The Covenant Information

The Covenant is a 2006 American action supernatural thriller written by J. S. Cardone, directed by Renny Harlin, and starring Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Sebastian Stan, Laura Ramsey, and Jessica Lucas. The film was a critical failure, with a 3% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Plot

The story begins in 1692, during the Salem witch trials, when five families from the Ipswich Colony of Massachusetts formed a covenant of silence that would forever protect their families and their remarkable powers from the witch-hunters. One family went too far, though, and as a result of their transgression they were forever banished from the land.

Flash forward to the new millennium and the four Sons of Ipswich are now the student elite at the prestigious Spenser Academy. To the students of the Spenser Academy, the Sons of Ipswich, Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait), Pogue Parry (Taylor Kitsch), Reid Garwin (Toby Hemingway), and Tyler Simms (Chace Crawford), are the baddest boys on campus. But that's not all they share. The four friends also share a 300-year-old secret: they're witches, the teenage descendants of a 17th-century coven of witches, the five families of 1692.

Bound by their sacred ancestry and sworn to silence, these four teens share a secret so remarkable that it has served to protect their families for hundreds of years; they possess "The Power", a source of nearly limitless mystical abilities that drains their life force if it is used excessively. So when the long-lost fifth son, Chase Collins (Sebastian Stan), suddenly appears and threatens to kill their loved ones unless Caleb "wills" him his powers, they realize they must face their enemy in order to prevent him from stealing their powers and shattering The Covenant forever. The battle is on to ensure the safety of The Covenant and lay the one descendent who threatens to reveal their secret to rest once and for all.

Cast

• Steven Strait as Caleb Danvers
• Taylor Kitsch as Pogue Parry
• Toby Hemingway as Reid Garwin
• Chace Crawford as Tyler Simms
• Sebastian Stan as Chase Collins
• Laura Ramsey as Sarah Wenham
• Jessica Lucas as Kate Tunney
• Kyle Schmid as Aaron Abbot
• Wendy Crewson as Evelyn Danvers
• Stephen McHattie as William Danvers III
• Kenneth Welsh as Provost Higgins

Release

Despite the popular misconception, The Covenant is not based on a comic-book title nor any other book. The confusion comes from the fact Sony released a comic book of the same name written by Aron Coleite created for the purposes of promoting the film. Neither the authors of the comic-book miniseries nor Top Cow Comics is mentioned in the movies' credit sequences, so the comic-book miniseries is not regarded as source material by the makers of this movie. In fact, the film originated from a spec script and went through a number of drafts, by different writers, before J.S. Cardone eventually submitted the final draft. Cardone received sole screenwriting credit.

Reception

The Covenant was widely panned by critics, getting a 3% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus stating "The Covenant plays out like a teen soap opera, full of pretty faces, wooden acting, laughable dialogue, and little suspense." It also holds its place on the site's "Worst of the Worst" ranking 31st. The film received a 19/100 on Metacritic, indicating "overwhelming dislike".

Box office

Upon its release in the United States, the film still managed to top the box office charts with a $9,000,000 opening on what was called a "weak" weekend. As of October 15, 2006, The Covenant has earned $23,292,105 in the U.S. ($37,256,954 internationally). The film cost roughly $20 million to produce, not including marketing.

Home media

The Covenant was released on DVD on January 2, 2007. It went on to sell 1,618,891 DVDs which translated to revenue of $26,578,576.