Annie (2014)

A foster kid, who lives with her mean foster mom, sees her life change when business tycoon and New York City mayoral candidate Will Stacks makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in.

Director:

Will Gluck

Writers:

Will Gluck (screenplay), Aline Brosh McKenna (screenplay)

Stars:

Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamie Foxx	...	Will Stacks
Quvenzhané Wallis	...	Annie
Rose Byrne	...	Grace
Bobby Cannavale	...	Guy
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Nash
David Zayas	...	Lou
Cameron Diaz	...	Hannigan
Zoe Margaret Colletti	...	Tessie
Nicolette Pierini	...	Mia
Eden Duncan-Smith	...	Isabella
Amanda Troya	...	Pepper
Dorian Missick	...	Annie's "Dad"
Tracie Thoms	...	Annie's "Mom"
Mike Birbiglia	...	Social Services Inspector
Stephanie Kurtzuba	...	Mrs. Kovacevic

Storyline

The 1977 Broadway musical returns to the big screen with this Overbrook Entertainment/Sony Pictures production surrounding a 10-year-old Harlem foster child (played by Beasts of the Southern Wild's Quvenzhané Wallis) taken in by a calculating billionaire (Jamie Foxx) who's campaigning to be mayor. Abandoned by her biological parents as a baby, Annie (Wallis) spends every moment of every day attempting to avoid the wrath of her cruel foster mother Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). Thing start to look up for Annie, however, when she has a very public encounter with Will Stacks (Foxx), a local cell-phone mogul with mayoral ambitions. Stacks campaign isn't going too well until he meets Annie and invites her into his home at the suggestion of his trusted top assistant Grace (Rose Byrne) and his ambitious PR advisor Guy (Bobby Cannavale). Meanwhile, what was originally conceived as a PR stunt to win over skeptical voters becomes something much more personal when the jaded tycoon realizes his ...

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Plot Keywords:

cultural appropriation | forename as title | remake | twister the game | character name as title | 

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Taglines:

Family is the greatest gift of all

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language and rude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 December 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Annie - La felicità è contagiosa

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,861,939, 21 December 2014, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$85,911,262

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,611,262

Company Credits

Production Co:

Marcy Media, Olive Bridge Entertainment, Overbrook Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The incumbent mayor is named for Harold Gray, the original creator of "Little Orphan Annie."

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Goofs

When Annie drops off "DOH form number 43807-8" to the clerk at the government office, she also puts down $43.55 in change and bills. When she first puts it down, the bills are rolled up inside a small yellow elastic band parallel to the counter's edge, with the change away from Annie and towards the clerk. In the next shot the bills are vertical, the band is now a neon yellow shoelace, and the change is along the side of the rolled up bills. The clerk then removes the tie from around the bills (which is now again the original plastic band), and drops the money on the counter. She starts to drag the bills off the counter with a pencil, and in the reverse shot, as she drags the bills all the way off, all the change has disappeared.

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Quotes

Annie: [over her neighborhood in helicopter] This is *my* New York City.
Will Stacks: Where'd you live?
Annie: Everywhere.

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Crazy Credits

There is a very brief scene after the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in WTFiWWY: The Passion of the Chris Chan (2015)

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Soundtracks

The Most Important Piece Of Music Ever Written
a/k/a "Stop Reading The End Credits"
Written, Produced, and Performed by Halli Cauthery

User Reviews

An atrocious film filled with hollowed performances and D-grade musical numbers

Annie is an age old story of an orphan struggling to survive and is magically swept off her feet by a reluctant grouch who suddenly gets a warm heart and yadda yadda yadda. Yes, an updated version of Annie sounded awesome and yes, some of us had hope for it. And HELL NO is this what Annie should have become. This is perhaps one of the most ridiculous, over produced, annoyingly unoriginal remakes in recent years. With a cast like this film, starring Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhane Wallis, Cameron Diaz and Rose Byrne, this should have been a very competent film but it is so bogged down with a ridiculous hip-hop shroud of the musical numbers and poorly executed dance numbers that it is hard to take this seriously. The biggest culprit is Will Gluck, the man directs this with absolutely no flavor. It isn't hard to make the story of Annie heart warming, not in the very least. It is one of the best told stories along with being one of the best musicals of all time. Even if you were asleep at the wheel for most of the production, you could still get something out of it. Gluck fails to do pretty much everything when it comes to direction. It is lazy and unoriginal. To be frank, the only reason why I'm giving this a 3 instead of a 10 is Wallis' performance. She was truly awesome as Annie and it is a shame that the film wasn't even a fraction as good as her performance. Overall, this is a film that will more than likely have you pounding your fist against your head for the entire duration of the film...oh yeah, it is THAT bad.