Adventures in London

Adventures in London is a 2010 American adventure comedy film written and directed by David Leitch and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the first installment in the Adventures in London franchise and stars Ryan Gosling, Johnny Depp, Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult. Three completely different people met in London - a young artist from Italy, a senior businessman from Japan and a student from Australia. All three flew to the city for the first time and decided to take a tour to get to know London better.
Leitch directed Adventures in London on an estimated budget of $50 million. The film was released on July 12, 2010 in a limited number of theaters before its nationwide release on July 20, 2010, and grossed $289 million worldwide. The film received critical acclaim upon release and has since been considered one of the greatest adventure films ever made. The film spawned a franchise consisting of three sequels, a remake of the same name, video games and other merchandise. It was one of the first Universal Pictures films to be created in 3D, which contributed to the format's surge in popularity for some time.
The film is credited with continuing many of the tropes found in low-budget comedies of the 2000s and 2010s, including a morality play that revolves around sexual promiscuity among young people. Critics and film historians state that the film's premise is a struggle to define the difference between dreams and reality. The film was followed by Adventures in London 2 (2011).
In 2023, Adventures in London was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
== Plot ==
Three completely different people met in London - a young artist from Italy, a senior businessman from Japan and a student from Australia. All three flew to the city for the first time and decided to take a tour to get to know London better.
Due to a misunderstanding, they all ended up on the same excursion together and, in order not to impress the guide, they decided to stick together. While visiting the main attractions of London, they encounter various funny situations.
For example, when they visit Buckingham Palace, the student takes on the role of the queen and begins cheerfully bossing everyone around. An artist accidentally drew a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on his handkerchief, and everyone thinks it's a joke.
After visiting the Tower, a Japanese businessman is surprised by the strange English tradition with the royal guards and tries to talk to them in Japanese, which causes laughter from everyone around him.
On the streets of Soho, they accidentally come across a parade of naked cyclists and stand there in bewilderment, not understanding what is happening.
Thus, three strangers spend the whole day having fun and unforgettably, exploring London and getting into various funny situations. At the end of the excursion, they become good friends and decide to meet and explore the city together to have new adventures every time.
== Cast ==
* Ryan Gosling as Ron
* Johnny Depp as Ju Van
* Tom Hardy as Dyane
* Charlize Theron as Mia
* Nicholas Hoult as Stu
* Megan Gale as Valkyrie
* Melissa Jaffer as Anne
* Melita Jurisic as Ellie
* Jon Iles as Crystal
* Quentin Kenihan as Joe
== Release ==
=== Censorship issues ===
When the film was submitted to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) film rating system, they needed two versions to give it an R rating. The theatrical cut was released with an R rating and thirteen seconds of cuts. In the United Kingdom, the film was released theatrically and on home video with a PG-13 rating. The Australian theatrical release was rated M, but a VHS home video was released uncut in 2011 with an Australian rating of R. The uncut version will not be released in the US until local reshoots in 2018. All DVD, digital and Blu-ray releases use the R-rated theatrical cut; the uncut version has not yet been released digitally, although six seconds have been restored for home video and an additional two seconds for current releases.
=== Theatrical ===
It was released in the US and UK on July 12, 2010 by Universal Pictures and in the rest of the world on July 20 in IMAX 3D, 4D.
=== Home media ===
The film was first released to the home video market by Universal Home Entertainment in early 2011 and was eventually released on Blu-Ray and DVD. It was part of the Adventures in London trilogy box set in 2019, and then again in a restored Infinifilm special edition in 2021 containing various special scenes.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
Adventures in London opened in limited release in the United States and United Kingdom on July 12, 2010, in 400 theaters in those countries. Grossing $34 million in its opening weekend, the film immediately met expectations. Ultimately, upon worldwide release, the film earned a total of $289 million at the worldwide box office.
=== Critical response ===
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 439 critic reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's "Critics Consensus" reads: "With thrilling action and a surprising amount of storytelling, Adventures in London really has the potential to captivate crowds even outside the film world. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the film a score of 83 out of 100 based on 51 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a full five stars and praised its acting, writing, choreography, stunts, humor and direction, calling it a "multi-generational tear-jerking comedy". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded the film four out of five stars and wrote that it is "extravagantly frantic, deafeningly cacophonous and completely over-the-top", while Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press described the film as "radically visionary". The Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, called the film a funny and exciting representative of the genre.
=== Praise ===
* Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films - Best Picture (2011) (nominated)
* Academy of Comedy and Adventure - Best Performance by a Young Actor (2011) (nominated)
* Oscar - Best Director (2011) (win)
* Oscar - Best Screenplay (2011) (win)
== Sequels and Remake ==
In 2011, a sequel to this film, called Adventures in London 2, was released, which became as successful as its predecessor. Adventures in London 3: The Last Journey was released in 2014, becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise. In 2024, the fourth film was released, which was also successful.
A remake was released in 2020, also titled Adventures in London!. The film was produced by Michael Bay and directed by Samuel Bayer. The film was intended to be a reboot of the franchise, but plans for a sequel never materialized after the film received mostly negative reviews and was a box office failure.