The Happening
Posted by RaVeN on April 23, 2008
The Happening is a 2008 American film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. Shyamalan had previously cast Wahlberg’s brother Donnie Wahlberg in The Sixth Sense. Production began in August 2007 in Philadelphia. The Happening will be released on Friday, June 13, 2008, deliberately planned to fall on Friday the 13th.
Premise
The Happening is a paranoid thriller in which a family must survive a global environmental crisis. Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel star as an estranged couple who must escape this apocalyptic pandemic.
Cast
- Mark Wahlberg as Elliot Moore, a man who takes his family on the run
- Zooey Deschanel as Alma Moore, Elliot’s estranged wife
- John Leguizamo as Julian, Elliot’s close friend
- Spencer Breslin as a teenage boy
- Betty Buckley in a yet-unnamed role
- Ashlyn Sanchez as Jess, Julian’s daughter
- Edward James Hyland in a supporting role
Production
In January 2007, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan traveled from Philadelphia to Hollywood to prepare the live-action film based on Avatar: The Last Airbender. Shyamalan submitted a spec script entitled The Green Effect to various studios, but none expressed enough interest to purchase the script. The director collected ideas and notes from meetings, returning home to Philadelphia to rewrite the script, and 20th Century Fox greenlit the project. Now titled The Happening, the film will be produced by Shyamalan and Barry Mendel and will be the director’s first R-rated project. Later in March, actor Mark Wahlberg, with whom Shyamalan had been negotiating at the same time as his deal with Fox, was cast into the lead role of the $57 million project. The India-based company UTV will co-finance 50% of the film’s budget and distribute the film in India, with Fox distributing in the rest of the territories. Production began in August in Philadelphia. Filming locations in the Philadelphia area include Masterman High School, Rittenhouse Square,Cherry Hill Mall Complex, 30th Street Station. Most of the scenes at a farm or at a farm house took place in Plumstead, Doylestown, and restaurant scenes were filmed G Lodge in Phoenixville. The release date for The Happening is set for June 13, 2008, intentionally set for Friday the 13th to suit the thriller.
Soundtrack
The score to The Happening was composed by Oscar-nominated composer James Newton Howard. He recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage with a 90-piece orchestra, and featured solos by cellist Maya Beiser. Varese Sarabande Records will handle the release of the score on CD. A release date has been yet to be announced.
