Taglines: Never give up on your dreams.
In the 1880s, Félicie (Elle Fanning), a poor orphan girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina, but lacks any formal training, runs away from her orphanage in rural Brittany and goes to beautiful Paris accompanied by her friend, a young inventor, Victor (Dane DeHaan), but they soon become separated, as Victor becomes an office boy in Gustave Eiffel’s workshop.
Félicie gets a chance to audition for the celebrated school of the Paris Opera Ballet by briefly assuming the identity of the ruthless, snobby and bratty Camille Le Haut (Maddie Ziegler). Penniless, and without any formal dance experience, 11-year-old Félicie finds her training, and making friends at the ballet school among her fellow-students, to be very difficult. She finds a mentor: a mysterious cleaning woman with a limp, Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), who turns out to be a former prima ballerina.
With no technique but great determination, and the help of Odette and Victor, Félicie faces many failures and challenges. Merante (Terrence Scammell), the school’s exacting choreographer, dismisses the worst dancer in each class, so the pressure is great for Félicie to improve quickly to avoid elimination and claim the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. She has the courage to follow her passion and works hard to turn her dreams into reality.
Ballerina (titled Leap! in the United States) is a 2016 3D computer-animated musical adventure comedy film co-directed by Éric Summer and Éric Warin and written by Summer, Carol Noble and Laurent Zeitoun. A co-production between Canadian and French companies, the film follows a poor orphan girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina and gets a chance to audition for the celebrated school of the Paris Opera Ballet.
Ballerina stars the voices of Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Maddie Ziegler and Carly Rae Jepsen. The film was released in cinemas in France and the United Kingdom on 12 December 2016, followed by releases in various countries over the following several months, including Canada on 24 February 2017. The film was released in the United States on 25 August 2017, with the voices of Nat Wolff (who replaced DeHaan), Kate McKinnon and Mel Brooks added.
The soundtrack album was released internationally by Gaumont on December 12, 2016. The album features both the film’s original score composed by Klaus Badelt, and songs from other artists that are used in the film. The film also features songs that are not included in the album, such as “Cut to the Feeling” and “Runaways” by Jepsen and “Suitcase” by Sia.
As of 7 December 2017, Ballerina had grossed approximately US$106 million worldwide. It opened in France on 14 December 2016 with over half a million admissions, earning €2.2 million (~US$2.4 million) over the course of the weekend. Its French gross eventually reached $14.5 million. In Canada, it earned more than C$1.5 million during the first 13 days of its theatrical run, $1.1 million of which was made in Quebec. It ultimately grossed a total of $3.6 million (~US$2.8 million) in Canada. It was released on 25 August 2017 in the United States, earning $4.7 million over its opening weekend. As of 7 December 2017 it had grossed $21.9 million in the US, the film’s highest-grossing territory.
Ballerina – Leap! (2017)
Directed by: Eric Summer, Éric Warin
Starring: Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Carly Rae Jepsen, Carly Rae Jepsen, Maddie Ziegler, Julie Khaner, Tamir Kapelian, Elana Dunkelman, Shoshana Sperling, Jamie Watson, Bronwen Mantel
Screenplay by: Eric Summer
Cinematography by: Jericca Cleland
Film Editing by: Benjamin Massoubre, Mirenda Ouellet, Yvann Thibaudeau
Music by: Klaus Badelt
MPAA RAting: PG for some impolite humor, and action.
Distributed by: Gaumont (France), The Weinstein Company (United States)
Release Date: August 18, 2017
