Over 320,000 VHS rental copies were shipped throughout the United States, and on the strength of its award nominations and word of mouth, it became one of the top video rentals of 1995. It went on to receive multiple award nominations, including seven Academy Award nominations, and a theatrical re-release that, combined with international takings, increased the film's box-office gross to $73.3 million. Many reasons were cited for its failure at the time, including competition from films such as Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump, the general unpopularity of prison films, its lack of female characters, and even the title, which was considered to be confusing for audiences. While The Shawshank Redemption received critical acclaim on its release-particularly for its story, the performances of Robbins and Freeman, Newman's score, Darabont's direction and screenplay and the cinematography-the film was a box-office disappointment, earning only $16 million during its initial theatrical run. The project attracted many stars of the time for the role of Andy, including Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and Kevin Costner. While the film is set in Maine, principal photography took place from June to August 1993 almost entirely in Mansfield, Ohio, with the Ohio State Reformatory serving as the eponymous penitentiary. Two weeks after submitting his script to Castle Rock Entertainment, Darabont secured a $25 million budget to produce The Shawshank Redemption, which started pre-production in January 1993. William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore appear in supporting roles.ĭarabont purchased the film rights to King's story in 1987, but development did not begin until five years later, when he wrote the script over an eight-week period. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding ( Morgan Freeman), and becomes instrumental in a money laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel Norton ( Bob Gunton). The film tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne ( Tim Robbins), who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murders of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Though some purists have bagged on Em and Royce for going soft in the tune and pandering to the pop base by including Mars, both the song and the video work.The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year, and it gets an equally strong video. The song is one of the strongest off “Bad Meets Evils: The Sequel,” which debuted at No. I kind of expected them to break into “I”d Like To Teach The World To Sing” from the classic Coca Cola commercial from the ’70s at this point. Evil, other folks, and lots and lots of “lighters” (which actually look like white paper bags with candles in them) fill the air. Sweet! In a move straight out of “The Shawshank Redemption” (or “Raising Arizona” depending upon your frame of reference), Bad makes a jail break through a tunnel, emerging into freedom. Plus, he”s got an escape hatch in his cell. He”s recalling his bad days, when T-Pain didn”t want to work with him, but now he”s driving a car the parks itself. Also in the underground (is this “Miserables?”) is Bad, aka Royce da 5″9”, who is in a holding cell. So with torch (i.e., a “lighter,” get it?) in hand, he starts wandering through the caverns. But how bad can things really be when you have a big, if messy, apartment that has a trap door that leads to catacombs right below. He”s got a stack of CDs beside him (between the lighters theme, which, of course, have given way to cell phones being raised at concerts, and the CDs, I felt like I was back in the early ’90s).Įminem -who headlined the V Festival in England this past weekend, where he reunited with another duet partner, Rihanna, for “Love The Way You Lie” -begins rapping about being an underdog in the way he”s done tons of times before– but despite all his success, those raps are the ones that still resonate with me versus the cartoon-y, woman-hating, braggart. It cuts quickly to Evil, aka Eminem, who”s struggling to write a letter. The clip opens with Bruno Mars, looking even more like Richie Valens than usual, at an upright piano, gently warbling about wanting to see a “skyful” of lighters. Bad Meets Evil”s “Lighters” featuring Bruno Mars has already shown its strength at radio, landing in the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100, and now it should get an extra boost from a strong video.
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