Wrath of the Titans Information

Wrath of the Titans is a 2012 American-Spanish fantasy film and sequel to the 2010 film Clash of the Titans. The film stars Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, "?dgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson with Jonathan Liebesman directing a screenplay by Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson. Wrath of the Titans takes place a decade after the events of the first film as the gods lose control over the imprisoned Titans and Perseus is called once again, this time to rescue his father Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.

Talk of a sequel began with the release of Clash of the Titans in March 2010. Scribes Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson were hired in June 2010 and director Jonathan Liebesman was brought on board in August 2010. The majority of the casting took place between January and February 2011. Principal photography began in London in March 2011. Like its predecessor, the film was converted to 3D in post-production. Wrath of the Titans was released in 2D and 3D on March 30, 2012 in the United States and was met with a generally unfavorable response by film critics but grossed $302 million worldwide.

Plot

Perseus (Sam Worthington), the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), lives as a fisherman with his young son, Helius (John Bell). Zeus visits Perseus and asks for his help, saying that the walls of Tartarus are crumbling and that the dangerous Titan Kronos will soon be free. Perseus, who values his family's safety, refuses to get involved.

Zeus travels to Tartarus to meet with his brothers Hades (Ralph Fiennes), Poseidon (Danny Huston), and his son Ares (Edgar Ramirez). Zeus tells Hades they must forget the past and unite to rebuild Tartarus' walls, but Hades rejects his offer and orders his minions to attack. They wound Poseidon, and Ares betrays Zeus, imprisoning him and stealing his Thunderbolt. Hades and Ares hope to make a deal with Kronos; in exchange for remaining immortal and powerful, they will drain Zeus' divine power to revive Kronos. They hold Zeus prisoner in chains, and the walls of Tartarus break, unleashing monsters onto the world.

After slaying a Chimera that attacks his village, Perseus goes to the Mount of Idols, where Poseidon tells him of Zeus' plight and tells him to meet with his son Agenor (Toby Kebbell) to find Hephaestus, who knows the way into Tartarus. Poseidon then gives Perseus his Trident before succumbing to his injuries.

Perseus, Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Agenor, and a group of soldiers set out to sea to find Hephaestus, while Agenor explains that Hephaestus created the three great weapons that Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon wield: Zeus' Thunderbolt, Hades' Pitchfork, and Poseidon's Trident, and that together they form the Spear of Trium, the only weapon that can defeat Kronos. At Hephaestus' island, they encounter three belligerent Cyclopes. When Perseus shows them the trident, they lead the group to Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), who has a map to navigate through a labyrinth leading to Tartarus. At the door of the labyrinth, Ares attacks them; he located them after one of the soldiers, Korrina (Lily James), prayed to him. Ares, jealous of Perseus' favor with their father Zeus, kills all the soldiers while Hephaestus opens the door, then sacrifices himself so that Perseus, Andromeda, and Agenor can enter the door before it closes.

Agenor tries to use the map, but the Labyrinth continually shifts. Perseus gets separated from the group and encounters and kills the Minotaur before finding the entrance to Tartarus. Eventually, the group reunites. Meanwhile, Zeus has been almost entirely drained of power as Kronos awakens. Zeus apologizes to Hades for banishing him to the Underworld and asks his forgiveness, as he has forgiven Hades for his actions. Though initially surprised, Hades decides to help Zeus and stop Kronos, but Ares remains angry with his father. Perseus arrives and uses the Trident to free Zeus. As they escape, Ares throws the Pitchfork into Zeus's back, wounding him. Perseus and Zeus use their powers to teleport them back to the Tiryns pass, where battle plans are made.

Although he has the Trident and Pitchfork, Perseus still needs the Thunderbolt from Ares in order to defeat Kronos. Perseus intentionally prays to Ares, challenging him to a duel at the Temple of the Gods, which Ares happily accepts.

At the temple, Perseus finds out Ares has kidnapped Helius, who he has brought to watch Perseus die. Ares easily overpowers Perseus at first, but is distracted when Helius tries to challenge him, giving Perseus the chance to strike back anew. After a struggle, Perseus kills Ares with the Thunderbolt. Perseus and Helius then combine the gods' weapons into the Spear of Trium.

Meanwhile, Andromeda's army is overwhelmed by Kronos' army of demonic Makhai, but Hades revives Zeus, making Hades older and Zeus younger, and they use their remaining power to defeat the Tartarian army. Kronos emerges and begins to attack the human army with lava and fire. Zeus and Hades attack him, giving Perseus the opportunity to attack Kronos. Kronos attacks the two gods, but Zeus jumps in the way, pushing Hades, and takes the brunt of the explosion. Perseus flies down into Kronos' throat and drives the weapon into his heart, destroying him once and for all.

The dying Zeus advises Perseus to use his power wisely, saying that the time of the gods is over.

Cast

• Sam Worthington as Perseus, the demigod son of Zeus.
• Rosamund Pike as Andromeda, the princess whose life Perseus once saved, and who now, as a queen, follows Perseus into battle. Pike replaces Alexa Davalos in the role, who dropped out due to a scheduling conflict.
• Bill Nighy as Hephaestus, the fallen god, whose twisted lame figure belies his Olympian origins.
• "?dgar Ramírez as Ares, the traitorous god of war.
• Toby Kebbell as Agenor, imprisoned thief and son of Poseidon who joins Perseus on his journey to Tartarus.
• Danny Huston as Poseidon, god of the sea.
• Ralph Fiennes as Hades, god of the underworld.
• Liam Neeson as Zeus, the king of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus.

Additionally, John Bell portrays Helius, Lily James portrays Korrina, Freddy Drabble portrays Apollo and Kathryn Carpenter portrays Athena. Martin Bayfield and Spencer Wilding portray the Cyclops and the Minotaur respectively.

Production

Talks of a sequel to Clash of the Titans began as early as March 2010. Tamer Hassan, who played Ares in the first film, stated at the film's world premiere that, "They want this one to do well so they can go ahead with the sequel, Return of the Gods". In April 2010 it was reported that director Louis Leterrier would not return to direct, but would be an executive producer on the second installment. The report also stated that Sam Worthington was on board and that Greg Berlanti would write the story.

In June 2010, Warner Bros. hired scribes David Leslie Johnson and Dan Mazeau to pen the screenplay with Basil Iwanyk returning as producer and rather than being converted to 3D, the sequel was going to be shot in 3D. In August 2010, the The Hollywood Reporter reported that Jonathan Liebesman had signed a deal to direct the sequel.

In September 2010, director Jonathan Liebesman confirmed that Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson would be returning. However, Arterton did not reprise her role for unknown reasons, leaving her character, Io, dead in the film. In December 2010, Neeson revealed that the film would be titled, Wrath of the Titans and that filming was expected to begin next March.

In January 2011, it was reported that "?dgar Ramírez and Toby Kebbell were in negotiations to play Ares and Agenor respectively. It was also reported that Bill Nighy was being courted to play Hephaestus. Additionally, Hayley Atwell was on the shortlist of actresses screen testing for the role of Andromeda, played in the previous film by Alexa Davalos who left due to a scheduling conflict. Other actresses being considered for Andromeda included Georgina Haig, Janet Montgomery, Dominique McElligott, and Clémence Poésy.

In February 2011, it was reported that Rosamund Pike was near a deal for the part. Also in February, Liebesman announced that Wrath of the Titans would be converted to 3D rather than shot in 3D as previously reported despite the negative criticism the first Clash of the Titans received for its use of post-conversion 3D. Liebesman explained, "I think what you have to remember is the first film was neither shot nor edited with 3D in mind. It was shot as a 2D movie and edited as a 2D film, and they decided to convert it with six or seven weeks to go until release, which is insane; the technology was not there. That's why we're conceiving it from the start, from the ground up, in 3D, editing in 3D for 3D." Liebesman also stated the reason behind the conversion was because he wants to shoot on film, which will give the film's imagery better texture than he would get shooting digitally.

Principal photography began on March 23, 2011. Filming took place in studios outside London and later shot on location in Surrey, South Wales and in the Canary Islands on the island of Tenerife.

Release

Wrath of the Titans premiered on Monday, March 26, 2012 at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City.

Critical reception

Wrath of the Titans has received generally unfavorable reviews from film critics. Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 37/100 based on reviews from 32 critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 26% approval rating with an average rating of 4.5/10, based on an aggregation of 164 reviews and offers the consensus; "Its 3D effects are an improvement over its predecessor's, but in nearly every other respect, Wrath of the Titans fails to improve upon the stilted acting, wooden dialogue, and chaos-driven plot of the franchise's first installment".

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called it, "A relentlessly mechanical piece of work that will not or cannot take the imaginative leaps to yield even fleeting moments of awe, wonder or charm". Roger Ebert, who gave the first film three stars, awarded Wrath with only two, remarking "It lacks a comprehensible story, and you won't need your CliffsNotes on the Greek myths. You get an idea of who the major players are, and then they spend a modest amount of time shouting laughable dialogue at one another while being all but forced off the screen by special effects.". Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times criticized, "Directed this time out by Jonathan Liebesman, the film lacks inspiration or zest in storytelling, performance or action. This is pure product, a movie desperately without energy or enthusiasm of any kind".

However, there have been some positive reviews. Andrew Barker of Variety noted that, "The [Clash of the Titans] franchise has matured ever so slightly with Wrath of the Titans, hewing incrementally more faithfully to its Greek origins and trimming the fat in essential places". Richard Corliss of Time magazine wrote, "Wrath [of the Titans] radiates the straight-forward, straight-faced pleasures of the mytho-muscular epics, like Hercules and Jason and the Argonauts, produced in Europe a half-century ago". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly commented, "For a movie that's basically all warmed-over pseudo-mythology and special effects, Wrath of the Titans is certainly more fun, in its solemnly junky way, than John Carter. It may also be a little more fun than its cheeseball predecessor, the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans".

Box office

Wrath of the Titans opened on Friday, March 30, 2012 with $1 million from midnight screenings in 1,490 theaters. The film went on to earn an estimated $34.2 million in North America through the weekend, debuting in second place behind The Hunger Games.

Wrath of the Titans earned $83,670,083 in North America and $218,300,000 internationally for a worldwide total of $301,970,083. This is less than the $493 million grossed by its predecessor.

Home media

Wrath of the Titans was released on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on June 26, 2012.

Sequel

In November 2011, Warner Bros. hired Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson, who co-wrote Wrath of the Titans, to develop and write a treatment for a third installment.