AQUAMARINE (FILM)

'''Aquamarine''' is a 2006 film starring Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton. The film was released in North America on March 3, 2006. The movie, loosely based on a children's book on the same name by Alice Hoffman, and directed by American Director Elizabeth Allen was filmed in Queensland, Australia and Louisiana, U.S.A.
'Tagline:' ''A Fish-Out-Of-Water Comedy''

Synopsis

Two teenage girls, Claire (Emma Roberts) and Hailey (JoJo), live at the coast of Florida and regret that they will be separated in five days, since Hailey has to move to Australia because of her mother's job. One night after a violent storm they find a mermaid named Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) in the swimming pool of their beach club. The girls are frightened at first, but then curious. They start to talk with Aquamarine and promise her they will be back in the morning.
When they return they find Aquamarine in a nearby shed, but with a human body instead of a mermaid's, which Aquamarine tells them she can have on land during the day if she doesn't get wet. Claire and Hailey befriend Aquamarine, who tells them that she came to land to find love – an emotion she knows nothing about, but desires desperately. She tells them that she made a deal with her father that if she found love in three days, she won't have to go through with an arranged marriage. She immediately notices a handsome lifeguard named Raymond (Jake McDorman) and enlists the help of the two girls to win his heart in return for the granting of a wish. The girls see their opportunity to keep Hailey from moving and immediately start helping her. Claire and Hailey's rival — a spoiled, rich girl, Cecilia (Arielle Kebbel) — tries her best to stop them, but fails. Also prominent is an eccentric, compassionate caretaker, Leonard, who rescues Aquamarine from public discovery. Eventually, it is not Raymond that convinces Aquamarine that humans can love, but Claire and Hailey, who are willing to give up their wish and their lives in the aiding of a friend.
The movie is known for some very key scenes. For example, after the girls take a shopping trip to Tampa Central Mall, Aquamarine realizes she forgot starfish earrings, which according to her "are notorious suckups". All three girls head down to the Baybridge Marina in front of "Lucky Charlie's Bait and Tackle". Hailey and Aquamarine urge Claire to fetch the talking starfish, but she is too afraid of water. Then Hailey is nominated to swim with the bottlenose dolphin and retrieve the starfish herself. She jumps into the water wearing jeans and a top and rides on their fins out to the nearest buoy where the earrings are located. This scene was filmed at Sea World marine park in Gold Coast. DVD commentary states that JoJo would alternate with a stunt double who wore the exact same clothing. As Hailey is swimming, Claire reveals to Aquamarine the source of her anxiety with water when Aqua remembers that the name of the boat where she saw love for the first time was actually called "Claire D'Lune", Claire's parents' boat. She claims that she would come back for them but they were never to be seen again, and was unaware they were in a fatal accident. In the film, each of the three girls have their own personal fear they must overcome. Claire's fear deals with water since her parents drowned; Hailey's is distance because of the impending separation from her best friend; and Aquamarine's is time, because she only has 72 hours to find true love or she will be married to the blowfish of her father's choosing. Hailey and Claire get their wish in the end from Aquamarine, but they decide not to use it until later.

Cast

★ Emma Roberts ... Claire Brown ★ Joanna \"Jojo\" Levesque ... Hailey Rogers ★ Sara Paxton ... Aquamarine ★ Jake McDorman ... Raymond ★ Arielle Kebbel ... Cecilia Banks ★ Claudia Karvan ... Ginny Rogers ★ Bruce Spence ... Leonard ★ Tammin Sursok ... Marjorie ★ Roy Billing ... Grandpa Bob ★ Julia Blake ... Grandma Maggie ★ Shaun Micallef ... Storm Banks ★ Lulu McClatchy ... Bonnie ★ Natasha Cunningham ... Patty ★ Dichen Lachman ... Beth-Ann ★ Lincoln Lewis ... Theo	★ Matthew Okine ... Nick ★ Regis Broadway ... Vince ★ Robbie Parkin ... Pool guy ★ Joey Massey ... Little boy ★ Dillon Stephenson ... Waiter ★ Donna Fox ... Firewoman ★ Alice Hunter ... Beach girl ★ Adam King ... Shopkeeper ★ Sara Paxton ''[voice]''... Aquamarine's starfish earrings ★ Joanna \"Jojo\" Levesque ''[voice]'' ... Hailey's starfish earrings ★ Emma Roberts ''[voice]'' ... Claire's starfish earrings ★ Nathan Lockwood, Jess Smith, Chris Brady, Dave Gilbert ... Halfday band members ★ Elizabeth Daily ★ ... Voice of Aquamarine's father

★ Not credited on-screen.

Original soundtrack

★ Cheyenne Kimball – "One Original Thing"

★ Nikki Flores – "Strike"

★ Sara Paxton – "Connected"

★ Teddy Geiger – "Gentleman"

★ Teitur – "One and Only"

★ Atomic Kitten – "Right Now"

★ Emma Roberts – "Island in the Sun"

★ Jonas Brothers – "Time For Me To Fly"

★ Courtney Jaye – "Can't Behave"

★ Nikki Cleary – "Summertime Guys"

★ Mandy Moore – "One Way or Another"

★ Stellastarr – "Sweet Troubled Soul"

★ Bodyrockers – "I Like the Way You Move"

Box office

★ ''Aquamarine'' was mildly successful. The film grossed $18.6 million at the United States box office and a total of $22.9 million worldwide. Additionally the film has grossed 42 million dollars in DVD rentals and DVD sales. The budget was $12 million.

DVD release

DVD cover

The film was released on DVD on June 13, 2006. The special features included are as follows:

★ Widescreen & Full Screen Presentations (Flipper Disc)

★ English DD5.1 Surround

★ French & Spanish Dolby Surround

★ English & Spanish subtitles

★ Scene Specific Cast Commentary

★ Director and Producer Commentary

★ 6 Deleted Scenes

★ Featurettes including one looking at Auditions

Production

The movie, which takes place in Florida, was filmed in Australia. Various background items and props give away the location, just as the magazines read by the girls in the film.
The producers only employed five actors from the USA; the actors who portrayed Hailey, Claire, Aquamarine, Cecilia and Raymond. The rest were Australian actors, some of whom are well-known in Australia. Roy Billing and Julia Blake, who play Claire's grandparents, have had long distinguished acting careers. Claudia Karvan, who plays Hailey's mother is an award winning TV star. Tammin Sursok (Marjorie) is a TV and pop star. Shaun Micalleff (Cecilia's father) is an Australian comedian and TV presenter. Bruce Spence (Leonard) has had a long Australian career and is remembered for his role in ''The Road Warrior''. Dichen Lachman (Beth-Ann) used to play Katya Kinski in ''Neighbours.''
Sara Paxton required two and a half hours to don and remove Aquamarine's tail. The tail was heavy for the actress to wear, weighing over 100 pounds and was around eight feet long. Paxton took a month of swimming lessons beforehand.