Jonah Hex (film)

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Jonah Hex
Jonah-hex-poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jimmy Hayward
Screenplay by Neveldine & Taylor
Story by
William Farmer
Neveldine & Taylor
Based on
Jonah Hex
by
John Albano
Tony DeZuniga
Produced by
Akiva Goldsman
Andrew Lazar
Starring
Josh Brolin
John Malkovich
Megan Fox
Michael Fassbender
Will Arnett
Michael Shannon
Cinematography Mitchell Amundsen
Edited by
Fernando Villena
Tom Lewis
Music by
Marco Beltrami
Mastodon
Production
companies
Legendary Pictures
DC Entertainment
Weed Road Pictures
Mad Chance Productions
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
June 18, 2010
Running time 81 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $47 million[2][3]
Box office $11 million[3]
Jonah Hex is a 2010 American Western superhero film based on the DC Comics
character of the same name.[4] Directed by Jimmy Hayward in his live-action debut
from a screenplay by Neveldine/Taylor, the film stars Josh Brolin in the title
role, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Michael Shannon
and Wes Bentley.

Produced by Legendary Pictures, Andrew Lazar's Mad Chance Productions and Akiva
Goldsman's Weed Road Pictures, the film was released on June 18, 2010, by Warner
Bros. Pictures. It was a commercial failure, having grossed only $11 million
against a budget of $47 million. It received generally negative reviews and has a
12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Music
4 Release
4.1 Theatrical
4.2 Merchandise
4.3 Home media
5 Reception
5.1 Box office
5.2 Critical response
5.3 Accolades
6 References
7 External links
Plot
Jonah Hex is a Confederate soldier who refuses an order from his commanding officer
Quentin Turnbull to burn down a hospital. Hex is forced to kill his best friend
Jeb, Turnbull's son, who draws a pistol on Hex. Turnbull later tracks Hex down at
home and takes revenge for Jeb's death by killing Hex's family and branding Hex's
face. Hex is found near-death and healed by the Crow people; the experience leaves
him with the ability to speak to the dead. Turnbull fakes his death in a hotel fire
and Hex, unable to seek revenge, becomes a bounty hunter.

In 1876, a gang of men led by Turnbull hijack a train carrying components of an

experimental weapon invented by Eli Whitney. President Grant realizes that Turnbull
is planning to rebuild the weapon and use it attack the U.S. on the Fourth of July.
Grant instructs Army Lieutenant Grass to find Hex and hire him to track down and
stop Turnbull. Grass' men find Hex in a brothel with a prostitute named Lilah and
inform him that Turnbull is still alive.

Hex travels to meet Grass at his encampment and uses his ability to interrogate a
dead soldier. The soldier tells Hex to find former Confederate General Slocum, who
now runs an illegal fighting pavilion in South Carolina. Hex confronts Slocum, who
refuses to reveal Turnbull's location and sarcastically suggests he ask his dead
friend Jeb. Hex throws Slocum to his death and burns the pavilion down. He decides
to travel to Gettysburg and dig up Jeb's body to ask him for help. Jeb and Hex
briefly fight before Jeb accepts Hex's apology for killing him. He grudgingly
reveals that his father is at Fort Resurrection. Jeb also warns Hex to avoid death
because many in the afterlife have plans for him.

Hex confronts Turnbull at the fort and kills several men before he is shot point
blank in the chest. Hex escapes by horse and travels back to find the Crow people.
Turnbull orders a man named Burke, who helped kill Hex's family, to track down
something Hex loves and bring it to him. While Hex is being healed again, Burke
finds and kidnaps Lilah. Turnbull assembles the weapon and conducts a test on a
small town in Georgia, completely destroying it.

Hex sends a message to Lt. Grass with Turnbull's location and requests backup. Hex
travels to Independence Harbor and infiltrates Turnbull's ironclad warship. He
kills Burke, using his abilities to bring him back from the dead and incinerate
him. Turnbull holds Lilah at gunpoint and forces Hex to surrender. Hex and Lilah
escape their holding cell as Lt. Grass arrives and attempts to arrest Turnbull.
Grass and his crew are destroyed by the weapon and Turnbull begins his attack on
Washington, D.C.

Hex attacks Turnbull, as they fight Hex jams the weapon with a hatchet before
locking Turnbull's neck in the machine. Hex and Lilah escape the boat as the weapon
backfires and explodes, killing Turnbull and all of his men. The next day,
President Grant gives Hex a large reward and a full pardon before offering him a
job as Sheriff of the entire United States. Hex declines, but assures the president
they can find him if they need him; he leaves the city with Lilah. The film ends
with Hex visiting Jeb's grave to apologize for his father's death before riding
off.

Cast
Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex: A disfigured bounty hunter who is the film's antihero
protagonist.[5] Brolin initially hated the script, but changed his mind after
growing to like its tongue-in-cheek tone.[6]
John Malkovich as Quentin Turnbull: The main antagonist who murdered Jonah Hex's
family and disfigured the former.[7]
Megan Fox as Lilah Black: A gun-wielding prostitute and Jonah's love interest whose
real name is Tallulah Black just like in the comics, but goes by Lilah for short
and doesn't have scars on her body or a missing left eye unlike her comics
counterpart.[8]
Michael Fassbender as Burke: A bowler hat-wearing, tattooed and psychopathic
Irishman who is Turnbull's right-hand man. Fassbender likens his character to that
of The Riddler and Malcolm McDowell's performance in A Clockwork Orange, saying he
mainly found his character when he tried on the derby bowler.[9]
Will Arnett as Lieutenant Grass: A Union soldier who enlists Hex as a bounty
hunter.[10]
Michael Shannon as Dr. Cross Williams: The ringleader of a gladiator circus. The
studio planned to have Williams in a recurring character if a sequel surfaced.[10]
Wes Bentley as Adleman Lusk: A corrupt politician.
Aidan Quinn as Ulysses S. Grant: The 18th President of the United States (Quinn was
on set for only 3 days for this role).
Lance Reddick as Smith: An armorer of sorts who supplies Hex with his new weapons.
The film also includes John Gallagher, Jr. as Lieutenant Evan, Tom Wopat as Colonel
Slocum, and Julia Jones as Cassie; as well as an uncredited Jeffrey Dean Morgan as
Jeb Turnbull. Mastodon guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds also made a small cameo
appearance.[11]

Prior to Brolin's casting, actor Thomas Jane petitioned the studio for the role by
hiring a makeup artist to give him the appearance of Jonah Hex. Jane instead voiced
Hex in the 2010 animated short DC Showcase: Jonah Hex.[12]

Production

Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and Michael Fassbender promoting the film at the 2009 San
Diego Comic-Con International
In 2000, 20th Century Fox developed a one-hour television adaptation based on the
character, with producers Akiva Goldsman and Robert Zappia involved, but the
project never came to fruition.[13] In July 2007, Warner Bros. held the film rights
to the character and sought to make a film. Goldsman paired with Andrew Lazar as
producers, and Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor wrote the screenplay,[14] which
adapted an incarnation of the comic books that combined the Western genre with
supernatural elements.[15] In October 2008, Josh Brolin entered talks to be cast as
Jonah Hex under the direction of Neveldine and Taylor.[16] In November 2008,
Neveldine and Taylors stepped down from being directors due to creative differences
with the studio.[17] The studio explored the possibility of hiring Andy Fickman or
McG and by January 2009, it chose Jimmy Hayward (who previously directed Horton
Hears a Who!) to direct Jonah Hex.[15] By the following February, Brolin was set to
star alongside John Malkovich, who was cast as the antagonist Quentin Turnbull.[5]
Filming began in Louisiana in April 2009.[10]

Brolin would later admit that he hated the experience making the film stating that
at one point they had to "[reshoot] 66 pages in 12 days", implying that the filming
schedule was hectic.[18] Director Francis Lawrence was brought in to supervise a
number of reshoots.[19]

Music
See also: Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly EP
Heavy metal band Mastodon scored the film.[20] Troy Sanders, bassist/vocalist of
Mastodon, on their contribution to the film:

"Some of it was heavy, some of it was very moody. A lot of it was spacey, Melvins
B-sides, Pink Floyd-like, surreal outer space, like Neil Young's Dead Man.
Swirling, nausea music". Sanders added that the collaboration felt natural: "Since
day one, we've always written albums thinking the music was the score of a movie.
Then we'll create the lyrics or storyline on top of that, as if we're writing the
dialog to match the movie's cinematography".

The soundtrack is an hour-long instrumental, including five full songs and numerous
smaller musical themes. Selections were added to scenes in the film by composer
John Powell (Shrek, The Bourne Identity), and others were adapted for the London
Orchestra for exceptionally epic moments. Sanders explained: "We wrote variations
on themes for each character, different variables for a bunch of riffs: faster,
slower, heavier, lighter. It's the Darth Vader approach".

Release
Theatrical
Jonah Hex was released in the United States on June 18, 2010, the same day as
Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3.

Merchandise
Tonner Doll Company, Inc. released in May 2010 Saloon Lilah as a doll.[21]
NECA has released an assortment of 3 action figures (Hex, Lilah, and Turnbull), and
prop replicas from the film.[22]
WizKids has released a HeroClix Battle Pack consisting of Hex, Lilah, and Turnbull.
[23]
DC Direct has released a Jonah Hex bust,[24] a Lilah bust,[25] and a 1:6 scale
Jonah Hex Collector Figure.[26]
Home media
The film was released on both DVD and Blu-ray on October 19, 2010, with some
special features (DVD contains Deleted Scenes). It was then released in the United
Kingdom on December 13, 2010, on DVD, Blu-ray and Double Play. Special features
include Deleted Scenes, The Inside Story of Jonah Hex and a Picture-In-Picture
Commentary.

Reception
Box office
Jonah Hex severely failed at the box office, opening at No. 7 during its debut
weekend with only $5,379,365 in 2,825 theaters, averaging $1,904 per theater. On
its second weekend, the film only managed to gross $1,627,442, falling to No. 10.
The film ended its theatrical run on August 12, 2010, having grossed only
$10,547,117 in total on a $47 million budget. Due to its negative domestic take,
the film was not widely released internationally, grossing less than $500,000
outside the United States.[3]

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, Jonah Hex has an approval rating of 12% based on 153 reviews
and an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Josh Brolin
gives it his best shot, but he can't keep the short, unfocused Jonah Hex from
collapsing on the screen."[27] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100
based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[28] Audiences
polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
[29]

Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the film a rare "F" rating, stating "the 81
minutes (including credits) of Jonah Hex footage that made it to the screen look
like something assembled under a tight deadline, and possibly under the
influence."[30] Roger Ebert gave the film a negative review, saying that the film
"is based on some DC Comics characters, which may explain the way the plot jumps
around. We hear a lot about graphic novels, but this is more of a graphic anthology
of strange occult ideas."[31]

Accolades
The film was named "Worst Picture" of the year by the Houston Film Critics Society
at their 2010 awards ceremony.[32][33] It was given two nominations at the 31st
Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Actress (Megan Fox) and Worst Screen Couple (Josh
Brolin's face and Megan Fox's accent).

References