Taglines: This house knows what makes you tick.
After his parents are killed in a car crash, ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt moves to live with his uncle Jonathan. All he has left of his parents is a Magic 8-Ball they had given him. He meets Jonathan’s neighbor and best friend, Florence Zimmerman. During the night, Lewis is puzzled when he hears a ticking sound in the walls. Lewis begins exploring the house and stumbles upon Jonathan smashing a wall with an ax.
Frightened, he runs away and stumbles upon multiple household objects coming to life. Jonathan confesses that he is a warlock and Florence is a witch. The house’s previous owners were a sinister warlock named Isaac Izard and his equally wicked wife Selena, who had hidden a clock within the walls of the house before they died. Jonathan has been trying to find it and discover its purpose. Despite Jonathan’s discouragement, Lewis begins teaching himself magic.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls is a 2018 American fantasy film directed by Eli Roth, based on the 1973 novel of the same name by John Bellairs, and starring Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic, and Kyle MacLachlan. The film follows a young boy who is sent to live with his uncle in a creaky old house. He soon learns it was previously inhabited by a nefarious entity.
Universal Pictures released the film in the United States on September 21, 2018. It has been a box office success, grossing over $131 million worldwide and received mixed to moderately positive reviews from critics, who largely praised the cast but said it did not fully live up to its potential.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls has grossed $68.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $62.9 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $131.5 million, against a production budget of $42 million. In the United States and Canada, The House with a Clock in Its Walls was released alongside Assassination Nation, Life Itself and Fahrenheit 11/9, and was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,592 theaters in its opening weekend.
The film made $7.8 million on its first day, including $840,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $26.9 million, finishing first at the box office and marking the best opening of Roth’s career, surpassing Hostel in 2006 ($19.6 million). In its second weekend the film made $12.5 million, finishing third behind newcomers Night School and Smallfoot.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
Directed by: Eli Roth
Starring: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle MacLachlan, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Colleen Camp, Sunny Suljic, Vanessa Anne Williams, Lorenza Izzo, Charles Green
Screenplay by: Eric Kripke
Production Design by: Jon Hutman
Cinematography by: Rogier Stoffers
Film Editing by: Andrew S. Eisen, Fred Raskin
Costume Design by: Marlene Stewart
Set Decoration by: Ellen Brill, Tommy Wilson
Art Direction by: Andres Cubillan, Walter P. Martishiusş, Thomas Minton
Music byk: Nathan Barr
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements including sorcery, some action, scary images, rude humor and language.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: September 21, 2018
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