The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, released in 2013, is an American comedy film that takes viewers into the world of Las Vegas magic. Directed by Don Scardino and based on a story by Chad Kultgen and Tyler Mitchell, along with John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the film features a star-studded cast including Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, and Jim Carrey.
Development and Script Changes
Development began in 2006, when New Line Cinema bought Kultgen's script, "Burt Dickenson: The Most Powerful Magician on Planet Earth". The script went through many changes during its years of development, with Daley and Goldstein alone writing approximately fifteen drafts over a three-and-a-half-year period.
Producer Chris Bender discussed the script changes: "it was tone, finding the right tone, because it was originally written more broadly where certain magic things were happening that wouldn't actually be real magic and also, over time, the references that we were making in terms of the new school of magic and the old school of magic were becoming dated... Once [Carell] came on board, that's when things really took off... And then finding the right director, too."
Casting and Characters
The film boasts a talented cast, each bringing their unique flair to their respective roles:
- Steve Carell as Albert Weinselstein / Burt Wonderstone, a formerly successful magician. The character's design is based partly on famous magicians Siegfried & Roy. Mason Cook portrays Wonderstone as a child.
- James Gandolfini as Doug Munny, billionaire owner of the Bally's Casino where Burt and Anton perform.
Gandolfini traveled to Las Vegas to research his role, speaking with magicians Criss Angel and Nathan Burton, and The Mirage casino president Felix Rapaport and executive Kenny Epstein, and philanthropist Larry Ruvo.
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Behind the Scenes: Directing and Filming
In February 2011, director Charles McDougall joined, but by April 2011, McDougall had left the project with no reason cited. In June 2011, 30 Rock director Don Scardino was confirmed to take the director chair.
On June 16, 2011, Jason Reitman was brought aboard the project to perform additional rewrites to Daley's and Goldstein's script.
Filming was scheduled to begin in October 2011 in Los Angeles, California, but was pushed back to January 2012. On a $30 million budget, filming began on January 10, 2012, in Nevada with filming later moving to Los Angeles.
Scardino believed Carell's character is "a creature of the Strip", and Carrey was filmed "in and around Fremont Street", where his character felt more at home. Filming had concluded by March 13, 2012, after forty-nine days.
When Scardino boarded the project, the script contained several magic tricks that could not realistically occur on stage such as lasers decapitating two individuals and the heads then switching bodies, which would have required the use of computer visual effects to accomplish. Scardino insisted that most of the magic tricks should be credible feats to make the magicians seem more believable, but some tricks still required visual effects.
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Plot Overview
In 1982, young Albert Weinselstein is harassed by bullies. His mother gives him a special magic trick set by veteran magician Rance Holloway as his birthday present. He studies the instructional video and begins to practice some tricks, attracting the attention of a classmate, Anthony Mertz. They practice together and eventually become professional stage magicians Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton, earning them success and an ongoing headlining act at the Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas.
However, after ten years of performing the same tricks over and over again, Burt has become an overconfident, egocentric prima donna, and Anton begins to get fed up with Burt's ego, which has already cost them previous female assistants, all called "Nicole" in the act. Burt and Anton encounter up-and-coming street magician Steve Gray performing a unique yet disturbing card trick for his TV magic show, Brain Rapist.
Audience numbers soon dwindle at Burt and Anton's show, upsetting Bally's owner Doug Munny. Taking a cue from Gray's endurance-based stunts, Anton suggests that he and Burt try a similar tack-locking themselves in a Plexiglas cage called the "Hot Box" hung above Las Vegas Strip. Burt refuses to change his act, staging his two-man show alone to disastrous results. Munny shuts down the production and Burt, having squandered his earnings over the years, is left broke.
Despondent, Burt tries to find work and is eventually hired as an entertainer at an assisted-living facility catering to former Vegas entertainers. There, he meets Holloway, who retired several years before because he found that he was no longer happy performing. To show Holloway what the magician industry has become, Burt shows him Gray's performances which include feats such as sleeping all night on hot coals, holding his pee in for 12 days, keeping his eyes open for 3 days while being doused with mace, and regurgitating hard candy.
In the process, Burt is shocked to see Jane-herself an aspiring magician-working for Gray. Appalled by Gray's style, Holloway and Burt polish their own tricks. Holloway also counsels Burt about magic, inspiring him to remember the initial wonder that led him to become a magician.
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Doug is opening a new casino-hotel and is offering a five-year contract to the winner of a talent search on the casino's opening night. He invites Burt to do a magic show at his son's birthday party, but Gray also appears and tries to upstage Burt with his own tricks. Disgusted by Gray's actions, Jane leaves his show. Burt reconnects with Anton, who has been distributing magic sets in Cambodia.
At the talent search show, Gray's performance involves him drilling into his brain, in which he survives but leaves him with brain damage. Holloway then introduces Burt, Anton, and Jane's performance before they secretly sedate the audience with kratom sleeping gas to awaken at an outside location in the same seating arrangement. The audience responds with awe, and Doug awards the headlining act to Burt and Anton; they ask Jane to be their opening act.
Box Office Performance
In the week prior to its release in North America, the film was predicted to earn approximately $18 million and finish as the number 2 film of the weekend behind Oz the Great and Powerful. It earned $3.72 million through opening day including midnight showings at 1,800 theaters.
Opening weekend earned $10.2 million from 3,160 theaters-an average of $3,221 per theater-ranking third for the weekend behind new release The Call ($17.1 million) and holdover Oz the Great and Powerful ($41.3 million). The Incredible Burt Wonderstone earned over $27 million against a $30 million budget.
Reception
Reviews generally praised Carrey's and Arkin's performances, but criticized the plot's inconsistent tone and predictability. The plot was a focal point for criticism.
Jim Carrey on 'Mind Tripping' Magician Character in 'Burt Wonderstone'
Cast Overview
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Steve Carell | Albert Weinselstein / Burt Wonderstone |
| James Gandolfini | Doug Munny |
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