Jem and the Holograms (film)
Jem and the Holograms is a 2015 American musical drama film produced and directed by Jon M. Chu, written by Ryan Landels, and starring Aubrey Peeples (as the title character), Stefanie Scott, Hayley Kiyoko, Aurora Perrineau, Ryan Guzman, Molly Ringwald and Juliette Lewis. Very loosely based on Christy Marx's 1980s animated television series Jem, the film was produced by Allspark Pictures (a subsidiary of Hasbro Studios) and Blumhouse Productions.
Jem and the Holograms
Ryan Landels
- Jason Blum
- Jon M. Chu
- Scooter Braun
- Brian Goldner
- Stephen Davis
- Bennett Schneir
- Jillian Moul
- Michael Trent
Nathan Lanier
- Allspark Pictures
- Blumhouse Productions
- Chu Studios
- SB Projects
- October 23, 2015
118 minutes[1]
United States
English
$2.3 million[3]
Chu's interest in developing a film adaptation of Jem is based on having grown up watching the original series with his sisters.[4] He had attempted to make the film 11 years earlier, but was rejected by Universal due to the cost.
Jem and the Holograms was theatrically released on October 23, 2015, by Universal Pictures. The film was a box office bomb, grossing $2 million worldwide on a $5 million budget. It received negative reviews from critics and was panned by fans of the original animated series,[5] although Lewis's performance received some praise.
Plot[edit]
Jerrica Benton and her younger sister Kimber live with their Aunt Bailey and two foster sisters, Aja and Shana. The four girls frequently videotape themselves playing music and wearing colorful '80s outfits just for fun, but Jerrica is too shy to sing on camera. Jerrica learns one day that, due to Aunt Bailey's financial problems, their house will be auctioned. She vents her emotions by recording a song with Kimber's video camera. She disguises herself by calling herself "Jem", her late father Emmett's nickname for her.
She is interrupted just before deleting the video and an Internet-obsessed Kimber uploads it onto YouTube. The video attracts millions of views in a single day. Jerrica is offered a record deal by Starlight Productions and travels to Los Angeles with her sisters. They meet music producer Erica Raymond and her son Rio. Erica is polite and courteous with the quartet, but shows particular interest in Jerrica, who she sees as a potential superstar.
The girls settle down in L.A. and discuss their next move. They have brought along a small robot called 51N3RG.Y (pronounced synergy), an invention of Emmett's. The robot suddenly activates itself and leads them on a scavenger hunt. Each clue represents something Jerrica did or wanted to do with her father. The objective is to find several missing pieces designed to fit into the robot to be fully activated. The girls find the first piece on the Santa Monica Pier. They find the second clue in a guitar once owned by Emmett when, by coincidence, the band plays live.
Rio and Jerrica begin to develop romantic feelings, much to Erica's dismay. Erica assigns Rio to another singer in an attempt to keep him away from Jerrica. Aunt Bailey tells Jerrica via FaceTime that their house is going for auction in a few days. Desperate to save the home, Jerrica asks Erica for an advance. Erica says she will oblige if Jerrica agrees to leave her sisters and go solo. Jerrica relents, believing it's for the good of her family. When the others find out, they denounce her for leaving them out of the deal and depart. After a dull solo performance, Jerrica becomes depressed over her mistake and visits the L.A. house where she used to live with Kimber and her father.
Her sisters arrive and reconcile. They vow to help finish the scavenger hunt, along with Rio. Jerrica realizes that the last piece is the earrings Emmett bequeathed to her, but Erica had them taken during her first visit to Starlight. The earrings are now stored in Erica's office. Rio and the girls break into Starlight, almost getting caught by Erica, but succeed. The reward is a final holographic message from Emmett. The group also discover Rio's late father's will, which grants him a majority of Starlight shares, effectively putting him in control of the company.
With the house safe, Jem and her sisters perform live. Rio chats with rock journalist Lindsey Pierce, who offers the band the Rolling Stone cover. Pierce asks Rio what to call the band; he suggests "Jem and the Holograms."
In a mid-credits scene, Erica, now terminated from Starlight, seeks out a group of punkish young women in a seedy junkyard. She attempts to convince them to form a band to rival the Holograms. When their leader Pizzazz learns that Jem and Rio are an item, she takes Erica inside their trailer; graffiti on the side of their trailer reveals their name as the Misfits.
Production[edit]
With the recent successes of the live-action reboots of G.I. Joe and Transformers, Hasbro was rumored to be considering a live-action film with Universal Studios (Hasbro and Universal had signed a six-film contract in 2010), or a new incarnation of the animated series.[7] On March 20, 2014, a live-action motion picture adaptation of Jem and the Holograms was announced to be directed by Jon M. Chu.[8]
Chu has said he had spent ten years developing the film with producer Jason Blum.[9] The film's musical producer, Scooter Braun, stated that he drew influence from his work on the career of Justin Bieber.[10] It was later revealed that the original Jem writer Christy Marx was not involved in any part of the film's production.[11] In response to her having no part or consultation on the film, Marx defended Chu's sense of ambition for the project via Facebook and left it up to the fans to decide whether or not the project was a "smart decision".[12] Her lack of involvement was not permanent, however, and she was granted a minor speaking role near the end of the movie.
In April 2014, it was announced that Aubrey Peeples had been cast as Jem, with Stefanie Scott as Kimber, Hayley Kiyoko as Aja, and Aurora Perrineau as Shana.[13] Peeples had admitted being initially unfamiliar with the franchise although she subsequently became familiar with it and became a fan quickly.[14] Other parts were announced throughout the next couple of months with actor Ryan Guzman cast as Rio announced on April 30,[15] Juliette Lewis's involvement on May 19,[16] and Molly Ringwald on May 20.[17] Principal photography began on April 22, 2014, in Van Nuys,[18] later on May 19, shooting was underway in Los Angeles.[16] Shooting ended on May 24, 2014.[19]
On October 23, 2015, Chu stated he wanted to make a crossover film between Jem and the Holograms with Transformers and G.I. Joe.[20][21]
Release[edit]
Marketing[edit]
On February 25, 2015, the first official image from the film was released, featuring Peeples as Jem, Scott as Kimber and Kiyoko as Aja performing on stage.[23] On May 12, 2015, director Chu revealed the first official film poster.[24] The next day, on May 13, a trailer was released online,[25] which was attached to the theatrical run of fellow female-centric Universal film Pitch Perfect 2. On August 11, a second trailer was released,[26] this time featuring the robot 51N3RG.Y (pronounced synergy) which itself was based on the supercomputer of the original cartoon series, which generates and holographically projects the band's images and creates their special effects during stage performances. Critics responded negatively to the May 2015 trailer, noting that the reboot seems to share little with its animated predecessor.[27] Hillary Crosley Coker of Jezebel commented that the film "looks like a less interesting version of Beyond the Lights".[28] Uproxx noted the trailer's low rating on its official YouTube page,[29][30] while The Huffington Post Canada wrote that the changes to the original plot have "disappointed '80s kids everywhere", then highlighted multiple negative fan reactions.[31] Williesha Morris, also writing for Huffington, criticized the film's re-imagining of the Jerrica character, stating that the original cartoon "represented female empowerment, not angst".[32] Scott and Blum have both addressed the negative reactions by asking fans to reserve judgment until release. Scott stated that "I think that they have to see the movie to understand that things that they think are missing are in there." Blum has described the film as being "a hundred percent true to the spirit of Jem".[33]
Home media[edit]
Jem and the Holograms received a DVD and Blu-ray/DVD combo release on January 19, 2016. Special features include twelve deleted scenes, an audio commentary by director Chu, a gag reel, a music video for "Youngblood" and a featurette titled "Glam, Glitter, Fashion, and Fame: The Reinvention of Jem".[34]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Jem and the Holograms opened theatrically in North America on October 23, 2015, alongside The Last Witch Hunter, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension and Rock the Kasbah, as well as the wide release of fellow Universal drama Steve Jobs. It was initially projected for a $5 million opening weekend, but was lowered to $3 million after Thursday night previews earning $34,000 ($36 per theater average).[35] The film ultimately opened fifteenth at the box office with $1.4 million, the worst opening of 2015, the fourth worst opening ever for a film screening in more than 2,000 theaters and the worst ever for a film released by a major studio.[36][37][9] On November 10, just over two weeks later, Universal removed Jem from theaters entirely. Jason Guerrasio of Business Insider described the pull as "an unheard of move for a movie that was in theaters nationwide."[38]
An international roll-out began the same weekend as its North American release, including Slovenia,[39] Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Singapore, the United Kingdom and France. It never made theatrical release in Australia, instead being issued direct-to-DVD.
Jem grossed $2,184,640 in the United States and Canada, and $149,044 overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $2,333,684.[40]