A decade on, J. A. Bayona’s dark fantasy drama remains a fan favourite for its emotional take on grief and its motion-capture monster. As A Monster Calls turns 10 this week, we looked back at eight details from the making of the film that even devoted viewers may have missed.
Tom Holland was the Monster’s stand-in
Before Spider-Man, Tom Holland worked on set as the stand-in for the title creature. He had previously worked with director J. A. Bayona on The Impossible (2012). Liam Neeson provided the Monster’s voice.
Liam Neeson finished before filming began
Liam Neeson voices the film’s titular tree creature but was not on set throughout the shooting process. He completed his motion-capture performance during a two-week period beforehand, with Lewis MacDougall in the room.
The lead role was revealed in a tweet
On 3 September, Patrick Ness tweeted that Lewis MacDougall had been cast in the lead role. Ness wrote the screenplay, adapting his own 2011 novel of the same name. The announcement came after several adult cast members had already signed on.
The cast assembled in five months
Felicity Jones was cast on 23 April 2014, Liam Neeson on 8 May, Sigourney Weaver on 18 August, and Toby Kebbell on 19 August. Geraldine Chaplin joined the cast on 30 September. Focus Features had bought the rights to Patrick Ness’ book in March 2014.
Shooting began the day Chaplin joined
Principal photography began on 30 September 2014, the same day Geraldine Chaplin joined the cast. Filming took place in Spain and Britain. That start date came about six months after Focus Features bought the rights to Patrick Ness’ book in March 2014.
The location list reads like a UK road trip
On 9 October, filming began on location in Glossop, Preston, Lancashire (Ramsbottom), Rivington Pike (Chorley/Horwich), Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Colne Valley High School, Linthwaite, Huddersfield and Marsden, West Yorkshire.
The US release kept moving
In the United States, the film was originally scheduled for an October 2016 release. It was rescheduled for a limited rollout on 23 December 2016, followed by a wide release on 6 January 2017. The United Kingdom and India also saw January 2017 releases.
It set a record for the wrong reason
After making just $659,000 on its first day of wide release, the film finished its opening weekend with around $2 million. In its third week, it made just $19,080, a drop of 96.4%, after being pulled from all but 42 theaters, one of the biggest third week theater drops in history.
Those are the details we keep returning to, but the film’s reception is just as memorable: 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore. Which of these A Monster Calls facts surprised you most?
Facts from Wikipedia: A Monster Calls (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
