Cell (2016)

When a mysterious cell phone signal causes apocalyptic chaos, an artist is determined to reunite with his young son in New England.

Director:

Tod Williams

Writers:

Stephen King (based on the novel by), Stephen King (screenplay by)

Stars:

John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Isabelle Fuhrman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Clay Riddell
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Tom McCourt
Isabelle Fuhrman	...	Alice Waxman
Clark Sarullo	...	Sharon Riddell
Ethan Andrew Casto	...	Johnny Riddell
Owen Teague	...	Jordan
Stacy Keach	...	Charles Ardai
Joshua Mikel	...	Raggedy
Anthony Reynolds	...	Ray
Erin Elizabeth Burns	...	Denise
Jeff Hallman	...	Hog-Tied Man (as Jeffrey Hallman)
Mark Ashworth	...	Bartender
Wilbur Fitzgerald	...	Geoff
Catherine Dyer	...	Sally
E. Roger Mitchell	...	Roscoe

Storyline

When a strange signal pulsates through all cell phone networks worldwide, it starts a murderous epidemic of epic proportions when users become bloodthirsty creatures, and a group of people in New England are among the survivors to deal with the ensuing chaos after.

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Plot Keywords:

cell phone | signal | zombie apocalypse | survivor | artist | 

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Taglines:

When everyone is connected no one is safe

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, terror, brief sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 June 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Signal

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,323,012

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Genre Co., Benaroya Pictures, 120dB Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Distribution for the film was doomed from the start. Back in 2013, Benaroya Pictures and Miscellaneous Entertainment formed an international sales company, International Film Trust, and took the as-of-yet unfilmed Cell (2016) to Cannes to sell off distribution rights. No U.S. distributor signed on to the project. In February 2015, new start-up distributor, Clarius Entertainment, picked up U.S. distribution rights for Cell (2016), and planned on a late 2015 wide release, and the extent of their marketing efforts was uploading a still image with their acquisition press release, no trailers were cut. Clarius released their first three pictures in 2014, and all three were box-office flops, Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2013), And So It Goes (2014), and Before I Go to Sleep (2014). Their other films weren't better off: She's Funny That Way (2014) went through a bidding war, where Clarius won. However, if any of the studios that were bidding on the film, took the rights, the film would have seen its theatrical roll-out, but after Clarius left the film in limbo, the producers were only able to sell the film to Lionsgate for a video-on-demand release, and small token theatrical release. My All-American (2015), now as Aviron Pictures, flopped hard, grossing a mere two million dollars in theaters, and The Outcasts (2017) saw itself in a similar bind as Cell (2016). Unable to provide payment for She's Funny That Way (2014), and its pending litigation, it is more than likely Cell (2016), and The Outskirts (2017) would go down a similar path. Enter Saban Films, the same company who swooped in to save Rob Zombie's 31 (2016), did the same for Cell (2016) on March 31st. Saban's marketing campaign revved up in April 2016, revealing the first official poster and trailer on April 26th, as well as U.S. theatrical release date: July 8, 2016.

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Goofs

The chef at the airport stabs someone, but the knife blade is clean afterwards; moments later he stabs it through the valise, and it is covered in blood.

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Quotes

Johnny Riddell: What's the name of the place we're going?
Clay Riddell: Canada.

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Crazy Credits

After the closing credits have finished, the catalyst signal from the movie plays for approximately 5-10 seconds, with no image, as if attempting to convert the audience.

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Connections

Featured in FoundFlix: Stephen King's CELL (2016) Ending Explained (2016)

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Soundtracks

I am glad, I am very glad, because i'm finally returning back home
aka "Trololo song"
Performed by Eduard Khil
Written by Eduard Khil and Arkadiy Ostrovskiy

User Reviews

A decent film, despite itself.

I am not a purist when it comes to adaptations, and I didn't hate this, at the same time I didn't love it.

It almost would've worked better as a miniseries.

Cell is a quasi zombie story by Stephen King, circa 2005, it's basically the thing Kirkman ripped off while developing The Walking Dead. The novel is a lumbering, melancholy at and times humorous take on the zombie genre and the mass market emergence of mobile communication devices.

The filmmakers do their damnedest at placing it into a modern timeframe, but it's almost too well adapted. While I'm not against changes and remakes, they almost would've been better off just sticking to the material and going all in.

Either way, I don't hate, it's just that the noncommittal to either the source material or the new take left the movie in a sort of state of limbo.

Overall, I'm glad I saw the film, I just wish it was willing to pick a side and just run with it.