Project Zero

***Project Zero*** is a 2000 American animated science fiction film produced by T.J. Entertainment for Paramount Pictures. The third feature film from T.J. Entertainment, it was co-written and directed by Trevor Jordan and co-written and produced by Nicholas Pockes, and was the studio's first independently produced film since *The Hub* (1995). The film centers on three computer club students who venture into the digital world in order to free it from the clutches of a tyrannical dictator who wishes to reshape it into his image.

The film's concept was envisioned by Jordan in 1997, while working on the film *Revolt Squad*. Pockes convinced him to pitch their original screenplay for the film to Paramount soon after. Production lasted from September 1998 to August 1999, and saw the studio working with fully three-dimensional animation and visual effects for the first time. The film stars the voices of Matthew Broderick, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katie Holmes, Steve Zahn, Patrick Warburton, and Samuel L. Jackson, and marked Mary Kay Bergman's final film role before her death on November 11, 1999; *Project Zero* is thus dedicated to her memory.

*Project Zero* premiered at the Fox Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills on March 19, 2000, and was released in the United States on March 24, 2000. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, style and writing, and grossed over $74 million worldwide against its $15 million budget, making it the seventh highest-grossing animated film of 2000. It was later released on DVD and VHS on August 15, 2000, and on Blu-ray on March 24, 2010, exactly ten years after its original release.

## Voice cast

* Matthew Broderick as Jason
* Sarah Michelle Gellar as Ashley
* Katie Holmes as Brenda
* Steve Zahn as Mr. Howard
* Samuel L. Jackson as Cyrus
* Patrick Warburton as Viro
* Mary Kay Bergman as Mrs. East

*More coming soon!*

## Music

*Further info: Project Zero: Music from the Motion Picture and Project Zero: Original Motion Picture Score*
The film's soundtrack album was released on March 7, 2000 by Columbia Records and Sony Music Soundtrax, and features music by artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps, the Chemical Brothers, UNKLE, Boards of Canada, and Aphex Twin.

## Marketing

Beginning in July 1999, Paramount Pictures launched a cryptic marketing campaign in the lead-up to the release of the film's teaser trailer. The campaign involved three short teasers released on the film's website from July 27 to August 24, 1999, each reading one of the three numbers of the film's release date ("03.24.00").

The film's official teaser trailer was released on September 14, 1999, and was attached to films such as *Drive Me Crazy*, *Blue Streak* and *Superstar*. The first theatrical trailer was released on November 2, 1999, and was attached to films such as *The World Is Not Enough*, *Pokémon: The First Movie* and *Toy Story 2*. The second theatrical trailer was released on January 18, 2000, and was attached to films such as *Supernova*, *Snow Day* and *Hanging Up*. TV spots for the film were released from February to April 2000.

*More coming soon!*

### Video game

*Main article: Project Zero (video game)*
A video game based on the film was released in March 2000 for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, and Microsoft Windows.

## Release

### Box office

In the United States, *Project Zero* was released alongside *Whatever It Takes*, *Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai* and *Here on Earth*, and grossed over $11.3 million from 2,244 theaters on its opening weekend. The film closed on July 6, 2000, having earned over $59 million in North America and over $15 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $74 million. It was T.J. Entertainment's highest-grossing film up to that point, until it was surpassed by the studio's own *PuffRuff School: The Movie* a year later.

### Critical reception

*Project Zero* received mostly positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 76% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10 based on 94 reviews; its critical consensus states, "*Project Zero* largely overcomes its flaws as a solid animated feature with likeable characters and slick visuals." On Metacritic, it holds a score of 68 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

*More coming soon!*

### Home media

*Project Zero* was originally released on DVD and VHS on August 15, 2000. The DVD release included an 11-minute making-of documentary titled *Project Zero: Behind the Screens*.

*More coming soon!*