Sherlock Gnomes

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Sherlock Gnomes
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Stevenson
Screenplay byBen Zazove
Story by
Based on
Produced by
Starring
Edited by
  • Prakash Patel
  • Mark Solomon
Music byChris Bacon
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • March 23, 2018 (2018-03-23) (United States)
  • May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11) (United Kingdom)
Running time
86 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$59 million[1]
Box office$90.5 million[1]

Sherlock Gnomes is a 2018 animated mystery comedy film directed by John Stevenson.[2] Based on the character Sherlock Holmes created by Arthur Conan Doyle, it is a sequel to Gnomeo & Juliet (2011). The main cast reprise their roles from the first film including James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Ashley Jensen, Matt Lucas, Stephen Merchant, Ozzy Osbourne, among others, alongside new voice cast members, including Johnny Depp, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mary J. Blige, and Jamie Demetriou, among others. The animation was done by Mikros Image and Reel FX Creative Studios.[3]

The film was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on March 23, 2018, and May 11, 2018, respectively, by Paramount Pictures (through Paramount Animation), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, and Rocket Pictures, which replaced Gnomeo & Juliet's distributor, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (through Touchstone Pictures). It was notable for being Paramount's first animated film to be entirely animated since Rango, Paramount Animation's first film to be entirely animated, and MGM's first animated film since Igor. It received generally negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure, grossing $90.5 million worldwide against a $59 million budget.[4]

Plot

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At London's Natural History Museum, Sherlock Gnomes and his assistant, Dr. Watson, confront their nemesis, the pie mascot Moriarty, who is holding gnomes hostage and is seemingly killed after being crushed by a dinosaur skeleton.

Miss Montague, Mr. Capulet, and the gnomes move from Stratford-upon-Avon to a run-down garden in London. Lady Bluebury and Lord Redbrick announce their retirement and appoint Gnomeo and Juliet to lead the gnomes, but their relationship becomes strained when Juliet ignores Gnomeo in her efforts to repair the garden. To get her attention, Gnomeo goes to a nearby flower shop that Benny told him about to get a Cupid's Arrow orchid, but a stall falls over and the burglar alarm goes off. Juliet rescues him, but they argue before returning to the garden after Benny sends them a signal on a walkie-talkie informing them that a monster has attacked. There, they find that everyone has disappeared, and Sherlock and Watson, who find a clue card, reluctantly let them accompany them in their search for clues to find out what is going on.

A clue from Moriarty, who Sherlock believes survived, leads them to Chinatown, where they find the next clue at Curly Fu's Emporium while escaping from cat guards whom Sherlock had offended. They arrive at the Natural History Museum, which Gnomeo attempts to convince Sherlock to investigate. However, Sherlock decides to visit an art gallery instead, as it helps him think, and Gnomeo is hurt after Juliet sides with Sherlock. After an argument, Gnomeo leaves for the museum with Watson, where he realizes that he was wrong to leave Juliet. However, before he can return to her, a stone gargoyle kidnaps him and takes him to the gnomes, who learn that they will be smashed during a fireworks celebration the following evening. Sherlock finds the next clue at the royal park, which he and Juliet obtain from a dog by disguising themselves as a squirrel while evading it on a lawnmower.

Gnomeo attempts to free the gnomes, but only he and the Red Goon Gnomes escape before the gargoyles arrive. The next clue leads Juliet and Sherlock to a doll shop, where they meet his resentful fiancée, Irene, who kicks them out, but lets Juliet in after she distances herself from Sherlock. She gives Juliet the clue, which leads her and Sherlock to Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London. There, they discover Watson, who reveals that he pretended to be Moriarty to get through to Sherlock, who showed no respect or appreciation for him, and is supposedly holding the gnomes captive, but finds that they are missing. The Gargoyles reveal that they never worked for Watson and dispose of him, Juliet, and Sherlock on a ship.

Sherlock realizes that the gnomes are being held at the bottom of the Tower Bridge with pie filling and Moriarty reveals that he manipulated Watson into helping him and plans to smash the gnomes with the raised bridge. After witnessing Sherlock's mistreatment of Watson, he had the Gargoyles feign allegiance with Watson to access his map and locate the gnomes in London. Sherlock and Watson agree to work together to save the gnomes and they and Juliet head to the bridge on a drone.

Gnomeo delays the opening of the bridge by having the Red Goon Gnomes dance before reuniting with Juliet and helping her defeat the Gargoyles. Although Watson frees the trapped gnomes with soap, Moriarty pursues Sherlock and injures his leg. Before he can kill the gnomes, however, Sherlock throws himself at Moriarty, knocking them over the bridge. Watson saves Sherlock with his cane grappling hook, while Moriarty lands in the water and floats away. The gnomes then enjoy the fireworks.

The following spring, Gnomeo and Juliet reveal the completed garden and the gnomes celebrate with Irene and the cat guards in attendance. Sherlock and Watson, having reconciled, set off on another adventure.

Cast

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Production

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Development

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In March 2012, it was reported that the film was in development at Rocket Pictures. Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil, four of the nine writers on the first film, were to write the script for the film. Steve Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish produced the film, and Elton John, an executive producer, was again composing new songs for the film. The film would feature Sherlock Gnomes, "the greatest ornamental detective" hired by the characters from the first film, who would try to solve the mystery of disappearing gnomes.[5]

In September 2012, it was reported that John Stevenson, one of the directors of Kung Fu Panda, had been set to direct the film.[2] Kelly Asbury, the director of the first film, was unable to direct the sequel due to being busy on Smurfs: The Lost Village for Sony Pictures Animation. However, he was involved in the sequel as the creative consultant and he reprised his role as the Red Goon Gnomes.[6]

Casting

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In November 2015, it was announced that Johnny Depp would voice Sherlock Gnomes and that the film would be released on January 12, 2018.[7] McAvoy and Blunt reprised their roles as Gnomeo and Juliet, respectively.[8]

Animation

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Unlike the first film, which was animated by Arc Productions (now Jam Filled Toronto), Sherlock Gnomes was animated by Mikros Image in London and Paris with Additional Animation were provided by Reel FX Creative Studios. Like the first film, the film’s animation was created using Autodesk Maya. Sixty percent of the animation crew was in London, and the rest were in Paris. During peak production, there were between 80 and 100 animators working on the project. Animation director Eric Leighton took inspiration from George Pal’s Puppetoons for the animation of the gnomes in the film.[9] The animation of the human characters were done via motion capture, and the end credits animation was produced by Studio AKA in London.[10]

Music

[edit]

Chris Bacon was confirmed to return to score the sequel like in the first film while James Newton Howard did not return to co-compose the score since he was too busy working on the music for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. However, Howard did return only to be involved as a music consultant. The soundtrack album was released by Virgin EMI Records.

Release

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The film was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on January 12, 2018. In May 2017, the film was pushed back two months to March 23, 2018.[11] In the UK, it was released on May 11, 2018.

Marketing

[edit]

On November 3, 2017, seven teaser posters were released. The same day, the title was shortened from Gnomeo & Juliet 2: Sherlock Gnomes to Sherlock Gnomes.[6] On November 7, the first trailer was revealed.[12][better source needed]

The film had also released posters parodying previous films from 2017, such as Darkest Hour, The Disaster Artist, The Greatest Showman, The Post, I, Tonya, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, All the Money in the World, Wonder Woman, and The Shape of Water. The posters had different names.[13]

Home media

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Sherlock Gnomes was released on Digital HD on June 5, 2018, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 12, 2018.[14]

Reception

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Box office

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Sherlock Gnomes has grossed $43.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $47.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $90.4 million, against a production budget of $59 million.[1]

In the United States and Canada, Sherlock Gnomes was released alongside Pacific Rim Uprising, Midnight Sun, Unsane and Paul, Apostle of Christ, and was projected to gross $13–18 million from 3,600 theaters in its opening weekend.[15] It ended up debuting to $10.6 million, underperforming but still finishing 4th at the box office.[16]

Critical response

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On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film had an approval rating of 27% based on 67 reviews with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's critical consensus read, "Sherlock Gnomes is sadly, utterly stumped by the mystery of the reason of its own existence."[17] On Metacritic, the film had a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[18] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[16]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Recipients Result Ref.
2018 Hollywood Music in Media Awards Best Original Song – Animated Film "Stronger Than I Ever Was" – Elton John and Bernie Taupin Won [19]
2019 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actor Johnny Depp Nominated [20]
Worst Screen Combo Nominated
His fast-fading film career Nominated

See also

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  • Gnome Alone, another garden gnome film also released in 2018

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Sherlock Gnomes (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 5, 2012). "John Stevenson Tapped To Direct 'Gnomeo & Juliet' Sequel 'Sherlock Gnomes'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  3. ^ "Rocket Pictures Partners with Mikros Image to Lead Digital Animation Work for Paramount Animation and MGM's "Sherlock Gnomes"" (Press release). Mikros Image. June 9, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  4. ^ "Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2018 So Far". Screen Rant. June 23, 2018. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  5. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 8, 2012). "Rocket Pictures Plots 'Gnomeo & Juliet' Sequel, With New Tunes By Elton John". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Evry, Max (November 3, 2017). "Sherlock Gnomes Character Posters Revealed". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Archived from the original on November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  7. ^ Robinson, Will (November 7, 2015). "Johnny Depp takes lead in Sherlock Gnomes". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  8. ^ CS (November 10, 2015). "Paramount Animation Announces Release Dates". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  9. ^ Idelson, Karen (March 22, 2018). "'Sherlock Gnomes': Not So Elementary, Dear Watson!". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. ^ "STUDIO AKA - SHERLOCK GNOMES - CREDITS". Studio AKA. January 2, 2015. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  11. ^ Evans, Greg (May 26, 2017). "Paramount Nudges 'Sherlock Gnomes' To Later Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  12. ^ Sherlock Gnomes (2018) - Official Trailer. Paramount Pictures. November 7, 2017. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Dacey (January 27, 2018). "Lots of parody posters for Sherlock Gnomes released". Animated Views. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  14. ^ "Sherlock Gnomes DVD Release Date June 12, 2018". DVDs Release Dates. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  15. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (March 21, 2018). "Box Office Preview: 'Pacific Rim Uprising' Set to Break 'Black Panther's' Five-Week Streak". Variety. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  16. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 25, 2018). "Does 'Pacific Rim: Uprising' Break Even At The Global B.O.?; 'Black Panther' Sets Marvel Record – Sunday Postmortem". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  17. ^ "Sherlock Gnomes (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  18. ^ "Sherlock Gnomes Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  19. ^ HMMA (2018). "2018 MUSIC VISUAL MEDIA NOMINEES". Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  20. ^ 39th Razzie Nominations! (video). Razzie Channel. Archived from the original on January 31, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019 – via YouTube.
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