Kirby (2007 film)

Kirby is a 2007 live-action/computer-animated action-adventure comedy film directed by Tim Hill and produced by Nintendo, based on the popular Kirby franchise, and the fourth film in the Nintendo Cinematic Universe (NCU).

It revolves around the titular pink hero and various other inhabitants from Dream Land ending up in the real world, where Kirby has to avoid capture by the American government while fighting off the invasion of the demon 0².

Kirby premiered at Broadway in New York City on May 28, 2007, and was released in the United States on June 1, and in Japan on June 23, as part of Phase One of the NCU. Despite a relatively marginal box-office performance, the film received a strong positive critical reception. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards the animation and story.

Plot
In the world of Dream Land, the heroic pink puffball Kirby is fighting with Marx, who is threatening the world of Pop Star. Kirby initially gains the upper hand until Marx tears a rift in space and time, sucking Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Escargoon, Bandana Dee and various other inhabitants of Dream Land into the real world. Specifically, they end up in and around Yonkers, New York.

There, Kirby is found by Jenny and Arthur Smith, two eighth graders, who take him to their house. Jenny and Arthur try to keep Kirby's existence a secret to the public, but their friends eventually find out as well. After Kirby is recorded by a CCTV security camera, the American authorities find out about his existence and set out to capture him for experimenting, led by Bedford DeCoo.

Meanwhile, the demon 0² takes advantage of Marx's portal to travel to the real world as well, along with his army, and plots to take over the world. Soon, Kirby and his newfound friends find out about 0²'s arrival and set out to stop him, but are constantly hindered by both King Dedede and Meta Knight, the former of whom wants to defeat 0² himself and get all the credit (sabotaging the heroes in the process) and the latter of whom wants to forcibly challenge Kirby to a battle and constantly hunts him down in order to do so.

Eventually, Dedede anonymously tips the authorities of Kirby's location, allowing them to capture him after which Kirby is deported to "Area 64". Jenny, Arthur and their friends are heartbroken by Dedede's actions and leave the scene crying, their new friend now gone. With Kirby out of the way, 0² besieges New York City, quickly defeating all of its police forces and scaring most of the citizens into obedience. Meta Knight tries to defeat him, but is overpowered. Even Escargoon is disgusted by Dedede's actions and abandons him.

Realizing what he has done, Dedede ventures to Area 64 and single-handedly breaks Kirby out. After informing him of the current situation at New York, the duo sets out to save the city and rescues Meta Knight and their human friends along the way, with the authorities still on their heels. Eventually, they arrive at the Times Square, where 0² has been forcing the New Yorkers into giving him all of their possessions and bowing to him when empty-handed, as his troops are raiding the rest of the city and filling it with 0² propaganda posters.

0² and Kirby, Meta Knight, Escargoon and Bandana Dee have a battle where 0² quickly emerges victorious. Just as he is about to finish Kirby, King Dedede launches a Gordo into 0²'s eye, stunning him. Dedede quickly tells the crowd that they aren't defenseless nor slaves and that "now is the time to show who they really are". Inspired by Dedede's speach, the booing crowd massively attacks 0², stunning him long enough for Kirby to finish him with the Star Rod which traps 0² into a void between dimensions.

The crowd cheers on the heroes, but then the authorities arrive at the spot. Just as they are about to apprehend Kirby once more, the President arrives, stating that he heard of an "extraterrestial threat" that must be secured. The President is surprised to see what this "threat" really is and quickly becomes attached to Kirby's cuteness. He yells at the authorities that he is not even remotely a threat to the nation and that they have wasted their time and resources on "a cute little fella who means nothing but good". The President instantly gives Kirby a federal pardon and fires a shocked DeCoo.

Kirby and co. return to Pop Star using the Star Rod, but not before promising Jenny and Arthur that they will visit them on a regular basis. In the post-credits scene, DeCoo has been demoted to being a janitor in the school Jenny and Arthur go to, much to his chagrin.

Cast

 * Makiko Ohmoto as Kirby

Development
Rumors about a possible Kirby film had circulated since the premiere of ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby:_Right_Back_at_Ya! Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]'' in 2002. The first attempt at a film adaptation was in development at ClearWorld Entertainment in May 2003. However, the film did not materialize since the studio could not find a script that they liked.

On August 10, 2003, a computer-animated feature film based on the Kirby series was announced by Sony Pictures and Nintendo. Steven Dean Moore was announced to write and direct, with Aaden Chase and John A. Davis producing. Moore said, "One of the biggest questions in Nintendo history we've gotten in the last few years is "Are you going to make a Kirby movie?" As in matter of fact, yes, we are. When I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. I was so excited about it that I knew we had to make this movie—and I wanted to direct it myself."

The initial script of Kirby, written by David Fincher, was bought by Sony Pictures Classics for a reported sum of $450,000 in November 2003. The script was written for a year, but it was thought to be unsuitable for Sony Pictures because it was "a racier PG-13-rated movie", inspired by the comedy movies in the 1980s and 1990s such as Coming to America and Dr. Dolittle. The first draft of the script had Kirby being mistaken for a citizen when he arrives in New York City. The film was initially scheduled to be released in 2006 with Rob Marshall as director but he withdrew due to "creative differences" between the producers and him. In June 2004, director Sam Raimi was set to direct the film but he left soon after, later working with Sony and Marvel on the Spider-Man trilogy. Adam Shankman became the film's director in August 2004, while Bob Schooley, Aaron Sorkin and Mark McCorkle were hired by Nintendo to rewrite the script once again. At the time, Nintendo considered offering the role of Kirby to Kate Hudson or Reese Witherspoon. However, the project did not take off.

On November 8, 2004, Variety reported that Tim Hill had been hired as director and Aaron Sorkin had returned to the project to write a new version of the script. Zemeckis worked with Sorkin on the script to combine the main plot of Kirby with the idea of a "action homage" to Sony's heritage. He created visual storyboard printouts that covered the story of Kirby from beginning to end, which filled an entire floor of a production building. After Hill showed them to Tom Rothman, the chairman of Sony Pictures, he received the green light for the project and a budget of $85 million. Hill began designing the world of Dream Land and storyboarding the movie before a cast was chosen to play the characters.

The film uses two aspect ratios; it begins in 1:85:1 when the Columbia Pictures and Nintendo logos are shown, and then switches to a 4:3 aspect ratio for the first animated sequence. The film switches back to 1:85:1 when it becomes live-action and never switches back, even for the remainder of the animated sequences. When this movie was aired on televised networks, the beginning of the movie (minus the logo and opening credits) was shown in the pillarboxed 4:3 aspect ratio; the remainder of the movie was shown in the 16:9 aspect ratio when it becomes live-action. Hill oversaw the direction of both the live-action and animation sequences, which were being produced at the same time. Kirby took almost two years to complete. The animation took about a year to finish while the live-action scenes, which commenced filming on location in New York City during the summer of 2006 and were completed during the animation process, were shot in 72 days.

Theatrical
Kirby had its world premiere on May 28, 2007 in Broadway at New York City. It was commercially released in theaters in the United States on June 1, 2007, and in Japan on June 23.

Home media
Kirby was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on October 9, 2007, in the United States. The film was also collected in a 10-disc box set titled "Nintendo Cinematic Universe: Phase One – The Beginning" which includes all of the Phase One films in the Nintendo Cinematic Universe, was released on June 22, 2010.

Box office
Kirby earned $8 million on the day of its release in the United States, placing at #1. It was also placed at #1 on Thanksgiving Day, earning $6.7 million to bring its two-day total to $14.6 million. The film grossed $14.4 million on the following day, bringing its total haul to $29.0 million placing ahead of other contenders. Kirby made $34.4 million on the Friday-Sunday period in 3,730 theaters for a per location average of $9,472 and $49.1 million over the five-day Father's Day holiday in 3,730 theaters for a per location average of $13,153. Its earnings over the five-day holiday exceeded projections by $7 million. Ranking as the second-highest Father's Day opening after Mulan, which earned $80.1 million over the five-day holiday in 1998, Kirby is the first film to open at #1 on the Father's Day frame in the 21st century.

On its opening weekend, the film opened in first place, earning $26.2 million alongside The Condeemed, The Invisible, Jindabyne, Kickin' It Old School and Next. On its second weekend, it rose to second place, earning nearly $26.6 million behind Spider-Man 3, grossing a further $16.4 million at 3,730 locations for a per theater average of $4,397. It dropped to #2 in its third weekend, with a gross of $10.7 million in 3,520 theaters for a per theater average of $3,042. It finished its fourth weekend at #4 with a gross of $5.5 million in 3,066 locations for a per theater average of $1,804. Kirby earned a gross of $127.8 million in the United States and Canada as well as a total of $340.5 million worldwide. It was the 15th highest-grossing film worldwide released in 2007.

Critical reception
Kirby received mixed to average reviews by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 62% based on 116 reviews and an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Kirby was always the odd one in the shed. It decided to go down an overused path of real world breaching and did a good job at it.". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Sequels
Coming soon

Transcripts
Coming soon