Happy Death Day Information

Happy Death Day is a 2017 American slasher film directed by Christopher B. Landon and written by Scott Lobdell. It stars Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard. The film was produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner. It follows a college student who is murdered on her birthday, and who then begins reliving the day over and over again; at that point, she sets out to stop her death and find the killer.

The film was released on Friday, October 13, 2017, by Universal Pictures. It received generally positive reviews, with critics deeming the film entertaining while acknowledging the familiar premise, as well as praising Rothe's performance, and describing it as Groundhog Day meets Scream.

Plot summary

Tree Gelbman wakes up again and again on the same day - her birthday - only to be murdered and restart the process until she finds out who killed her.

Cast

• Jessica Rothe as Theresa "Tree" Gelbman
• Israel Broussard as Carter Davis
• Ruby Modine as Lori Spengler
• Rachel Matthews as Danielle Bouseman
• Charles Aitken as Gregory Butler
• Rob Mello as Joseph Tombs
• Phi Vu as Ryan Phan
• Caleb Spillyards as Tim Bauer
• Jason Bayle as David Gelbman
• Laura Clifton as Stephanie Butler
• Cariella Smith as Becky Shepard
• Tran Tran as Emily
• Blaine Kern III as Nick Sims
• Dane Rhodes as Officer Santora
• Tenea Intriago as Student Protestor
• Missy Yager as Mrs. Gelbman

Production

The film was first announced in July 2007, with Megan Fox attached to star. The film was originally titled Half to Death, and was to be produced by Michael Bay. Years later, on October 11, 2016, Blumhouse Productions announced that Jessica Rothe had been cast in the lead role of the film, with Christopher B. Landon writing and directing, and Jason Blum producing. On November 8, 2016, it was announced that Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken and Rachel Matthews had joined the cast, alongside Rothe and Israel Broussard.

Filming took place at and around Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Release

Happy Death Day was theatrically released in the United States on Friday, October 13, 2017, by Universal Studios.

Box office

, Happy Death Day has grossed $26.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $31.5 million, against a production budget of $4.8 million.

In the United States and Canada, Happy Death Day was released alongside Marshall, The Foreigner and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, and was expected to gross $15-20 million from 3,130 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1 million from Thursday night previews at 2,450 theaters, similar to fellow Blumhouse release The Visit ($1.05 million in 2015) and $11.6 million on its first day, increasing weekend projections to $26 million. It went on to debut to $26.5 million, topping the box office, making it the third Blumhouse Production film of 2017 (after Split and Get Out) to do so.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64%, based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Happy Death Day puts a darkly humorous sci-fi spin on slasher conventions, with added edge courtesy of a starmaking performance from Jessica Rothe." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

See also

• List of films featuring time loops