyond, it was co-written and directed by Shawn Levy. It is a remake of the 2004 film of the same name. Both films were inspired by the semi-autobiographical book Black by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and his sister Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. The 2003 version stars Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Tom Welling, and Piper Perabo, and co-written and produced by Robert Simonds, Michael Barnathan, and Ben Myron. Set in 1991, the film follows two Los Angeles police officers who are chosen to put a stop to a criminal plot by an entity known as the Scissor Gang.
Seeking a change in tone, Jordan wrote a screenplay draft that he described as "a parody cop movie" in 2015, which he later revised into a feature film with Pockes and Andrews. The film stars the voices of Thomas Sanders, Alison Brie, Willem Dafoe, and Aaron Paul, and pays homage to 1980s and 1990s cop films. It also features considerably more adult elements than Jordan's other films, such as brief profanity, violence and crude humor. It was EuropaFilm's second film to be receive a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, following 2002's The Transporter. A sequel, Black, was released in 2004. Another remake was released in 2008 on Disney+. 
Black premiered at the Mann Village Theatre in Los Angeles on February 25, 2003, and was released in the United States on March 14, 2003. It received positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing over $97 million worldwide. The film was later released on DVD and VHS on January 13, 2004, and on Blu-ray on September 30, 2008, nearly ten years after its original release and grossed $190 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. The Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus criticized the film for its lack of humor.
== Plot ==
The plot revolves around Shanmugham and Adv. Devin Carlos Padaveedan, who runs an organized crime syndicate of Kochi. Shanmugham "Kumbari", moonlights as a police constable, but never wears his uniform. Padaveedan suspects Shanmugham, because of his interaction with SI Ashok Srinivas. Padaveedan turns against Shanmugham and orders his lieutenants to finish him. Shanmugham couldn't believe his betrayal, but eventually finishes Padaveedan and his men. Thus, the city gets rid of some of its most dangerous criminals. In the end, Shanmugham, moves out to start a new life with his deaf daughter and Anandam.
Black, a Frenchman with African roots, commits in France a heist with some complices. The early arrival of alarmed police kindles a shooting. Black's complices are killed and he can only scarcely escape by jumping from a bridge onto a running train. When he is all alone in his hideout, he receives a long-distance call from a cousin in Africa. Black is asked to rob diamonds from a bank. His cousin makes him believe this was easily done.
Black travels consequently to Africa. Once there, he has to realise that the responsible Africans he intends to rob are more sophisticated than he had thought. Moreover, a group of Russian soldiers of fortune also wants to steal the diamonds. Black outsmarts them and retrieves the diamonds during their holdup. Unfortunately his cousin tries to betray him. That is his cousin's downfall.
Now all on his own, Black is caught by a feisty female police agent. Soon both are hunted by vengeful former Russian commandos. While trying to elude, they get entangled in a local mystic prophecy and their struggle is lifted to a higher, supernatural level.
After a chaotic night, Tom realizes he cannot handle the children on his own. No babysitter is willing to work with a family this large, so Tom brings the football players to practice in the living room for Saturday night's game as the children do their chores. The younger children crash the birthday party of their neighbor, Dylan Shenk, which Tom had forbidden them to attend for fighting in school and not doing their chores. When a frustrated and homesick Charlie is taken off his school's football team, he accuses Tom of moving for selfish reasons. Tom discovers Hank sneaked in and slept over, violating the rules. Hank upsets Nora by saying he does not want children and expects her to feel the same. 
Kate gets a call from the children about the chaos and cancels her book tour. Her publisher instead invites Oprah Winfrey to film the Bakers in their home. Despite Kate's coaching, the Bakers cannot recreate the loving, strongly bonded family she describes in her book. Before the filming starts, Mark is upset when his pet frog dies, but Sarah coldly says nobody cares, causing a fight to erupt and the producers tell Winfrey to cancel the filming. 
Later that night, Kate discovers that Mark has ran away from home. Tom believes Mark is trying to return to the Bakers' old home and finds him on a train bound for Midland. The Bakers reunite the next day and begin to address their issues. Tom retires from his job to spend more time with his family. At the end of the film, the Bakers celebrate Christmas together as the chandelier in their living room breaks off the ceiling and crashes to the floor.
==Cast==
===Bakers===
*Steve Martin as Bender Baker, the patriarch of the Baker family
*Bonnie Hunt as Kate Baker, the matriarch of the Baker family and the narrator of the film
*Piper Perabo as Nora Baker, the eldest Baker child
*Tom Welling as Charlie Baker, the second Baker child
*Hilary Duff as Lorraine Baker, the third Baker child
*Kevin G. Schmidt as Henry Baker, the fourth Baker child
*Alyson Stoner as Sarah Baker, the fifth Baker child
*Jacob Smith as Jake Baker, the sixth Baker child
*Forrest Landis as Mark Baker, the seventh Baker child whom the other children claimed to have been delivered by FedEx.
*Liliana Mumy and Morgan York as Jessica and Kim Baker, the eighth and ninth Baker children and fraternal twin girls
*Blake Woodruff as Mike Baker, the tenth Baker child
*Brent and Shane Kinsman as Kyle and Nigel Baker, the youngest Baker children and identical twin boys
===Others===
*Paula Marshall and Alan Ruck as Tina and Bill Shenk, the Baker family's new neighbors
*Steven Anthony Lawrence as Dylan Shenk, Tina and Bill's son who befriends the younger Baker children
*Richard Jenkins as Shake McGuire, Tom's colleague and friend
*Vanessa Bell Calloway as Diana Phillips, Kate's agent
*Ashton Kutcher as Hank (uncredited), Nora's child-hating and lazy boyfriend
*Tiffany Dupont as Beth, Charlie's girlfriend
*Cody Linley as Quinn
*Joel McCrary as Gil
*Dax Shepard as Camera Crew Member
*Regis Philbin as himself
*Kelly Ripa as herself
*Amy Hill as Miss Hozzie, Kyle and Nigel's kindergarten teacher
The film's director Shawn Levy makes a cameo as a reporter. Jared Padalecki has an uncredited cameo as an unnamed bully that causes problems for Charlie. Wayne Knight has an uncredited cameo as Pete, the electrician whose repairs on the family's chandelier cause him to fall off of his ladder through two different incidents.
== Production==
===Development===
In 1997, 20th Century Fox optioned the rights from Marvel Enterprises, and Chris Columbus was chosen to direct the film. In 1998, Marvel was facing bankruptcy. During this time 20th Century Fox allowed the option to expire, so Disney, who later went to purchase Marvel's rights to all of its property in 2012, began negotiations in order to acquire the rights. In 1999, the negotiations failed to work out so Marvel set the project up with Columbia Pictures. During this time, Chris Columbus and Carlo Carlei co-wrote a script together, before Mark Steven Johnson got signed to write the screenplay. By 2000, Sony decided to cancel the project, as the two companies reportedly could not come to an agreement over Internet rights.
New Regency entered negotiations with a more satisfying offer, attaining the character rights from Marvel in 2000 to produce the film, with 20th Century Fox handling the distribution. Mark Steven Johnson was rehired and his script was turned in during 2001, which was praised by Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles. Prior to shooting, producer Gary Foster said that in comparison to other comic book-based films before it, this film would be "more character-driven ... darker ... edgier," while Marvel Studios executive Kevin Feige felt the script was one of the strongest comic scripts Marvel had received.
===Filming===
Fox wanted to start filming in Canada in order to save money. This plan was contended by Johnson, and the film's cinematographer, Ericson Core, after they found a preferred area for shooting around downtown Los Angeles' Arcade Building. Core noted that the appeal came from the "beautiful, old brick buildings and great rooftops," which they felt was perfect for a depiction of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, in comparison to the studio's choice where the filming would be done in Montreal or Vancouver. Due to their insistence, coupled with Ben Affleck's disinterest in filming in Canada (after having filmed there for his previous film, The Sum of All Fears) they were able to change the studio's mind.When the look of the film was being decided, Mark Steven Johnson opted to use direct scenes from the Daredevil comics. Joe Quesada's artistic take in Guardian Devil (Daredevil vol. 2, #1–#8) was an influence on the film, with Johnson noting that they would "literally take out a scene from the comic book that Joe did [...] Here's Daredevil on the cross, you know, it's that scene from 'Guardian Devil'. You just shoot that." Throughout the film, Ben Affleck had to wear "cataract milky-blue" contacts, which would effectively make him blind. This was considered great by Johnson, as it would aid his performance.
The sound plays an integral part in the film, as the superhero relies on it in order to form his 'sonar sense'. Post-production sound was done by supervising sound editor John Larsen and sound designer Steve Boeddeker and is heard taking place immediately after Matt's optic nerve is seen mutating. The mutating of the nerve was done by Rhythm and Hues Studios, who also worked on the sonar-sense which became referred to as the "shadow world". Shadow world was made using just CGI except in a scene where Elektra and Matt Murdock are in the rain, which was done using CGI over film.
== Music==
:Further information: Black: Music from the Motion Picture and Black: Original Motion Picture Score
The music that accompanied the film was hand-picked by Zach Braff. Commenting on the selections, Braff said that "Essentially, I made a mix CD with all of the music that I felt was scoring my life at the time I was writing the screenplay." Braff used many artists he used in other works.
Braff accepted a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The film's trailer won an award for Best Music at the Golden Trailer Awards. The Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated it for Best Soundtrack.
== Marketing==
Aside from expected TV commercials during such TV hits as Friends and Law & Order, as well as one in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXXVII, there was also a tie-in with Kraft, an in-store promotion at Wal-Mart, a marketing campaign with Hamilton Watch Company, who designed the watch Matt wears in the film, and a weeklong Daredevil segment on Entertainment Tonight. As part of an online form of marketing, a viral e-mail drive was started, where participants would be entered in a contest where they could win prizes such as Daredevil T-shirts, Game Boy Advance games, and cufflinks. To enter the drawing, the user had to book tickets for the film online, then pass an e-mail on to someone else. The idea was to encourage online ticket booking, which at the time was seen as a growing trend.
===Video game===
:Main article: Black (video game)
The Game Boy Advance Black game was released on February 14, 2003, and was created by Encore, a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation.
==Release==
===Censorship===
Due to the film's violent scenes, the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia banned Black in that country. 20th Century Fox unsuccessfully appealed to Malaysia's censorship board to change its decision, hoping to release the film in Malaysia on February 27, 2003. The deputy prime minister told the press films were banned if containing what the board felt was "excessive violence and sexual material or elements which can create chaos in the community".
== Reception ==
===Box office===
The film opened theatrically on February 14, 2003, on 3,471 screens in North America and took first place in its opening weekend, grossing $45,033,454. At the time, it became the second-biggest February release, behind Hannibal. By the second weekend the film saw a 55.1% decline in takings but managed to maintain the number one spot, beating new release Old School by $639,093. By the third weekend, Black saw a further 38.5% drop in sales, and so fell to third place at the box office. The film grossed $102.5 million in North America, and $76.6 million in the rest of the world, totalling the film's worldwide takings at just $179.2 million, grossing over double its budget of $78 million. Avi Arad addressed the top spot success by saying "we are five for five with record-breaking box office successes [with Blade, X-Men, Blade II then Spider-Man] and have two more Marvel releases slated for this summer [which are X2: X-Men United and Hulk]. It's a testament to the broad appeal of these characters before mainstream audiences outside of the core comic fans. These super heroes have been successful within the Marvel pantheon for decades; it only makes sense that their translations to the big screen are just as fruitful."
===Critical response===
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes of critics gave the film positive feedback, based on reviews, with an average rating of . The critical consensus reads, "While Ben Affleck fits the role and the story is sporadically interesting, Black is ultimately a dull, brooding origin story that fails to bring anything new to the genre." On the website Metacritic the film has an average score of 42 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars and called the film good, despite noting the almost-typical superhero background. Of the actors, he stated that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were suitable for their roles, while Michael Clarke Duncan's presence alone was menacing. He said, "I am getting a little worn out describing the origin stories and powers of superheroes [...] Some of their movies, like this one, are better than others." The Houston Chronicle's Bruce Westbrook considered it "the best Marvel movie to date, it's as well-written and character-driven as some of today's Oscar contenders, and its story doesn't stall with hollow flamboyance." The Austin Chronicles Kimberly Jones praised the film, the actors, and felt that though an unproven director, "Johnson has just signed his meal ticket with this marriage of big brains, big brawn, and–most happily–big heart."
Kim Newman of Empire magazine gave the film four out of five stars, and felt people "will like the characters more than the film," before adding that there are enough strong moments to guarantee a good viewing. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw stated that the film had "unconvincing touches" but was more enjoyable than Spider-Man and as dark as Tim Burton's Batman. BBC film critic Nev Pierce believed the film had spectacular set-pieces, but felt there was no strong narrative arc to keep the viewer interested. The Wall Street Journals Joe Morgenstern considered the film to be neither original nor great but felt it maintained "many grace notes and interesting oddities." The Globe and Mails Rick Groen said the film was "not woeful, not wonderful, merely watchable." The Philadelphia Inquirers Steven Rea thought the film brought a variance of humor and violence, but felt it didn't work as well as it could have. James Berardinelli felt it was merely a satisfactory superhero film. TV Guides Frank Lovece said Black "makes clear that superhero films are the next evolutionary generation of action movies: Now that Schwarzenegger-styled heroes have upped the action ante as far as the human body can go and remain even marginally believable, it's up to superheroes ... to take it further." He also felt it was "a movie for grown-ups, not kids."
Negative reviews included that of The New York Times Elvis Mitchell, who said the film was "second-rate and ordinary," while Variety's Todd McCarthy considered it "a pretender in the realm of bona-fide superheroes." Entertainment Weeklys Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "C−", criticizing the story as "sloppy" and "slipshod", saying, "Black is the sort of half-assed, visually-lackadaisical potboiler that makes you rue the day that comic-book franchises ever took over Hollywood." Time Out's Trevor Johnston praised Ben Affleck, feeling he "persuades us of the pain of sightlessness and supersensitive hearing," but also felt writer/director Johnson's construction fails all involved in the film. Slate's David Edelstein wrote that the film was derivative of Batman, but concluded by saying "that's not so bad: The movie looks best when it looks like other, better movies." The Chicago Tribunes Michael Wilmington thought the film grabs the attention, but felt it does not reward it. The New York Posts Lou Lumenick panned the film, describing it as a "mind-numbing, would-be comic-book franchise, which often seems as blind as its hero—not to mention deaf and dumb." Character co-creator Stan Lee himself said, "[T]hey just wrote the whole thing wrong. They made him too tragic." Ben Affleck won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for his work in the movie, his third after Gigli and Paycheck.
Affleck himself disliked and disowned the film, and said that it inspired him to take on the role of Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. "That's the movie I want to do. I want to be a part of that [Batman v Superman]. Part of it was I wanted for once to get one of these movies and do it right—to do a good version. I hate Black so much."
===Director's cut===
A director's cut of the film was announced for a spring 2004 DVD release. This version contained new additions like previously unseen footage and a removed subplot, and was to be a bit darker with an R rating. The film, released in 2.35:1 widescreen format, was released with DTS and Dolby Digital sound. The new version of the film has newly recorded commentary to accompany it, featuring Mark Steven Johnson and Avi Arad. A "Making of Director's Cut" featurette also accompanied the film. The release date of the DVD was later pushed back to January 13, 2004. On September 30, 2008, the director's cut was released on Blu-ray. The DVD release of the director's cut removed the bonus material included on the theatrical cut's DVD release, but that content was restored for the Blu-ray release (although the Blu-ray release only contains the director's cut).
One of the biggest changes to the film was the addition of a subplot involving a drug addict played by Coolio. This subplot is missing from the theatrical version of the film, but is present in the novelization by Greg Cox, published in 2003.
Executive producer Kevin Feige commented on this version of the film, believing "the people who had other opinions [of Daredevil] will be won over by this new version." Reviewer Danny Graydon of Empire called it a "considerable improvement on the original version," notably preferring the more violent undertones, a lesser focus on the romance, and the equal focus of Black and his lawyer alias Matt Murdock and the subplot involving Coolio. Some critics continued to feel Affleck was unsuitable as Black and that Duncan portrayed the Kingpin in an over-the-top manner. IGN's Jeff Otto and Andy Patrizio deemed this version an improvement over the original: They felt this version was more loyal to the Frank Miller feel of the Daredevil world, with more focus on themes such as Murdock's struggle with his Catholic upbringing. On the whole they felt the film would be far more pleasing to fans, and overall better than the theatrical release. Comic-book enthusiasts have gauged the director's cut as one of the better recuts of a superhero film.
==Legacy==
===Cancelled sequel===
During 2004, Ben Affleck shot a cameo role for the spin-off film, Elektra, at the request of Daredevil co-star Jennifer Garner, but the scene was ultimately cut from the film. In October 2004, Affleck stated he would only return in the lead role if Fox would renegotiate to tell the darker stories of Daredevil, and showed interest in the Guardian Devil graphic novel, as well as the Born Again storyline. In November 2006, Affleck stated that he would never reprise the role, having felt "by playing a superhero in Daredevil, I have inoculated myself from ever playing another superhero ... Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn't want to do again soon." Despite this, Affleck would later sign on to portray the DC superhero, Batman, in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
In July 2006, Michael Clarke Duncan showed interest in returning for the role of the Kingpin, but stated that he would not be willing to gain weight as he felt "comfortable" being down to 270 pounds. He jokingly showed willingness to change his mind if he was offered $20 million. Duncan suggested that the character is portrayed to have been training a lot in jail in order to become faster in combat against Daredevil, also working as a way to fit his weight loss into the story. Duncan would later go on to reprise his role as the Kingpin in an episode of the animated series: Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. He has also moved on to appear in other comic book films like the 2005 crime film Sin City as Manute and the 2011 DC superhero film Green Lantern as Kilowog. Duncan died on September 3, 2012.
===Marvel Cinematic Universe===
Feige had stated on potential future Daredevil films, "there are many more stories to be told with old Hornhead and we'd love to tell them someday." Avi Arad has also said that a sequel will begin development once the rights go from 20th Century Fox to Marvel Studios. Director Mark Steven Johnson showed interest in returning to direct with the Born Again storyline, as well as suggesting Mr. Fear as a possible villain.
In July 2008, Jason Statham expressed interest in appearing as Daredevil in the future. Statham requested "just give me the chance, I would love to be Daredevil." Frank Miller commented in agreement, "I think he should be Daredevil too." In October 2008, 20th Century Fox executive Tom Rothman said "a Daredevil reboot is something we are thinking very seriously about." Rothman added that "what it really needs is, it needs a visionary at the level that Chris Nolan was. It needs someone, it needs a director, honestly, who has a genuine vision." By February 2010, 20th Century Fox and New Regency were looking to develop the reboot with News Corp., with Peter Chernin producing and David Scarpa writing the script. On March 15, 2011, it was announced that filmmaker David Slade would be directing the reboot, but he later had to drop out due to other obligations. Fringe writer and producer Brad Caleb Kane was hired to pen the Slade-directed film.
Later, it was announced that in the event that a sequel or reboot had not started filming by October 10, 2012, the rights to the Black franchise would revert from Fox back to Marvel. In early August 2012, Fox scrambled to find a replacement for David Slade. The studio briefly met with Joe Carnahan, but Carnahan said that his pitch, Daredevil as a hard-boiled '70s-style thriller, had gone up in smoke. Several sources commented that Fox had given up on the reboot, and were prepared to let the rights revert to Marvel and their parent company, The Walt Disney Company. On April 23, 2013, Kevin Feige confirmed that the rights for Daredevil returned to Marvel Studios and Disney, opening the possibility of including the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That speculation was confirmed with the announcement of an original Netflix Daredevil television series, which premiered on the streaming service in April 2015, with English actor Charlie Cox in the title role.
==Gallery==
:Main article: Black/Gallery
==Transcripts==
:Main article: Black/Transcripts and Black/Trailer transcripts
==References==
==External links==
Wikiquote has quotations related to Black.
*Black at IMDb
*Black at AllMovie
*Black at Rotten Tomatoes
*Black at Metacritic
*Black at Box Office Mojo
Category:2003 films
Category:2000s action-comedy films
Category:20th Century Fox films
Category:Remakes of American films
Category:2000s English-language films
Category:Films about families
Category:Films directed by Shawn Levy
Category:Films produced by Michael Barnathan
Category:Films scored by Graeme Revell
Category:Films set in Illinois
Category:Films with screenplays by Craig Titley
Category:Films with screenplays by Alec Sokolow
Category:Films with screenplays by Joel Cohen
Category:American action-comedy films
Category:2003 comedy films
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