Chronicle (film)

Chronicle is a 2012 American found footage superhero film

Chronicle
directed by Josh Trank and with a screenplay by Max Landis from
a story by them both. It follows three Seattle high school seniors,
bullied Andrew (Dane DeHaan), his cousin Matt (Alex Russell),
and more popular Steve (Michael B. Jordan), who form a bond
after gaining telekinetic powers from an unknown object. They
first use their abilities for fun and games until Andrew turns to
darker purposes.

Chronicle premiered at the Gérardmer Film Festival on January

28, 2012. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on
February 1, 2012, and in the United States on February 3, 2012.
The film grossed $126.6 million at the international box office,
against a budget of $12 million. The film received generally
positive reviews with praise for the premise, and received a
nomination for Best Science Fiction Film at the 39th Saturn
Awards.

Contents Theatrical release poster

Directed by Josh Trank
Plot
Produced by John Davis
Cast
Production Adam Schroeder
Development Screenplay by Max Landis
Production Story by Josh Trank
Release Max Landis
Reception Starring Dane DeHaan
Critical response
Alex Russell
Awards
Michael B.
Potential sequel
Jordan
See also Michael Kelly
References Ashley Hinshaw
External links
Cinematography Matthew Jensen
Edited by Elliot Greenberg
Plot Production Dune
company Entertainment
Friendless Seattle teenager Andrew Detmer endures frequent Davis
abuse from bullies and his alcoholic father Richard, while also Entertainment
coping with his loving mother, Karen, who is dying of cancer. He
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
begins to videotape his life. His cousin, Matt Garetty, invites him
to a party to help him mingle, but this fails as his filming causes an Release date January 28, 2012
altercation with an attendee who throws his drink in Andrew's (Gérardmer Film
face. Popular student Steve Montgomery finds a crying Andrew Festival)
outside the party, and asks him to record a large hole they have
February 3, 2012
found in the woods. A drunken Steve and Matt enter, and Andrew
reluctantly joins. The trio head through a small tunnel before (United States)
discovering a glowing crystalline object, which causes inexplicable Running time 83 minutes[1]
phenomena as they approach it. As the object begins to react
Country United States
violently, the camera shorts out.
Language English
Weeks later, Andrew has bought a new camera, and he records Budget $12 million[2]
himself, Matt, and Steve as they display telekinetic abilities. As the
group practices with them, they realize their abilities become Box office $126.6 million[3]
stronger the more they are exercised. They develop a close
friendship, and begin using their abilities to play and record pranks. However, one day, Matt and Steve
are horrified when Andrew telekinetically pushes a rude motorist tailgating them off the road and into a
nearby pond, and barely manage to save the man's life. Matt realizes how easily they can cause harm now
and insists that they restrict the use of their powers, particularly against living things.

After discovering they can fly, the friends agree to fly around the world together following graduation,
with Andrew in particular desiring to visit Tibet because of its peaceful nature. Steve encourages Andrew
to enter the school talent show, where the latter amazes his fellow students by disguising his powers as a
magic act. The three celebrate at a house party, where Andrew relishes his newfound popularity, but he
eventually gets drunk and accidentally vomits on a classmate, humiliating them both when they go
upstairs to have sex.

As his mother's condition rapidly becomes worse, Andrew becomes increasingly withdrawn and
aggressive. When his father continues to abuse him in an argument and eventually strikes him, Andrew
violently repels him and flees the house. Steve and Matt suffer nosebleeds due to their psychic
connection, and the former flies to find Andrew sobbing in the middle of a storm. Steve attempts to
console him, but the latter grows increasingly frustrated before Steve is suddenly struck by lightning and
killed. At Steve's funeral, Matt confronts Andrew about what happened. Andrew denies responsibility,
but later privately begs for forgiveness at Steve's grave.

Due to the incident at the party, as well as Steve's death, Andrew loses his friendship with Matt and is
once again ostracized at school. At one point, when a bully mocks him, he rips three teeth out of the
bully's mouth in front of the other students. Andrew begins to identify himself as an apex predator,
rationalizing that he should not feel guilt for using his powers to hurt those weaker than him. Having no
money to pay for his mother's medication, Andrew disguises himself using Richard's firefighter gear and
uses his powers to steal money. While robbing a gas station, he inadvertently causes an explosion that
puts him in the hospital. At his bedside, a saddened Richard informs an unconscious Andrew that Karen
has died. He goes on to say that she died while he was out looking for Andrew, and it is Andrew's fault.
As his father is about to strike him, Andrew abruptly grabs his arm and blows out the wall of the room.

While at a birthday party, Matt experiences a severe nosebleed and senses Andrew is in trouble. He and
his girlfriend, Casey, go to the hospital, where Andrew flies out of the hospital room, dangling his father
before dropping him. Matt flies up and saves Richard, before confronting his cousin to reason with him.
However, Andrew is too far gone in his rage and attacks Matt. Their fight takes them across the city,
crashing through buildings and hurling vehicles. Eventually, the duo exhaust themselves and wind up in
a plaza, where police surround them. Andrew's rage reaches a breaking point and he begins to destroy
everything around him. Unable to get through to his cousin and left with no other choice, Matt uses his
powers to impale Andrew with a spear from a nearby statue, killing him. The police surround Matt, but
he regains consciousness and flies off.

Sometime later, Matt lands in Tibet with Andrew's camera, tearfully vowing to use his powers for good
and find out what happened to them. He points the camera at a Tibetan monastery in the distance before
flying away, leaving it behind.

Cast
Dane DeHaan as Andrew Detmer
Alex Russell as Matt Garetty
Michael B. Jordan as Steve Montgomery
Michael Kelly as Richard Detmer
Ashley Hinshaw as Casey Letter
Anna Wood as Monica
Bo Petersen as Karen Detmer

DeHaan and Wood, whose characters feature in an embarrassing "almost" sex scene in the film, had
already been a couple for five years (since high school) when the film was shot, marrying a few months
after its release.[4][5]

Production

Development

Josh Trank had conceived the idea for Chronicle in high school and spent the following years generating
ideas for the film. Up-and-coming screenwriter Jeremy Slater had collaborated with Trank while
working on an unmade spec script. By 2010, Slater had moved on, leading to Trank contacting Max
Landis, who agreed to co-write the film. The first draft of the script was written in three weeks after
Landis had pitched the film behind Trank's back. Trank's original draft had the character of Steve being
hit by a plane and dying in the middle of the second act. Landis removed this from his revisions, which "
solved the entire second act". 20th Century Fox bought the rights to the project and greenlit the film with
Trank serving as director in January 2011.[6]

Production

For budgetary reasons, the film was shot primarily in Cape Town, South Africa, with Film Afrika
Worldwide, as well in Vancouver, Canada.[7][8] Trank cited the films Akira, Carrie and The Fury as
influences on Chronicle.[9] Filming started in May 2011 and continued for eighteen weeks, ending in
August 2011.[10] Cinematographer Matthew Jensen used the Arri Alexa video camera to shoot the film
and Angenieux Optimo and Cook s4 lenses.[7] Postproduction techniques were used to give it a "found
footage" look.[7] A cable cam rig was used for a shot in which the character Andrew levitated his camera
120 feet into the air.[7] The Arri Alexa camera was mounted on a skateboard to simulate Andrew's
camera sliding across a floor.[7] Stuntmen were suspended from crane wire rigs for flying scenes, with
green screen special effects used for closeups of the actors.[7] Andrew's video camera in the movie was a
Canon XL1 MiniDV and later he switched to a HD camera that resembles a Canon Vixia HF M30.[7] His
"Seattle" bedroom was actually a set constructed on a film studio stage in Cape Town.[7] Because in
South Africa, vehicles drive on the left side and have steering wheels on the right side, American style
vehicles had to be shipped in for the production.[7] DVD dailies were provided to the director and
cinematographer by the Cape Town firm HD Hub.[7]

According to Josh Trank, Max Landis was banned from set during production and he has not spoken to
Landis since 2012. Trank confirmed this on Twitter in light of Landis' sexual and emotional abuse
accusations.[11]

Release
Chronicle opened in 2,907 theaters in the United States and Canada on February 3, 2012.[12] Box office
watchers expected the film to gross $15 million for its opening weekend, the Super Bowl weekend, while
Fox projected to receive around $8 million.[13] By its first day the film had earned an estimated $8.65
million[13] and finished the weekend as the top film with $22 million, surpassing The Woman in Black
($21 million) and The Grey ($9.5 million)[12] to become the fourth highest Super Bowl debut.[12]
Chronicle opened as a number one hit internationally, opening in 33 foreign markets such as Australia,
China, and the United Kingdom, where it earned the most with $3.5 million.[14] The film grossed $64.6
million in the United States and Canada, and $62 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of
$126.6 million.[3] Chronicle was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 15, 2012. The film was
released on DVD and a special "Lost Footage" edition for Blu-ray, which contains additional footage that
was not shown in theaters.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 171 reviews and an average rating
of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Chronicle transcends its found-footage gimmick with a
smart script, fast-paced direction, and engaging performances from the young cast."[15] On Metacritic,
the film has a score of 69 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16]
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[17]

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying, "From [the] deceptively ordinary
beginning, Josh Trank's Chronicle grows into an uncommonly entertaining movie that involves elements
of a superhero origin story, a science-fiction fantasy and a drama about a disturbed teenager.[18] Empire
critic Mark Dinning gave the film 4 stars out of 5, saying that it is "a stunning superhero/sci-fi that has
appeared out of nowhere to demand your immediate attention."[19] Total Film gave the film a five-star
review (denoting 'outstanding'): "Believable then bad-ass, it isn't wholly original but it does brim with
emotion, imagination and modern implication."[20] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: "Despite a
gimmicky premise, Chronicle fuels its action with characters you can laugh with, understand and even
take to heart."[21] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Unlike other mock documentaries, which
unconvincingly pass themselves off as real, Chronicle cleverly embraces the format as shorthand for a
new kind of naturalism, inviting audiences to suspend disbelief and join in the fantasy of being able to do
anything with their minds."[22] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called it "A clever twist on
superpowers and hand-held filmmaking that stumbles before the ending."[23]
On the negative side, Andrew Schenker of Slant Magazine gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying the film,
"offers up little more than a tired morality play about the dangers of power, rehashing stale insights
about the narcissism of the documentary impulse."[24][25]

Awards

The film was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film at 39th Saturn Awards, but lost to The Avengers.

Year Nominee / work Award Result

Golden Trailer Award for Best Most Original Trailer Won
Golden Trailer Award for Best in Show Nominated
Chronicle
2012 IGN Summer Movie Award for Best Sci-Fi Movie Nominated
IGN Summer Movie Award for Best Movie Poster Nominated
Dane DeHaan Golden Schmoes Awards for Breakthrough Performance of the Year Won
2013 Chronicle Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film Nominated

Potential sequel
Following its successful release, steps toward production of as sequel were taken.[26] Fox hired Landis to
write the script for it, but the involvement of Trank as director was unclear.[27][28] It was reported in
October 2012 that Fox was not happy with the script,[29] but in April 2013, Landis said that Fox liked the
script – which would be darker in tone – and production was moving along.[30] However, in July 2013,
Landis stated that new writers had taken over to write the film,[31] and in March 2014, Fox hired Jack
Stanley to write.[32]

Trank commented in 2020 that following the experience of making Chronicle, he was never on board
with a sequel. While he thought the sequel script was "fine", he felt that it had "nothing to do with why I
wanted to do" the original film, and he did what he could to stall progress on it. "I really didn't ever want
to see Chronicle 2 happen. That was my worst nightmare. First of all, I'm not doing it. Second, if
somebody else does it, then you know it's gonna be a piece of shit."[33]

See also
Carrie, the first published novel by Stephen King
Akira, a manga series is adapted into an anime film of the same name.
Modern Problems, another film where a man is granted the power of telekinesis after a phenomenon
event

References
1. "Chronicle" (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/CFF285402/). British Board of Film Classification. January 24,
2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012. "83 m 20s"
 2. Steven Zeitchik (2011-10-21). " 'Chronicle': Like 'Paranormal Activity,' but with superpowers?" (http://l
atimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/10/paranormal-activity-3-trailer-chronicle-trank-landis.html).
Los Angeles Times. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20111022195203/https://latimesblogs.lati
mes.com/movies/2011/10/paranormal-activity-3-trailer-chronicle-trank-landis.html) from the original
on 2011-10-22. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
3. "Chronicle (2012)" (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chronicle2012.htm). Box Office Mojo.
Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
4. Amy Longsdorf (9 February 2012). "Former Emmaus High student Dane DeHaan: 'I was obsessed
with acting' " (http://articles.mcall.com/2012-02-09/entertainment/mc-chronicle-dane-dehaan-201202
09_1_wettest-county-mia-wasikowska-juno-temple/2). The Morning Call. Retrieved 26 September
2016.
5. Nick Haramis (September 24, 2013). "Waxing Poetic" (http://www.out.com/entertainment/movies/201
3/09/24/dane-dehaan-kissing-daniel-radcliffe-kill-darlings). Out Magazine. Retrieved 26 September
2016.
6. Patches, Matt (May 5, 2020). "The Post-Disaster Artist" (https://www.polygon.com/2020/5/5/2124667
9/josh-trank-capone-interview-fantastic-four-chronicle). Polygon. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
7. Holben, Jay (March 2012). "Power Trip". American Cinematographer. Hollywood, California: ASC
Holding Corp.: 42–49.
8. "Cape Town stars as the location for US box office smash hits" (http://www.filmcontact.com/south-afri
ca/cape-town-stars-location-us-box-office-smash-hits). filmcontact.com. 14 February 2012. Retrieved
19 February 2012.
9. Woerner, Meredith (February 2, 2012). "Chronicle captures every teen's fantasy of fighting back, say
film's creators" (https://io9.com/5881852/chronicle-is-a-movie-about-every-teens-fantasy-of-fighting-b
ack). io9. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
10. "Cape the big star as US film crew rolls in" (http://www.filmcontact.com/south-africa/cape-big-star-us-
film-crew-rolls). filmcontact.com. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
11. Sharf, Zack (June 18, 2019). "Josh Trank Banned Max Landis From Chronicle Set and Hasn't
Spoken to Him Since 2012" (https://www.indiewire.com/2019/06/josh-trank-banned-max-landis-chron
icle-set-1202150922/). IndieWire. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
12. Ryan J. Downey (February 6, 2012). " 'Chronicle' Makes Fourth Highest Super Bowl Debut" (http://w
ww.mtv.com/news/articles/1678611/chronicle-super-bowl-box-office.jhtml). MTV Movie News.
Retrieved February 7, 2012.
13. Joshua L. Weinstein (February 4, 2012). " 'Chronicle,' 'Woman in Black' Shatter Box Office
Expectations on Friday" (https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/04/idUS15640344520120204). The
Wrap. Reuters. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
14. "Box Office: 'Chronicle' soars on Super Bowl weekend [Updated]" (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/en
tertainmentnewsbuzz/2012/02/chronicle-woman-in-black-box-office-superbowl.html). Los Angeles
Times. February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
15. "Chronicle (2012)" (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicle/). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango
Media. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
16. "Chronicle" (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/chronicle-2012). Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved
July 9, 2012.
17. Ray Subers (February 5, 2012). "Weekend Report: 'Chronicle' Barely Overpowers 'Woman in Black' "
(https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed3296527364/). Box Office Mojo. "Chronicle's audience was
55 percent male and 61 percent under the age of 25. Overall, it received a "B" CinemaScore, and
that improved to a "B+" among the under-25 crowd."
18. Ebert, Roger (February 1, 2012). "Chronicle review" (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/chronicle-2
012). Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
19. Dinning, Mark. "Empire's Chronicle Movie Review" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150924135035/htt
p://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137509). Empire. Archived from the
original (http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137509) on September 24,
2015. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
20. "Chronicle Review" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140709001317/http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/c
inema/chronicle-1). Total Film. Archived from the original (http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/ch
ronicle-1) on July 9, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
21. Travers, Peter (2 February 2012). "Chronicle" (https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/c
hronicle-90669/). Rolling Stone.
22. Debruge, Peter (1 February 2012). "Chronicle" (https://variety.com/review/VE1117946985). Variety
(magazine).
23. "Chronicle: Film Review" (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/chronicle-film-review-286829).
The Hollywood Reporter.
24. Schenker, Andrew (February 1, 2012). "Chronicle Film Review" (https://web.archive.org/web/201202
03230338/http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/chronicle/6032). Slant Magazine. Archived from
the original (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/chronicle/6032) on February 3, 2012.
Retrieved February 6, 2012.
25. Cabin, Chris. "Blu-ray Review: Chronicle" (https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/chronicle/).
26. "The Hollywood Reporter". Los Angeles, California: Prometheus Global Media, LLC. March 23, 2012.
27. Trumbore, Dave (2013). "Writer Max Landis Talks CHRONICLE 2 Featuring the World's First Super-
Villain; Comments on Possibility of Josh Trank Directing the Sequel" (http://collider.com/chronicle-2-s
equel-max-landis/). Collider.
28. Brooks, Brian (March 7, 2012). "Max Landis Set To Write 'Chronicle 2′ For Fox" (http://www.deadline.
com/2012/03/max-landis-set-to-write-chronicle-2-for-fox/). Retrieved May 15, 2012.
29. Fox Isn't Happy With 'Chronicle' Sequel Script, John Landis Says (http://splashpage.mtv.com/2012/1
0/11/chronicle-sequel-trouble-max-landis-john-landis/), MTV (October 11, 2012).
30. Landis Says Chronicle 2 Will be "Really Dark" (http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/09/max-landis-sa
ys-chronicle-2-will-be-really-dark Max)
31. Nicholson, Max (August 12, 2013). "Max Landis on His Now-Dead Chronicle 2 Script" (http://www.ig
n.com/articles/2013/08/12/max-landis-on-his-now-dead-chronicle-2-script). IGN.
32. Fleming Jr., Mike (March 31, 2014). "Fox Hires Newcomer Jack Stanley To Script 'Chronicle 2' " (htt
p://deadline.com/2014/03/fox-hires-scribe-for-chronicle-2-707504/). Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved
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33. Patches, Matt (May 5, 2020). "The post-disaster artist" (https://www.polygon.com/2020/5/5/2124667
9/josh-trank-capone-interview-fantastic-four-chronicle). Polygon. Retrieved May 6, 2020.

External links
Chronicle (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706593/) on IMDb
Chronicle (https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v551452) at AllMovie
Chronicle (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chronicle2012.htm) at Box Office Mojo

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