Game Night (DVD)

Game Night is a 2018 American action comedy film directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and written by Mark Perez. It stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and follows a group of friends whose game night turns into a real-life mystery after one of them is kidnapped. The film s supporting cast includes Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons, Michael C. Hall, and Kyle Chandler.

Warner Bros. Pictures released the film on February 23, 2018. It was a commercial and critical success, grossing $117 million worldwide and receiving praise for its originality, humor, script and performances. Plemons was nominated for the Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Plot

Husband and wife Max and Annie are avid gamers, after meeting at bar trivia and Max proposing during a game of charades. Their plans for a baby are complicated by Max s feelings of inadequacy when compared to his successful brother Brooks. They host a regular game night with their friend Ryan and married couple Kevin and Michelle, which they struggle to keep secret from their police officer neighbor Gary due to him becoming weird in the time since becoming divorced from their other friend Debbie. Brooks arrives in Max’s dream car (a Corvette Stingray), humiliates him with a childhood story and offends Annie (who assumed Max was overthinking his issues with Brooks) by offering to host their next game night himself.

When the guests, including Ryan s new date Sarah, arrive at Brooks house, he reveals that he has initiated an interactive role-playing mystery game, promising the winner his Corvette. An actor enters to begin the game but is knocked unconscious by two masked men who kidnap Brooks. Believing this is part of the game, the couples split up to solve the mystery. Ryan and Sarah visit the role-playing company’s office and Kevin and Michelle talk to the actor, leading them to realize Brooks’ abduction was real.

Meanwhile, Max and Annie track Brooks’ phone to a bar and use a “fake” pistol Brooks dropped to hold his captors at gunpoint and free him but Max is shot in the arm. Realizing they’re in actual danger, they flee as Brooks confesses that he is a black marketeer: he procured a Fabergé egg for a criminal known as the Bulgarian but instead sold it to someone with the alias Marlon Freeman . With his kidnappers in pursuit, Brooks jumps out of the car to allow Max and Annie to escape.

The couples regroup and, unable to go to the police, decide to recover the egg from Freeman to deliver to the Bulgarian. They show up at Gary s house, distracting him with the pretense of a game night while Max uses his police computer to discover Freeman’s real name, Donald Anderton, and his address. After Max accidentally bleeds all over Gary s dog and a shrine dedicated to Debbie, the group leaves and receives a phone call to meet the kidnappers in one hour.

They sneak into Anderton s mansion, where he is hosting an underground fight club. Searching for the egg, Michelle admits to Kevin that she once slept with a man she thought was Denzel Washington only for him to be a celebrity impersonator, and Max tells Annie he may not be ready to have a child. Ryan spots the egg in an open safe, leading to a game of keep away with Anderton’s guards. The group escapes with the egg but accidentally break it, revealing a Witsec list inside.

The group meets with Brooks and his captors, only to be captured themselves. Brooks reveals that he has always been jealous of Max’s life, and intended for him to win the Corvette all along. They are saved by Gary, who is shot in the chest. Max and Annie comfort him by promising to invite him to every future game night, and Gary reveals that he faked the entire abduction — including hiring the kidnappers — to trick them into letting him rejoin game night.

He is, however, unaware of the egg, and they are cornered by the real Bulgarian. Max offers the list in exchange for their lives, but a desperate Brooks swallows the list and is taken to the Bulgarian’s plane. Max and Annie race to the airport in the Corvette and manage to stop the plane, subdue the Bulgarian and his henchman, and rescue Brooks; Max realizes he wants to be a father after all.

Three months later, Brooks is under house arrest for his crimes, but has sold the list on the black market for $3 million (after tipping off the witnesses for $20,000 each). He hosts game night for the group, including Gary, and Annie reveals she is pregnant through a game of Pictionary, while armed men arrive outside. In a mid-credits sequence, Gary looks over his plans to rejoin game night, while in a post-credits scene, his ex-wife Debbie meets Kenny, the Denzel Washington lookalike.

Cast

• Jason Bateman as Max Davis, Annie s husband.
• Rachel McAdams as Annie Davis, Max s wife.
• Billy Magnussen as Ryan Huddle, one of Max and Annie s friends.
• Sharon Horgan as Sarah Darcy, Ryan s co-worker and love interest.
• Lamorne Morris as Kevin Sterling, Michelle s husband.
• Kylie Bunbury as Michelle Sterling, Kevin s wife.
• Jesse Plemons as Gary Kingsbury, Max and Annie s neighbor.
• Chelsea Peretti as Glenda
• Danny Huston as Donald Anderton
• Michael C. Hall as The Bulgarian
• Kyle Chandler as Brooks Davis, Max s brother.

Additionally, the film s directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein cameo as Carter and Dan, respectively. Kenny (credited as Not Denzel ) is portrayed by Malcolm X. Hughes, a part-time Denzel Washington impersonator. Jeffrey Wright makes an uncredited cameo as an actor playing Agent Ron Henderson, an FBI Agent.

Production

Development

Producer John Fox had the film s title, and asked screenwriter Mark Perez for story ideas. Perez took inspiration from films like Three Amigos and Tropic Thunder. He pitched the concept to 20th Century Fox, who liked it. The two pitched the project to Jason Bateman, who also liked it. They then sold the idea to New Line Cinema around 2013-2014. Bateman was initially slated to direct, as well as produce and star in the film. When screenwriters Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley were hired to rewrite Perez s script, it became clear to Bateman that the two would also want to direct the film, so Bateman stepped down.

Pre-production

On May 24, 2016, New Line Cinema hired Goldstein and Francis Daley to rewrite and direct the film Game Night, which Jason Bateman produced through Aggregate Films. While Daley and Goldstein did not receive screenwriter credit, they later said they rewrote almost all of the original script’s dialogue, totally overhauled the characters — most notably a creepy cop portrayed by Jesse Plemons — and comprehensively reworked the original script’s third act.

In January 2017, Rachel McAdams, Bateman, and Plemons were cast in the film s lead roles. In February 2017, Kylie Bunbury joined the cast, while in March, Lamorne Morris, Billy Magnussen, Kyle Chandler, and Sharon Horgan were also added. In April 2017, Jeffrey Wright was cast in the film as an FBI agent, a role he ultimately played uncredited.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began in early April 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

Release

Warner Bros. Pictures had originally scheduled Game Night for release on February 14, 2018. The date was later pushed back to March 2, 2018, before being moved up to February 23, 2018.

Reception

Box office

Game Night grossed $69.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $48.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $117.7 million, against a production budget of $37 million.

In the United States and Canada, Game Night was released alongside Annihilation and Every Day, and was projected to gross $13–21 million from 3,488 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $5.6 million on its first day (including $1 million from Thursday night previews). It ended up grossing $17 million over the weekend, finishing second, behind holdover Black Panther. The film dropped 38.8% (above average for a comedy) in its second weekend to $10.4 million, and finished 4th, behind Black Panther and newcomers Red Sparrow and Death Wish. It made $7.9 million in its third weekend, $5.6 million in its fourth and $4.1 million in its fifth.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 257 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website s critical consensus reads, With a talented cast turned loose on a loaded premise — and a sharp script loaded with dark comedy and unexpected twists — Game Night might be more fun than the real thing. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B+ on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported that 78% of filmgoers gave it a positive score. Many critics noted the similarity of the plot to that of The Man Who Knew Too Little.

Owen Gleiberman of Variety, gave the film a positive review, saying Even at 100 minutes, Game Night pushes its premise to the wall of synthetic escapism. Yet the movie manipulates its audience in cunning and puckish ways. It s no big whoop, but you re happy to have been played.

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair gave the film a positive review, but wrote: It s a good time, but it maybe could have been a great one. Which I suppose is true of so many nights meant to deliver us from the doldrums of settled life. Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: There are chuckles here and there, but a striking absence of belly laughs .

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipients	Result	Ref.
Detroit Film Critics Society	December 3, 2018	Best Supporting Actor	Jesse Plemons	Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society	December 10, 2018	Best Comedic Performance	Jason Bateman	Nominated
			Jesse Plemons	Nominated
		Best Editing	Dave Egan and Jamie Gross	Won
		Best Ensemble	Cast	Won
Critics Choice Movie Awards	January 13, 2019	Best Comedy	Game Night	Nominated
		Best Actor in a Comedy	Jason Bateman	Nominated
		Best Actress in a Comedy	Rachel McAdams	Nominated

Possible sequel

During the film s opening weekend, screenwriter Mark Perez discussed the possibility of a sequel, saying It would be great to have sequels. Super titles like Game Night or specific titles like that feel genetically built to have sequels... That would mean the movie did well, and that s all I really care about at this stage.

Condition

New

Actor

Dave Neustadter, James Garavente, Jason Bateman, Jim Garavente, John Davis, John Fox, Marc S. Fischer, Mark Perez, Michael Disco, Richard Brener, Toby Emmerich

Publisher

Warnerbrothers

Published Date

2018-10-25

Rating MPA

R

Recording Length

120

Recording Studio

Warnerbrothers

Format

DVD

Brand

Warner Bros.

Age Group

Adult

Amazon ASIN

B07CF6X78K

UPC / EAN

883929620616

Year

2018

ReleaseDate

2018-02-23

RuntimeMins

100

RuntimeStr

1h 40min

Awards

Awards, 4 wins & 21 nominations

Directors

John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein

Writers

Mark Perez

Stars

Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler

Produced by

Jason Bateman, Richard Brener, John Davis, Michael Disco, Toby Emmerich, Marc S. Fischer, John Fox, James Garavente, Kathryn La Bouff, Dave Neustadter

Music by

Cliff Martinez

Cinematography by

Barry Peterson

Film Editing by

David Egan, Jamie Gross, Gregory Plotkin

Casting By

Rich Delia

Production Design by

Michael Corenblith

Art Direction by

Hugh D.G. Moody

Set Decoration by

Susan Benjamin

Costume Design by

Debra McGuire

Makeup Department

Tracy Ewell, Teressa Hill, Kimberly Jones, Erica Kyker, Lindsay McAllister, Tariq Nevar, Elizabeth Robinson, Shunika Terry, Philonese West, Mi Young, Tim J. Hays, Bill Johnson, Ashley Pullins, Mollie Siegel, Todd Watson, Will Zuidema

Production Management

Marc S. Fischer, Austin Lapierre, Tricia Miles

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Mark E. Brown, Catherine A. Cospelich, Chris Fletcher, Jonathan McGarry, Keith Potter, Lance Resch-Anger, Steven Ritzi, Megan Schmidt, Cameron Sherman, Townson Wells, Wickham Irwin

Art Department

Lizbeth Ayala, Eric J. Bates, Vincent Bates, Alice Battle, Emilio Biasucci, Danny Brown, Michael Corrigan, Albert Cuellar, Justin DeMartino, Edward Donnelly, Alex Dorminy, Jared Fleury, Jason Alan Hoffman, Kelly Irby, Patrick S. Johnson, Ariel R. Kaplan, Megan Kier, Scott Kinney, Rich Koll, Ryan Kutch, Johnny Land, Phil Langone, Noel Leathers, Nicole Linn, Cierra Madison, Carla Martinez, Stacie McKinnon McAdam, Adrienne Morse, Taylor Mosbey, David H. Nash, Todd Sarginson, Todd Seay, Dwayne M. Sisson, Hannah Smith, Ann Stacy, Connor Sullivan, Brian C.A. Thomas, David Tolley, Nelson Wentz, Raegan Wexler, Derek Wilga, James Dawson, Nelson May

Sound Department

Jeff Berlin, C. Douglas Cameron, Jay Fisher, Cameron Frankley, Catherine Harper, Dan Kenyon, Alana Knutson, Tim LeBlanc, Phil Lee, Darrin Mann, Harrison Meyle, Jon Michaels, Ryan Murphy, Whit Norris, Thomas J. O Connell, Jason Oliver, Tony Pilkington, Katherine Rose, Unsun Song, Tami Treadwell, Greg Crawford, Akira Fukasawa, William E. Hirsch, Adam Johnson, Alexander Lowe, John Maskew, Lee Riley, Allen Lee Williams III, Dave Wilson

Special Effects by

Richie Bearden, Skylar Gorrell, Rachel Lanquist, Jossakeed Profit, Chris Sciacca, Tom Stevenson, Robert Trammell, Dean Tyrrell, Russell Tyrrell

Visual Effects by

Rene Allegretti, Mostafa Badran, James Banville, Alexis Belanger, Samuel Blouin, Robert Bock, Ariane Boisvert, Sara Bourque, Gabrielle Chouinard, Francis Clément, Valérie Clément, André-Pierre Cormier, William Cote, Didier Coup-Fabiano, Marie-Pier Couture-Alain, Patrick Couturier, Patrick David, Fabien Doyon, Jean-Alexandre Dufour, Katherine Dumas, Elliot Francoeur, Bruce Franklin, Andréann Gagnon, Mailys Garcia, Audrey Geoffroy, Alexandre Giguère, Champagne Guillaume, Simon Han, Michael G. Jackson, Nicolas Jacques, Luc Julien, Vincent L Heureux, Eric Labranche, Isabelle Langlois, Mathieu Lapierre, Eric Larivee, Maxime Laroche, Francis Larouche, Maxime Laurent, Jimmy Lavallée, Evelyne Leblond, Simon Lehembre, Valerie Loyer, Simon Mercier, David Monfette, Hugo Montambault, Sonia Moreau, Sébastien Moreau, Jonathan Moulin, James Naud, Karen M. Nichols, Skylar Nichols, Valérie Nicol, Adam O Brien-Locke, Piper Odegard, Béatrice Palin, Alexandra Papavramides, Martin Pelletier, Philippe Pelletier, Anne-Lise Pollakowsky, Etienne Poulin St-Laurent, Guillaume Poulin, Romina Rabti-Zolpirani, Francisco Ramirez, Roberta Elizondo Romo, Jordan Soles, Tyler Tometich, Amelie Tremblay, Charles Tremblay, Marjolaine Tremblay, Aurore Turbé, Pierre-Hugues Vachon, Opale Vezina, Jean-Philippe Voyer, Brice Wahl, Ivan Arsic, Rachel Bouchard, Juliette Compignie, Plamen Dimitrov, Joseph Dubé-Arsenault, Gabriel Giguère, Patrick Jordaens, Étienne Jubinville, Xavier Lafarge, Kevin Landry, Anne-Claire Leroux, Maxime Letertre, Bradleigh McKay, David McKay, Emmanuelle Morin, Olivier Barbes Morin, Jean-Francois Morissette, Jonathan Niquet, Guillaume Siadous, Aleksandr Starikov, Mai-Anh Tran, Matthieu Veillette

Stunts

Keith Adams, Ben Aycrigg, Dean Bailey, Raven-Danielle Baker, Kevin Ball, John Bernecker, Jeff Brockton, Trent Brya, Paul Burke, Amber Condra, Alan D Antoni, Nick DeKay, Greg Dela Riva, Kevin Dyer, Nick Epper, Alessandro Folchitto, Lex D. Geddings, Michael Hansen, Thirl Haston, Jermaine Holt, Crystal Hooks, Isaac Hughes, Duke Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Jean Claude Leuyer, Curtis Lyons, Richard Marrero, Shaun McLane, Niko Nedyalkov, Paul Andrew O Connor, Steven Ritzi, Cody Robinson, Elena Sanchez, Gregory Lee Steinmetz, Nikki Tomlinson, Ashley Rae Trisler, Michael Twombley, Willie Weber, Jeff Wolfe

Camera and Electrical Department

Tyler Allison, Cua-Cua Apey, Richard Arnold, Matthew Berning, John Betancourt, Mike Black, Kenneth Bolton, Matthew Bowling, Robert Branam, Geoff Bremner, Cordis Brooks, Michael Cape, Jonathan Carbonaro, Jesse Carver, Nicholas Coogan, James M. Cox, Stephen Crowley, Lauren Elizabeth Cummings, Jeff W. Curtis, Roberto Delgado Jr., Fred Duffer, Jason Ellson, Keith Gaynor, Bruce Giglio, Daniel C. Gold, Nicholas Groetsch, Zsolt P. Haraszti, Esteban Hernandez, William Hickox, Violet Jackson, Destin Jacobus, Michael Kim, Matthew J. Klann, Daniel John Lerch, Michael Lowendick, Chris Lumpkin, Matthew C. McCarthy, Bill McClelland, Bill McConnell Jr., Luke Messick, Tom Novell, Kerry Rawlins, Patrick Redmond, Jason Robbins, Mackie Roberts, Nick Rowland, Paul Sanford, Christian Satrazemis, Taylor Schultz, Scott Sealock, Trisha Solyn, Tatem Spearman, Hopper Stone, John Sweet, Dylan Trivette, Jason Tubbs, Benton Ward, Justin Wells, Court Wheeler, Blair Winders, Steve Zigler, Nathan Lee

Casting Department

Janella Bersabal, Patrick Ingram, Coco Kleppinger, Adam Richards, Georgia Simon, Tara Feldstein, Chase Paris

Costume and Wardrobe Department

Leslie Acton, Erika Arnold, Kate Duke, Erinn Knight, Emily Kramer, Joseph T. Mastrolia, Les Morgan, Hilary Smiley, Carl Ulysses Bowen, Keith Hudson, Brandi Quinn, Shelby Tompkins

Editorial Department

Brian G. Addie, Sara Beth Bennett, Brandi Hart Craig, Jasmine Everett-Lewis, John Elliott Houston, Joshua Johnson, Kyle King, Diana Lam, Angelique Perez, Pamela Scott-Farr

Location Management

Gerard Averill, Ryan Dirkes, Jen Farris, Isabella Hunter Agnew, Matt V. Messina, Louis Rendemonti, Richard Sanborn, Jorge Saumell

Music Department

Peter G. Adams, Kim Baum, Jacqueline Brand, Jacob Braun, Meredith Crawford, Ross Gasworth, Tom Hardisty, Greg Hayes, Benjamin Jacobson, Alan Kaplan, Thorsten Laewe, Randy Miller, Jonathan Moerschel, Alison Rosenfeld Moses, Aaron Oltman, Barry Perkins, Manish Raval, Louie Schultz, Eric Shetzen, Kate Sloan, Micki Stern, Charlie Tyler, Booker White, Tom Wolfe, Nicholas J. Cazares

Script and Continuity Department

Pam Fuller, Robin Meyers

Transportation Department

James Cawley, Mark Corley, Terry KJ Day, David J. Duran, Mike Forbs, Kevin Gabrels, Glenn McMurray, Vickie Raynor Robison, Michael Ryles Jr., Gus Sardina, Wayne Short, Vernon Stacey, Thomas Van Schaick, Rob Verdery

Additional Crew

Ruben Gerardo Alfaro Moreno, Kavita Amar, Elizabeth Claire Bates, Alex Beaver, Katie Benson, Amanda Bloomgren, Daniel Booko, Michael Bower, Christopher O. Brooks, Patrick Buntichai, Jim Cadenhead, Kali Campbell, Dusty Clark, Jennifer Davis, Kenya Dillard, Elizabeth Driscoll, Chris Silver Finigan, Jeremy Fischer, Sarah Gorczyk, Vincent Chenzy Graziano, Kathryn Hensel, Nina Hodge, Michael Allen Hollinger, John Howington, Lisa H. Jackson, Marc Karzen, Dillan Knox, Shauna L. Kroen, Samantha Krupica, Wesley Kuykendoll, Faleshia Lo, Nora Lonergan, Sara Martin, Jonathan McClary, Marcia McIntyre, David Moore, Tiffany D. Moore, Louise Muskala, Alec Owen, Kyndra Palinkas, Mor Peretz, Mason Pike, Jacqui Popelka, Carl S. Pyrdum Jr., Jordan Rodbell, Lauren Schoneman, Jill Somers, Bobby Thompson, Karen Turner, Taylor Vaughn, Andishé Zohoori, Sarah Roberts

Thanks

John Bernecker

Genres

Action, Adventure, Comedy

Companies

Access Industries, Aggregate Films, Davis Entertainment

Countries

USA

Languages

English

ContentRating

R

ImDbRating

6.9

ImDb Rating Votes

233778

Metacritic Rating

66

Short Description

Game Night is a 2018 American action comedy film directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and written by Mark Perez. It stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and follows a group of friends whose game night turns into a real-life mystery after one of them is kidnapped. The film s supporting cast includes Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons, Michael C. Hall, and Kyle Chandler.

Warner Bros. Pictures released the film on February 23, 2018. It was a commercial and critical success, grossing $117 million worldwide and receiving praise for its originality, humor, script and performances. Plemons was nominated for the Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Box Office Budget

$37,000,000 (estimated)

Box Office Opening Weekend USA

$17,005,332

Box Office Gross USA

$69,268,230

Box Office Cumulative Worldwide Gross

$117,768,230

Keywords

Board game,game,kidnapping,black comedy,husband wife relationship