Taglines: Be careful what you wish for.
In the latest horror thriller from the director of Annabelle, 17-year-old Clare Shannon (Joey King) is barely surviving the hell that is high school, along with her friends Meredith (Sydney Park) and June (Shannon Purser). So when her dad (Ryan Phillippe) gifts her an old music box with an inscription that promises to grant the owner’s wishes, she thinks there is nothing to lose. Clare makes her first wish and, to her surprise, it comes true.
Before long, she finally has it all: money, popularity and her dream boy. Everything seems perfect – until the people closest to her begin dying in gruesome and twisted ways. Now, with blood on her hands, Clare has to get rid of the box, before it costs her and everyone she loves the ultimate price. Be careful what you wish for. Broad Green Pictures’ WISH UPON is directed by John R. Leonetti (ANNABELLE) and produced by Sherryl Clark (Cloverfield).
Wish Upon is a 2017 American supernatural horror film, directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Barbara Marshall, and starring Sherilyn Fenn, Joey King, Shannon Purser, Ryan Phillippe, Elisabeth Röhm, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Alice Lee, Michelle Alexander, Daniela Barbosa, Josephine Langford end Natalie Prinzen-Klages. The film follows a teenage girl who finds a magic box that grants wishes, but kills someone close to her each time it does.
As of August 11, 2017, Wish Upon has grossed $13.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $20.2 million, against a production budget of $12 million.
In North America, Wish Upon was released alongside the opening of War for the Planet of the Apes, as well as the wide expansion of The Big Sick, and was projected to gross $8–10 million from 2,100 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $376,000 from Thursday night previews at 1,659 theaters and $2.3 million on its first day. It went on to debut to $5.5 million for its opening weekend, finishing seventh at the box office.
About the Story
On an otherwise ordinary day, a woman named Johanna Shannon (Elisabeth Rohm) goes to throw out something wrapped in a sheet. Her daughter Clare (Raegan Revord) goes to ride her bicyle with her dog Max. Johanna goes into the house looking spaced. When Clare comes home, she goes into the attic to find Johanna hanging herself.
Teenage Clare (now played by Joey King) wakes up from this nightmare. She gets ready to go to school. Clare rides her bike to school and sees her Uncle August (Victor Sutton), whom her father won’t let her speak to for some reason. Clare is distracted and nearly gets struck by popular girl Darcie Chapman (Josephine Langford). Clare just scrapes her knee and rips her legging.
When Clare gets to school, she sees her father Jonathan (Ryan Phillipe) dumpster-diving with his friend Carl (Kevin Hanchard). Embarrassed, she goes to tell him to go away. Clare then joins her friends June Acosta (Shannon Purser) and Meredith McNeil (Sydney Park) while we see that Clare has a crush on popular guy Paul Middlebrook (Mitchell Slaggart). Darcie also takes an opportunity to be a bitch and hit Clare with her drink. Back home, Clare returns to see her dad has found a large music box. Clare takes it inside and reads that the box will grant seven wishes. She scoffs it off.
The next day, Clare is at school with June and Meredith when they are giggling as Darcie and her clique of mean girls walk by. Darcie questions Clare as to why she’s laughing, and Clare says that she called Darcie “ultimate smegma”, which is some kind of genital secretion in both males and females. Darcie smacks Clare, who smacks her back. Clare then gets knocked over, and she retaliates by tackling Darcie to the ground and engaging in a girlfight. When Clare goes home, she takes the music box and makes what she thinks is a hypothetical wish for Darcie to “go rot”.
The following morning, after an apparently crazy party in her home, Darcie wakes up to find part of her hands, feet, and face looking grotesquely rotted. The news spreads around the school that Darcie got necrotizing fasciitis from a spa, and that means Clare’s wish has come true. However, the next morning, Clare goes to look for Max and finds his dead body under the deck in the house. She and Jonathan bury their dog.
After spending a good part of her day pining for Paul, Clare decides to make her second wish be that Paul would fall madly in love with her. When she goes to school again, Paul approaches her and shows clear interest, even in front of his girlfriend Lola Sanchez (Daniela Barbosa).
In Uncle August’s home, the old man is preparing to take a bath. He fills his tub with water and steps in, only to clumsily slip and hit his head on the side of the tub. He regains consciousness, only to bang his head on the nozzle and die.
Upon learning of August’s death, Clare wonders to her father if August left his inheritance to anyone. Jonathan doubts he or Clare would have been mentioned. Considering that they aren’t very financially stable at the moment, Clare goes to her room and tells the music box her third wish, which is that August had left her everything.
Clare wakes up the next day to Jonathan telling her that August apparently left Clare his entire inheritance. Soon, the two move into a mansion and start driving flashy cars. Jonathan gives Clare his credit card so that she can treat June and Meredith to a shopping spree. Paul officially breaks up with Lola and immediately proceeds to ask Clare out. She takes some time to think about it.
The Shannons’ former neighbor Mrs. Deluca (Sherilyn Fenn) is in her home cooking dinner. She drops something down the garbage disposal and sticks her hand in there while precariously leaning close to the switch. Meanwhile, her pots on the stove appear to be burning. Mrs. Deluca pulls her hand out and turns off the stove. She then moves back toward the sink. Her ponytail goes down the disposal and she accidentally turns it on, causing the disposal to yank her hair and break her neck.
Wish Upon (2017)
Directed by: John R. Leonetti
Starring: Sherilyn Fenn, Joey King, Shannon Purser, Ryan Phillippe, Elisabeth Röhm, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Alice Lee, Michelle Alexander, Daniela Barbosa, Josephine Langford, Natalie Prinzen-Klages
Screenplay by: Barbara Marshall
Production Design by: Bob Ziembicki
Cinematography by: Michael Galbraith
Costume Design by: Antoinette Messam
Set Decoration by: Andy Joyce
Art Direction by: Andrea Kristof
Music by: Toby Chu
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic elements and language.
Distributed by: Broad Green Pictures
Release Date: July 14, 2017
