Booksmart

**Booksmart** is a 2019 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Olivia Wilde, which first premiered at SXSW on March 10, 2019 and theatrically on May 24, 2019 by Annapurna Pictures, Gloria Sanchez Productions and United Artists Releasing.

## Plot

Academic overachievers Amy and Molly (Kaitlyn Dever & Beanie Feldman) thought that keeping their noses to the grindstone gave them a leg up on their high school peers; but on the eve of their graduation day, they suddenly realize that they may have missed out on the special moments of their teenage years.

Determined to make up for lost time, Amy & Molly decide to cram four years of not-to-be missed fun into one night, a chaotic adventure that no amount of book smarts could prepare them for.

## Cast

* Beanie Feldstein as Molly Davidson
* Kaitlyn Dever as Amy Antsler
* Jessica Williams as Miss Fine
* Lisa Kudrow as Charmaine Antsler
* Will Forte as Doug Antsler
* Jason Sudeikis as Jordan Brown
* Billie Lourd as Gigi
* Diana Silvers as Hope
* Skyler Gisondo as Jared
* Molly Gordon as Annabelle
* Noah Galvin as George
* Austin Crute as Alan
* Victoria Ruesga as Ryan
* Eduardo Franco as Theo
* Nico Hiraga as Tanner
* Mason Gooding as Nick Howland
* Mike O'Brien as Pat the Pizza Guy

## Production

An early version of the screenplay, "Book Smart" (written by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins) was circulated in 2009 and appeared on the 2009 Black List.

In 2014, Susanna Fogel revised the screenplay, rewriting one lead character as a lesbian and revising the story so the girls are not seeking boyfriends for the prom, but are going to an after-prom party.

Following the revisions, Annapurna Pictures purchased the screenplay and approached Gloria Sanchez Productions to produce it. Jessica Elbaum (from Gloria Sanchez) pitched the screenplay to Olivia Wilde, who read it and two days later, expressed admiration for it.

Megan Ellison, Chelsea Bernard, David Distenfeld, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Elbaum would serve as producers on the film.

Screenwriter Katie Silberman was hired for more revisions in spring 2018, and to update the story. She explored a new concept: *"What if the two friends realized that they did high school all wrong? What if they realized that everyone they thought just partied and wasted their high-school years were going to Ivy League schools just like them?"*

According to Silberman, *"Olivia's mantra to all of us was that high school is war".* Wilde also envisioned *"a drug trip where the girls turned into Barbie dolls"* and gave Silberman the responsibility of where to incorporate it into the story.

### Casting

In February of 2018, Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein joined the cast for "Booksmart."

In May of that same year, Billie Lourd, Skyler Gisondo, Jason Sudekis, Lisa Kudrow, Jessica Williams, Will Forte, Mike O'Brien, Mason Gooding, Noah Galvin, Diana Silvers, Austin Crute, Eduardo Franco, Molly Gordon and Nico Hiraga joined the cast as well.

Diana Silvers was initially asked to audition for the role of Ryan, but felt that her appearance was not ideal for the character and auditioned for Hope instead.

Olivia Wilde also urged Feldstein and Dever to live together to develop a rapport; the two actresses were roommates in Los Angeles for 10 weeks.

Wilde also asked the cast to read the screenplay and signal if they found dialogue that felt *"inauthentic ... [and] rewrite it in your own voice".*

Silberman continued to write after casting, finding it easy to come up with dialogue to fit Feldstein and Dever. She particularly credited the complementary language the characters use to Feldstein, who frequently posted "I have no breath" to Instagram.

### Filming

Principal photography for "Booksmart" began in May 2018 around the San Fernando Valley.

Olivia Wilde and production designer Katie Byron decorated the bedrooms seen in the film, including with trophies and depictions of prominent American women Michelle Obama and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The animated dolls sequence was created over five months by a team of thirty people. Wilde had voiced a character on the animated series, "Bojack Horseman" and contacted ShadowMachine the animation studio behind Bojack to create the sequence.

Due to script rewrites, parts of the animated scene involving a Roomba and a scene showing glitter vomit were cut from the film.

## Box Office

"Booksmart" grossed $22.7 million in the United States & Canada, and $2.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $24.9 million.

In the United States, the film was released alongside "Aladdin" and "Brightburn" and was projected to gross around $12 million from 2,505 theaters in its four-day opening weekend.

On its first day, "Booksmart" made $2.5 million (including $875,000 for Thursday night previews) and ended up underperforming to just $6.9 million (a 4-day total of $8.7 million), finishing in 6th place at the box office.

Industry publications insisted that although the targeted young female demographic did turn out to the film, "Booksmart" should've begun with a limited release and expanded (similar to the 2017 film, "Lady Bird") and that it failed to stand out in the crowded market place.

During its second weekend, the film made $3.3 million, dropping to 52% and finishing in 8th place at the box office.

The film's largest market outside North America was the United Kingdom, where it grossed around US$1.8 million (£1.5 million) after seven weeks in theaters.

Director J.J. Abrams asked: *"When you have a movie that's as entertaining, well-made, and well-received as 'Booksmart' not doing the business it should have [the teen comedy underperforming at the box office despite critics' raves], it really makes you realize that the typical Darwinian fight to survive is completely lopsided now. Everyone's trying to figure out how we protect the smaller films that aren't four-quadrant mega-releases. Can they exist in the cinema?"*

## Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, "Booksmart" holds an approval rating of 96% based on 367 reviews with an average rating of 8.29\10. The website's consensus reads, *"Fast-paced, funny, and fresh, Booksmart does the seemingly impossible by adding a smart new spin to the coming-of-age comedy."*

In December 2018, Rotten Tomatoes named it the #1 comedy of the decade on the site, using an adjusted formula that weighed multiple factors, including a film's release year and number of reviews.
On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave "Booksmart" an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 80%.

Peter Debruge of Variety praised the ensemble cast as well as Olivia Wilde's direction, calling the film *"the best high school buddy comedy since Superbad".*

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called the film a *"hilarious, blazingly paced teen comedy."*

Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper gave "Booksmart" a rating of three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it a *"refreshingly original take on the raunchy coming-of-age comedy"* and praising Beanie Feldstein & Kaitlyn Dever's chemistry.

Alissa Wilkinson of Vox awarded the film a score of four out of five, writing that the *"memorably relatable"* Booksmart is also a *"delightful reminder that growing up is about realizing nobody's a stereotype".*

Linda Holmes of NPR gave "Booksmart" an especially favorable review, calling the film *"a humane and heartfelt film without a mean bone in its figurative body".*

Vulture's Emily Yoshida also favorably wrote that it *"manages to be inclusive and progressive, without being precious about anything or sacrificing an ounce of humor".*

A. O. Scott of The New York Times regarded "Booksmart" as *"sharp but not mean, warm without feeling too soft or timid"* and referring to Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as *"a classic comedy duo".*

Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal deemed the film a *"prodigy",* stating that no film that was *"funnier, smarter, quicker or more joyous has graced the big screen in a long time."*

Emily Yoshida of New York Magazine (Vulture) wrote: *"What makes Booksmart land so delightfully is Wilde’s handle on exactly how seriously to take her neurotic heroines. ... Booksmart manages to be inclusive and progressive, without being precious about anything or sacrificing an ounce of humor. It feels at once like a huge moment for the teen movie genre, and also effortless, effortless enough to make one wonder what took so long."*

Peter Debruge from Variety said: *"Not since “Superbad” has a high school comedy so perfectly nailed how exhilarating it feels to act out at that age ... In this year’s class of first-time feature directors, Wilde handily earns the title of Most Likely to Succeed."*