Aloha (2015)

***Aloha*** is a 2015 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Cameron Crowe. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride and Alec Baldwin. The story follows former US Air Force officer, Brian Gilcrest, who returns to Hawaii, when he is rehired by a former boss to oversee the launch of a weapons satellite in Hawaii.

The film was produced by Columbia Pictures and was released on May 29, 2015. It grossed $9.6 million in its opening weekend and $26.2 million worldwide against a budget of $37 million.

## Storyline

### Plot

A celebrated military contractor returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs and reconnects with a long-ago love while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog assigned to him.

### Genres

* Comedy
* Drama
* Romance

### Motion Picture Rating

* **Atp** (Argentina)
* **PG** (Australia)
* **12** (Brazil)
* **PG** (Canada)
* **S** (Finland)
* **Tous publics** (France)
* **0** (Germany)
* **12A** (Ireland) (theatrical rating)
* **12** (Ireland) (video rating)
* **B** (Mexico)
* **AL** (Netherlands)
* **M** (New Zealand)
* **A** (Norway)
* **PG13** (Singapore)
* **7-9** (South Africa)
* **15** (South Korea)
* **12A** (UK) (theatrical rating)
* **12** (UK) (video rating)
* **PG-13** (USA)

## Cast and Crew

### Cast

* Bradley Cooper - Brian Gilcrest
* Emma Stone - Captain Allison Ng
* Rachel McAdams - Tracy Woodside
* Bill Murray - Carson Welch
* John Krasinski - Major John "Woody" Woodside
* Danny McBride - Colonel "Fingers" Lacy
* Alec Baldwin - General Dixon
* Bill Camp - Bob Largent
* Michael Chernus - Roy
* Danielle Rose Russell - Grace
* Jaeden Martell - Mitchell (as Jaeden Lieberher)
* Edi Gathegi - Lieutenant Colonel Curtis
* Ivana Miličević - Carson's Biographer
* Bumpy Kanahele - Himself (as Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele)

### Producers

* Eli Bush (executive producer)
* Cameron Crowe (producer)
* Andy Fischer (co-producer)
* Ilona Herzberg (executive producer)
* Robert Huberman (associate producer) (as Bob Huberman)
* Scott Robertson (associate producer)
* Scott Rudin (producer)
* Jason Sack (co-producer)
* Ben Waisbren (executive producer)

## Details

### Language

* English
* Hawaiian
* Russian

### Release Dates

* May 27, 2015 (USA) (West Hollywood, California) (premiere)
* May 28, 2015 (Russia)
* May 29, 2015 (Canada)
* May 29, 2015 (USA)
* June 4, 2015 (Cambodia)
* June 4, 2015 (Singapore)
* June 11, 2015 (Brazil)
* June 18, 2015 (Argentina)
* June 18, 2015 (Australia)
* June 18, 2015 (New Zealand)
* July 17, 2015 (Taiwan)
* August 6, 2015 (Germany)
* August 21, 2015 (Spain) (Madrid)
* August 26, 2015 (Belgium)
* August 27, 2015 (Netherlands)
* August 28, 2015 (Austria)
* September 4, 2015 (Romania)
* September 4, 2015 (Turkey)
* September 10, 2015 (Portugal)
* September 18, 2015 (Ireland)
* September 18, 2015 (Poland)
* September 24, 2015 (Israel)
* September 25, 2015 (UK) (internet)
* September 28, 2015 (Sweden) (internet)
* October 19, 2015 (France) (internet)
* December 21, 2018 (Italy) (internet)
* December 24, 2018 (India) (internet)

### Home Media Release Dates

* August 25, 2015 (USA) (DVD)
* August 25, 2015 (USA) (Blu-Ray)

### Also Known As

* Volcano Romance (working title)
* Deep Tiki (original script title)
* Hawaii (working title)

## Release

On February 14, 2014, it was announced that the film was scheduled for release in the United States on December 25, 2014. On July 21, the release date was changed to May 29, 2015.

In the United Kingdom, the film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release on September 4, 2015, but due to the film's poor performance at the box office in other countries, the film was instead released on video on demand on September 25, 2015.

## Reception

### Box office

*Aloha (2015)* grossed $26,250,020 worldwide on a budget of around $37-52 million.

In North America, *Aloha* opened simultaneously with the disaster film *San Andreas*. It made $500,000 from Thursday night showings at 2,275 theaters and an estimated $3.5 million on its opening day from 2,815 theaters. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $9.7 million, finishing 6th at the box office. The film earned $1.65 million in its opening weekend overseas from 7 countries. Australia and New Zealand had an opening weekend combined of $1.5 million and Brazil opened with $240,000. The film went straight to video on demand in the UK and France.

Pamela McClintock at *The Hollywood Reporter* estimated that the financial losses by the film finished to around $65 million by the time the film ended its global theatrical run, based on a budget of "$37 million-plus".

### Critical response

According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 20% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 4.31/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Meandering and insubstantial, *Aloha* finds writer-director Cameron Crowe at his most sentimental and least compelling." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave *Aloha* an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.

### Accolades

The film was nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, Bradley Cooper for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy, Emma Stone for Choice Movie Actress: Comedy, and the film itself in the category of Choice Movie: Comedy.

## Company Credits

### Production Companies

* Columbia Pictures
* RatPac-Dune Entertainment
* Regency Enterprises
* New Regency Pictures
* LStar Capital
* Scott Rudin Productions
* Vinyl Films

### Distributors

* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Argentina) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Australia) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Belgium) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Chile) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Germany) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Singapore) (theatrical)
* Big Picture 2 Films (2015) (Portugal) (theatrical)
* Columbia Pictures (2015) (USA) (theatrical)
* Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Canada) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
* Warner Bros Pictures (2015) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Spain) (all media)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (France) (all media)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (UK) (all media)
* 20th Century Fox (2015) (Ireland) (all media)
* Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2015) (USA) (DVD)
* Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2015) (USA) (Blu-Ray)

### Special Effects

* Hammerhead Productions (visual effects)
* Sony ColorWorks (additional visual effects) (as Colorworks)
* Instinctual VFX

## Technical Specs

### Color

* Color
* Black and White (archive footage)

## Trivia

* On February 2, 2015, Sony Pictures stated that the film's official title was *Aloha*, the previous working titles were *Deep Tiki* and *Volcano Romance*.
* Originally, Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon were both attached to star, but left due to scheduling conflicts. Crowe then spent four years re-writing the script, making the characters younger.
* Rachel McAdams previously auditioned for a role in Cameron Crowe's previous film, *We Bought a Zoo* (2011).
* Emma Stone and Bradley Cooper also appeared in *The Rocker* (2008).
* Emma Stone and Bill Murray also appeared in *Zombieland* (2009).
* Bradley Cooper and Rachel McAdams also appeared in *Wedding Crashers* (2005).
* This is the second collaboration between Cameron Crowe and Alec Baldwin, after *Elizabethtown* (2005).
* Emma Stone's character in this film was originally called Lisa.
* Jaeden Martell and Bill Murray also appeared in *St. Vincent* (2014).
* John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin also appeared in *It's Complicated* (2009).

## Connections

### References

* *Barbarella* (1968) - Poster visible in Mitchell's room.

### Referenced in

* *Battle of the Sexes* (2017) - Sign in the airport which also starred Emma Stone who plays Billie Jean King in *Battle of the Sexes*.

### Features

* *A Streetcar Named Desire* (1951) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *Santa Claus* (1959) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *National Lampoon's Animal House* (1978) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *The Jerk* (1979) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *Stripes* (1981) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *Ghostbusters* (1984) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *A League of Their Own* (1992) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *A Few Good Men* (1992) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *Scent of a Woman* (1992) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.
* *Seven* (1995) - A clip is featured in the satellite sequence.