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Alex Cross (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Alex Cross' is a 2012 American action thriller film directed by Rob Cohen and starring Tyler Perry as the title character and Matthew Fox as the villain Picasso. The adapted screenplay was written by Marc Moss and Kerry Williamson. It is based on the 2006 novel 'Cross' by James Patterson and is the third installment of the 'Alex Cross' film series, which was considered as a reboot of the series. The title character was previously portrayed by Morgan Freeman in 'Kiss the Girls' (1997) and 'Along Came a Spider' (2001). Unlike the previous films, which were distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film was released by Lionsgate Films on October 19, 2012. It was panned by critics and audiences, and became a box office bomb.
Plot
Dr. Alex Cross is a psychologist and police lieutenant who lives in Detroit with his wife Maria and their children. After learning Maria is pregnant, Cross considers accepting a job as an FBI profiler in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, a man participates in an underground fighting match and seduces businesswoman Fan Yau. The man is invited to Yau's house, where he kills her after injecting her with TTX.
At the crime scene, Cross finds a charcoal sketch left behind by the killer in the style of the artist Picasso, leading to the murderer being nicknamed after him. While examining the sketch, Cross deduces that Picasso's next target is German businessman Erich Nunemarcher. Picasso attempts to kill Nunemarcher but is foiled by Cross, and escapes after being shot by Cross's partner Tommy Kane. Cross deduces that Picasso also plans to target billionaire CEO Giles Mercier.
As revenge for foiling his attack on Nunemarcher, Picasso attacks Cross and Kane's colleague, Monica Ashe, torturing her to death. Picasso then tracks down Cross, who is on a date with Maria, and kills her with a sniper rifle.
Picasso targets Nunemarcher and Mercier at a conference, killing Nunemarcher and seemingly Mercier. Cross and Kane track Picasso to the abandoned Michigan Theater. As Cross and Picasso fight, they fall through the crumbling theater ceiling. Cross kicks Picasso off the ceiling, killing him and avenging Maria. Kane helps pull Cross to safety.
Cross deduces Picasso's employer was Mercier himself. Having embezzled money from his clients, Mercier asked for Yau and Nunemarcher's help to fake his death and flee to Bali, then hired Picasso to eliminate them and a double pretending to be the real Mercier. After Cross frames Mercier for drug smuggling, Mercier is arrested in Indonesia, where he will be condemned to death by firing squad. Having avenged Maria's murder, Cross decides to accept the job offer from the FBI and moves to Washington with his family.
Cast
* Tyler Perry as Dr. / Detective Alex Cross
* Edward Burns as Detective Tommy Kane
* Matthew Fox as Michael 'The Butcher of Sligo' Sullivan / Picasso
* Jean Reno as Giles Mercier
* Carmen Ejogo as Maria Cross
* Cicely Tyson as Regina 'Nana Mama' Cross
* Rachel Nichols as Detective Monica Ashe
* John C. McGinley as Chief Richard Brookwell
* Werner Daehn as Erich Nunemacher
* Yara Shahidi as Janelle Cross
* Sayeed Shahidi as Damon Cross
* Bonnie Bentley as Detective Jody Klebanoff
* Simenona Martinez as 'Pop-Pop' Jones
* Stephanie Jacobsen as Fan Yau Lee
* Giancarlo Esposito as Daramus Holiday
* Ingo Rademacher as Ingo Sacks
Production
A reboot film about Alex Cross character began development in 2010, with a screenplay by Kerry Williamson and James Patterson. David Twohy was attached as director, and was set to rewrite the screenplay. In August 2010, Idris Elba was cast as Cross.
Towards the end of 2010, QED International purchased the rights, and initial screenplay by Williamson and Patterson. By January 2011, Tyler Perry had replaced Elba in the starring role, and Cohen was hired as director. The production company, QED, set Marc Moss, who worked on the previous Alex Cross films, to refine the screenplay for Perry and Cohen. With a production budget of $35 million, filming began on August 8, 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio and lasted until September 16, 2011. Filming locations in northeast Ohio served as a backdrop to Detroit, Michigan, where the character works for the Detroit Police Department. After Ohio, filming also took place in Detroit itself for two weeks. The production office remained in Cleveland throughout production inside an empty portion of the old American Greetings Company Factory.
Summit Entertainment purchased domestic distribution rights in March 2011, and set the release date for October 26, 2012.
The theatrical release poster featured the tagline, "Don't ever cross Alex Cross." 'The Playlist' at indieWire was critical of the tagline, saying, "It'll be impressive if anything dumber appears on a movie poster this year."
Reception
Box office
The film opened in 2,539 theaters in North America, grossing $11,396,768 during its first weekend, with an average of $4,489 per theater, and ranking #5 at the box office. The film ultimately earned $25,888,412 domestically and $8,730,455 internationally, for a total of $34,618,867, on a $35 million production budget.Critical response
'Alex Cross' was widely panned by critics and audiences. The film holds an 11% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6 out of 10. The critical consensus states: "Tyler Perry and Matthew Fox did their best, but they're trampled by Rob Cohen's frustrating direction and a tasteless, lazily written screenplay." At Metacritic, the film received a score of 30 out of 100, based on 34 reviews. Audiences, however, gave 'Alex Cross' an "A" CinemaScore. The film earned a Razzie Award nomination for Perry as Worst Actor.Cancelled sequel
Prior to the film's release, it was announced that 'Double Cross' would be adapted into a film, with Perry reprising his role. However, the sequel was cancelled, following the critical and commercial failure of 'Alex Cross'.
References
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