Men in Black (1997 film)
Men in Black is a 1997 American science fiction action comedy film[2] based on Lowell Cunningham's eponymous comic book series, which was itself based on the “Men in black” conspiracy theory. Produced by Columbia Pictures and Amblin Entertainment in association with MacDonald Parkes Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is the first installment in the Men in Black franchise. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld from a screenplay and screen story written by Ed Solomon, it stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in the lead roles, with Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Rip Torn in supporting roles. In the film, Kevin Brown / Agent K (Jones) and James Darrell Edwards III / Agent J (Smith) investigate a series of seemingly unrelated criminal incidents related to the extraterrestrial lifeforms which live in secret on Earth.
"MIB: Men in Black" redirects here. For other uses, see MIB (disambiguation) and Men in Black (disambiguation).Men in Black
- Columbia Pictures
- Amblin Entertainment
- Parkes/MacDonald Productions
- July 2, 1997 (United States)
98 minutes
United States
English
$90 million[1]
$589.4 million[1]
Development for the film began in 1992, after producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald optioned the rights to the comic book series.
Solomon was soon hired to write the screenplay; Sonnenfeld was the preferred directorial choice, which resulted in delays due to his commitments to other film projects and failure to secure any alternative directors. Principal photography began in March 1996 and lasted until that June, with filming primarily taking place in New York City. The film's visual effects were helmed by Industrial Light & Magic. The film's soundtrack contains the theme song of the same name, performed by Smith, as well as the score, composed by Danny Elfman.
Men in Black premiered at Pacific's Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on June 25, 1997, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 2. It received critical acclaim for its screenplay, action sequences, and the performances and chemistry between Jones and Smith. The film grossed over $589.4 million worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 1997 and the ninth-highest-grossing film of the decade. It won for Best Makeup and was also nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Original Score at the 70th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades. A sequel was released in 2002, a third film was released in 2012, and a stand-alone spin-off was released in 2019, with Jones and Smith absent.
Release[edit]
Marketing[edit]
In advance of the film's theatrical release, its marketing campaign included more than 30 licensees.[20] Galoob was the first to license, in which they released various action figures of the film's characters and aliens.[21] Ray-Ban also partnered the film with a $5–10 million television campaign.[22] Other promotional items included Hamilton Watches[23] and Procter & Gamble's Head & Shoulders with the tagline "Keeping the Men in Black in black".[24]
An official comic adaptation was released by Marvel Comics. The film also received a third-person shooter Men in Black game developed by Gigawatt Studios and published by Gremlin Interactive, which was released to lackluster reviews in October 1997 for the PC and the following year for the PlayStation. Also, a very rare promotional PlayStation video game system was released in 1997 with the Men in Black logo on the CD lid. Three months after the film's release, an animated series based on Men in Black, produced by Columbia TriStar Television alongside Adelaide Productions and Amblin Television, began airing on The WB's Kids' WB programming block, and also inspired several games. A Men in Black role-playing game was also released in 1997 by West End Games.
Home media[edit]
Men in Black was first released on VHS and LaserDisc on November 25, 1997. The home video release was attached to a rebate offer on a pair of Ray-Ban Predator-model sunglasses.[25] The film was re-released in a collector's series on VHS and DVD on September 5, 2000,[26] with the DVD containing several bonus features including an interactive editing workshop for three different scenes from the film, extended storyboards, conceptual art, and a visual commentary track with Tommy Lee Jones and director Barry Sonnenfeld; an alternate two-disc Deluxe Edition was released in 2002, adding a fullscreen version and a preview for Men In Black II.[27] A Blu-ray edition was released on June 17, 2008.[28] The entire Men in Black trilogy was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 5, 2017, in conjunction with the film's 20th anniversary.[29]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Men in Black earned $4.8 million from Tuesday night previews and went on to gross $14 million on its opening day, bringing the total gross to $18.8 million.[30] During its opening weekend, it generated $51.1 million, making it the third-highest opening weekend of all time, behind Batman Forever and The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The film then grossed $84.1 million during its five-day Wednesday opening. It surpassed Independence Day for having three records. These were the biggest three-day Fourth of July opening weekend, the largest July opening weekend and the highest opening weekend for a non-sequel film.[31] The film would hold the latter two records for three years until 2000 when X-Men took them.[32][33] Two years later, its successor Men in Black II broke the record for having the highest three-day Fourth of July opening weekend.[34] Moreover, Men in Black held the record for having the highest opening weekend for an action-packed comedy film until Rush Hour 2 surpassed it in 2001.[35] It would remain in the number one spot at the box office for three weeks until it was beaten by Air Force One.[36] The film also competed against Hercules and Batman & Robin during its theatrical run.[37]
Men in Black grossed $250.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $338.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $589.3 million.[1] It would hold the record for being the highest-grossing Sony film until it was surpassed by Spider-Man five years later in 2002.[38][39] The film grossed a record $10.7 million in its opening weekend in Germany, beating the record held by Independence Day.[40]
Despite its grosses, writer Ed Solomon has said that Sony claims the film has never turned a profit, which is attributed to Hollywood accounting.[41]
Critical response[edit]
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Men in Black holds an approval rating of 91% based on 93 reviews, and an average score of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Thanks to a smart script, spectacular set pieces, and charismatic performances from its leads, Men in Black is an entirely satisfying summer blockbuster hit."[42] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[43] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[44]
Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the film as "a smart, funny and hip adventure film in a summer of car wrecks and explosions."[45] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, giving particular praise to the film's self-reflective humor and Rick Baker's alien creature designs.[46] Janet Maslin, reviewing for The New York Times, wrote the film "is actually a shade more deadpan and peculiar than such across-the-board marketing makes it sound. It's also extraordinarily ambitious, with all-star design and special-effects talent and a genuinely artful visual style. As with his Addams Family films and Get Shorty, which were more overtly funny than the sneakily subtle Men in Black, Mr. Sonnenfeld takes offbeat genre material and makes it boldly mainstream."[47]
Writing for Variety, Todd McCarthy acknowledged the film was "witty and sometimes surreal sci-fi comedy" in which he praised the visual effects, Baker's creature designs and Elfman's musical score. However, he felt the film "doesn't manage to sustain this level of inventiveness, delight and surprise throughout the remaining two-thirds of the picture."[48] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film a C+, writing "Men in Black celebrates the triumph of attitude over everything else – plausibility, passion, any sense that what we're watching actually matters. The aliens, for all their slimy visual zest, aren't particularly scary or funny (they aren't allowed to become characters), and so the joke of watching Smith and Jones crack wise in their faces quickly wears thin."[49]
John Hartl of The Seattle Times, claimed the film "is moderately amusing, well-constructed and mercifully short, but it fails to deliver on the zaniness of its first half." While he was complimentary of the film's first half, he concluded "somewhere around the midpoint they run out of energy and invention. Even the aliens, once they stop their shape-shifting ways and settle down to appear as themselves, begin to look familiar."[50]
Accolades[edit]
Men in Black won Best Makeup at the 70th Academy Awards and was also nominated for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Art Direction, losing the latter two to The Full Monty and Titanic, respectively. The film was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 55th Golden Globe Awards, losing to As Good as It Gets.[51]