Kate & Chris (film)

Kate & Chris is a 2007 American computer-animated science fantasy comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Scholastic Entertainment. Based on Eric Stern's books of the same name, the film was directed by Rob Letterman and Mike Mitchell, written by Letterman, David Reynolds, Dan Fogelman, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow from a story by Gary Trousdale and Stern, and stars an ensemble voice cast consisting of Mandy Moore, Elijah Wood, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Danny DeVito, Jon Lovitz, Zooey Deschanel, Maya Rudolph, Justin Long, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Clarke Duncan. In the film, when an human-like space creature lands on Earth, two unlikely teenagers who are outcasts at an local school are willing to return him to his natural home while an mad scientist and an alien chief threaten to capture him and use him to take over the world.

The film was released in the United States on September 28, 2007, by 20th Century Fox, and was produced to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first book. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its animation, humor and its vocal performances, but criticized the predictable story and writing. The film earned a total of $541.4 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and later gaining a cult following through television syndication and its home video release. The film was re-released in 3D on February 26, 2016. An animated series that continues the events of the film, titled Kate & Chris Adventures, premiered on Fox Family on July 5, 2013. A sequel, set to be directed by Kevin Lima, was planned but was sadly cancelled.

Plot
Coming soon!

Cast

 * Mandy Moore as Kate Anderson, a smart, trustworthy, funny, and clever 18-year old girl
 * Elijah Wood as Chris McCallister, a sarcastic, wise-cracking, arrogant, and somewhat bossy 17-year-old boy.
 * Jack Black as Eddie, a comical, magical, shape-shifting, wise-cracking human-like space creature who tries to blend in.
 * Justin Long as Chuck Stevens, an intelligent and unkind 16-year old boy.
 * Will Ferrell as Professor Dum-Dum, an mad scientist who wants to capture Eddie and use him for his projects.
 * Zooey Deschanel as Eva Clark, Kate's best friend
 * Michael Clarke Duncan as Chief Rogerator
 * Danny DeVito as Dr. Menabba
 * Jon Lovitz as Officer Coobot
 * Steve Buscemi as Mr. Watson, the principal of Eastview High School.
 * Maya Rudolph as Mary Anderson, Kate's loving overprotective mother who cares so much about her only daughter.
 * Seann William Scott as Joey Greenwood, Chris' best friend
 * Chris Rock as Cole Jefferson, one of Chris' friends
 * Jennifer Saunders as Queen Neylly
 * Allison Janney as Ms. McRobbs, the secretary at Eastview High School
 * Jeffrey Tambor as Mr. Monty, one of the teachers at Eastview High School
 * Joan Cusack as Jenny the Lunch Lady, the lunch lady at Eastview High School who falls in love with Mr. Watson.
 * Mike Mitchell as an police officer, an mime and Pizza Guy #1
 * Dan Castellaneta as Nobel Prize Audience Member
 * Mona Marshall as Nobel Prize Moderator
 * Jeff Garcia as Timothy, a student who is seen frequently throughout the movie hiding in his own locker.
 * Conrad Vernon as Pizza Guy #2
 * Dan Fogler as Mr. Warren, the science teacher at Eastview High School who got fired by Mr. Watson.
 * Additional voices are provided by:
 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Kirk Baily
 * David Cowgill
 * Eddie Frierson
 * Jessica Gee-George
 * Johnny Gidcomb
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Nicholas Guest
 * Jennifer Hale
 * Lex Lang
 * Caitlin McKenna
 * Paul Pape
 * Philip Proctor
 * Al Rodrigo
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Marcelo Tubert
 * Kari Wahlgren
 * Lynnanne Zager

Production
Universal Studios acquired the rights to produce and distribute a film based on Kate & Chris in 1999. In October 2000, an animated film was announced as a joint venture between Universal and Scholastic Entertainment. It would be produced by John Cohen and written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, while Michael Wildshill would executive produce. According to Wildshill, the film was set to be made by a different animation studio outside of Universal Feature Animation and Gingo Animation. In April 2002, Universal said the film was scheduled for late 2004. In the beginning of 2003, the film's release date was taken over by another Universal animated film, Zina and the Vivid Crew. Rob Letterman and Mike Mitchell were hired in 2003 to direct it. Series creator Eric Stern wrote the story alongside Disney veteran Gary Trousdale.

In September 2004, it was reported that DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox were interested in acquiring the rights after Universal put the film into turnaround; however, DreamWorks decided not to proceed with the bidding. In October 2004, Fox announced that it would acquire the rights from Universal. Most of the production team remained unchanged. In February 2005, it was announced that the movie would be released in June 2007, produced by 20th Century Fox Animation.

Music
The film's score was composed by John Powell and Mark Mothersbaugh. The soundtrack was released on September 25, 2007 by Varèse Sarabande.

Marketing
McFarlane Toys released a line of action figures and plushies based on the film, Nintendo produced a limited edition Kate & Chris-themed Nintendo DS, to coincide with the film's DVD release, and Windows Live Messenger presented their users with the opportunity to download a free animated and static content for use within their conversations. Burger King promoted the film with a set of 7 kids' meal toys featuring the characters from the film.


 * The teaser trailer was released on November 3, 2006, and was shown in front of Flushed Away, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Happy Feet, Eragon, Charlotte's Web, Night at the Museum, and Bridge to Terabithia.


 * The film's theatrical trailer was released on March 30, 2007 and was shown in front of Meet the Robinsons, Firehouse Dog, Spider-Man 3, Tony 2: Across the Nation, Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Surf's Up.


 * The film's final theatrical trailer was released on June 29, 2007 and was shown in front of Ratatouille, Transformers, Computeropolis 2, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Simpsons Movie, Bratz, Daddy Day Camp, and Mr. Bean's Holiday.

A video game based on the film has been released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, PC, and Nintendo DS and was developed by Heavy Iron Studios and published by THQ on October 2, 2007.

Release
Kate & Chris was originally scheduled to be released sometime in late 2004 by Universal Pictures, but in February 2005, shortly after taking over the rights, 20th Century Fox rescheduled it to June 22, 2007. In December 2006, the release date was delayed to September 28, 2007 to avoid competition with other films releasing in summer 2007.

Kate & Chris had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2007, and was released widely on September 28. The film's theatrical release was accompanied by a Ice Age short film No Time For Nuts. It was digitally re-mastered into the IMAX format (IMAX DMR) and was released on the same day in IMAX theaters around the world and conventional 35mm screens. An test screening of the film was held at the Harkins Cine Capri Theater in Tempe, Arizona on September 14, 2007, at which a Fox representative was present to collect viewer feedback. Fox announced an upcoming theatrical re-releases of Kate & Chris, Puppet Pals and Crystal in 3D back in March 2014 and later re-released Kate & Chris in 3D on February 26, 2016.

A montage of "outtakes" were made and included in the end credits of the film starting on October 30, 2007.

Home media
Kate & Chris was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on January 22, 2008 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and it includes a sneak preview of the 2008 Fox animated film Crystal, a gallery of concept art and posters, a 12-minute making-of documentary, DVD-ROM features, a 5.1 isolated sound effects track, trailers and TV spots, and deleted scenes.

It was later re-released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray, Blu-ray 3D, and Digital HD on October 11, 2016.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 61% based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kate & Chris is cute and funny enough, but the colorful humor of the book gets lost with the zany Hollywood production values". On Metacritic, it received a score of 48 out of 100, based on 77 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a gave a positive review saying, "Fox Animation's slapstick animated adaptation of the philosophically satiric book series... is a lot of laughs and boasts a much tighter story than most animated features." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying "Kate & Chris is a truly touching and hilarious family adventure with a blast of humor and soundtrack, as well as a comical plot from the folks at Twentieth Century Fox Animation."

James Rocchi of MSN Movies gave the film a negative review, "If it's even not as good as the Kate & Chris books, The film adaptation is a complete insult to the book series for the fans. I don't even care if the CGI animation is good and the characters have their usual selves from the books, it's just awful that Fox should be shamed of themselves", while Richard Corliss of Time Magazine also gave a negative review and called it "insidious nonsense from Hollywood", and accused Hollywood of "trying to indoctrinate children".

Box office
Kate & Chris opened alongside The Game Plan and The Kingdom, and earned $20,795,907 on its opening day (September 28, 2007) in the U.S. making it the highest animated opening day in September during that time. It grossed a combined total of $55,266,112 in its opening weekend on at 4,055 theaters, reaching the top of the box office for that weekend. In its second weekend (October 5-7, 2007), the film dropped 41% to $32,412,397 from an expanded 4,114 theaters, and still placing in first. In its third weekend (October 12-14, 2007), the film held well to $21,797,299 and once again placing in first beating animated newcomer M.I.S.S.I.O.N.. In its fourth weekend (October 19-21, 2007), the film gave out to $11,949,464 and finally placing in third behind 30 Days of Night and Why Did I Get Married?. The film closed on January 31, 2008 after 125 days of release, grossing $209,819,393 in the United States and Canada, along with $277,412,696 overseas for a worldwide total of $487,209,725.

3D re-release
Coming soon!

Internet popularity
In 2018, Kate & Chris had an unexpected rise in popularity as an Internet meme.

More coming soon!

Television series
Kate & Chris Adventures is a American animated television series created by Fox Television Animation in 2013, based on the 2007 film, which in turn was based on the book series of the same name by Eric Stern. The series aired on Fox Family from July 5, 2013 to November 4, 2016, and continues the story of the 2007 film.

Cancelled feature-length sequel and possible revival
After the release of Kate & Chris, Fox began to consider producing a sequel. In September 2008, a sequel was reported in development for a March 2012 release. In March 2009, it was reported that Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky was hired to write the script for the sequel while Kevin Lima was hired to direct the film. However, the film was later cancelled in favor of the production of Little Lily. In September 2017, the 10th anniversary of the release of the film, co-director Mike Mitchell revealed in an interview that he was set to write and direct during the early development for the sequel but it did not happen due to story and script issues to the film as well when Mitchell left Fox Animation to work on other films in late 2010. Mitchell also revealed in the interview that the sequel would deal with "Kate & Chris' life being turned upside down when Kate's friends getting kidnapped into different worlds by a magical portal and Kate must figure out a way to save them". In August 2018, nearing Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney CEO Bob Iger was in talks with Fox Animation co-president Robert Baird about a possible way of bringing Kate & Chris and Little Lily back on the big screen.

In September 2019, Elijah Wood expressed interest on reprising his role as Chris if a animated sequel ever gets announced.