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'''Zathura: A Space Adventure''' is a film directed by Jon Favreau, released in November 2005, based on an illustrated book by Chris Van Allsburg. It starred Jonah Bobo as Danny and Josh Hutcherson as Walter. Tim Robbins also had a small role as the divorced father of Walter and Danny. The film also gave a sister to the boys, introduced a derelict astronaut to the plot, and multiplied the number of the Zorgons and Zorgon ships.

Contents

Plot summary

Retro style

Box office

Cast

Pop culture references

Merchandising

See also

External links

Plot summary

Two boys, Walter and Danny, discover a space themed board game, wherein everything inside it becomes real. The boys are eventually drawn into an adventure when their house is magically hurtled through space. The story is similar to ''Jumanji'', another illustrated book by Van Allsburg (in the book, the Zathura game is contained inside the Jumanji one).
During the course of the story, the boys must overcome their personal ill-feeling held toward one another in order to survive. They are aided in this by a derelict astronaut who appears as a result of the game. This astronaut is eventually revealed to be an older version of Walter, who had been trapped as a character in the game's world as a result of causing the disappearance of Danny, without whom he was no longer a player. This backstory becomes the basis, although the viewer only sees its role as such in retrospect, of parallels drawn between the two versions of Walter, including a revelation of the backstory without mention of his name or that of his brother.
Accompanying Danny, Walter, and the astronaut, though not contributing much more than speech, is their cantankerous elder sister, Lisa, who while not a player is as vulnerable to the dangers present in the game. The revelation that the astronaut is Walter, which had been a profound experience for her brothers, is a shock to her, because during the lifetime of her ignorance she had briefly entertained sexual feelings toward him.
The main villains in the movie are the Zorgons; reptilian, biped tool-users who are fond of heat and are attracted to a heat source much like bees are attracted to nectar, because they are cold-blooded. The Zorgons, having burned their own planet to obtain more heat, are nomads who travel through space seeking more to burn.
Another character, a robot, first appears (as a wind-up tin toy that quickly becomes life-size) rampaging through the house. It can change alliances via the "Reprogram" card from the game. Walter uses this on the robot, which is attacking him, and it instead sets its sights on the Zorgons, committing suicide to destroy them.
Danny eventually completes the object of the game, whereupon the house and everything within it are drawn into a roaring black hole. Moments later, they have returned to Earth. All the "pieces" of the game (the house, its furnishing, and the players) have been replaced as they were before the game began. The brothers are thereafter much more co-operative with one another.

Retro style

The film was set in present times while the book had illustrations with a 1950s look, before and after the board game started. The game was changed in the film from a cardboard board game to a retro tin toy.
The Zorgon spaceships look like the archaic, submarine-style types seen in science fiction serials of the 1940s or earlier. In a scene on board a Zorgon starship, we see a single Zorgon acting as a stoker for an old-style furnace fired by any combustible matter. The movie's design is an example of "yesterday's future," based on what the future was imagined to be like at different points in history. The Zorgons have the "look of the future" from the 1930s and 1940s, the robot from the 1950s and the derelict astronaut from the 1960s. The robot also arguably resembles Cylons from ''Battlestar Galactica'' or Darth Vader from ''Star Wars'' is in 20th Century Fox, as well as an old fashioned stove.
The story takes place in a classic turn of the century California Arts and Crafts movement house located in South Pasadena, California. Windows, sliding doors, fireplace, and dumbwaiter are all present. The style, resembling the Greene & Greene houses in Pasadena, emphasizes perfect square shapes (the floor-plan for the house itself appears square-shape). Squares recur in various places in the movie, including a flat, square television. Presumably this is to allow the house to clash as much as possible with the natural shapes of rock, fire, and gas that surround the house for most of the movie.

Box office

Despite having very positive buzz from critics (75% on Rotten Tomatoes) and screenings, it was considered a box office bomb. It grossed only $29,258,869, less than half of its $65 million budget. The international box office total was $35,062,632, for a total of $64,321,501 worldwide

Cast

★ Jonah Bobo: Danny

★ Josh Hutcherson: Walter

★ Dax Shepard: Astronaut

★ Kristen Stewart: Lisa

★ Tim Robbins: Dad

★ Frank Oz: Robot (voice)

★ John Alexander: Robot

★ Derek Mears: Lead Zorgon

★ Douglas Tait: Zorgon

★ Joe Bucaro III: Zorgon (as Joe Bucaro)

★ Jeff Wolfe: Zorgon

Pop culture references

★ A poster for the film ''Bullitt'' is visible in several scenes.

★ In the living room, a leg lamp resembling the one from ''A Christmas Story'' can be seen in the background, an homage to Executive Producer Peter Billingsley, who was young Ralphie in A Christmas Story.

★ Danny plays ''Jak 3'' at the beginning of the film. He also has a poster of the game in his room.

★ The Astronaut burns a couch and tosses it outside to deflect an enemy, in the same way as is done in ''Night of the Living Dead''.

★ Danny watches the ''Bubblestand'' episode of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' at one point in the film; Patrick Star can be heard laughing and saying "It's a giraffe!". After Walter changes the channel to ''SportsCenter'', Danny says "Hey! I was watching that" and asks Walter "Can we watch SpongeBob?" When Walter refuses, Danny says "You used to like it," to which Walter replies "Times change." Danny then mutters "Tartar sauce" under his breath.

★ Walter gets angry at his father for agreeing to play Super Smash Bros. with Danny.

★ Lisa remarks at one point that "we should have never rented ''Thirteen''".

★ Lisa has a ''Tenacious D - The Complete Masterworks'' poster in her room.

★ In The Apprentice 4 week 5 (which aired in 2005), one of the tasks candidates were given was to create a parade float to promote Zathura for Sony Pictures. To win the task, the float needed to reflect the spirit of the film and be relevant to the core audience of the film.

Merchandising

Merchandising from the film was minor. As well a board-game version of the ''Zathura'' game, there was also a tin-version of the Robot and a tin, friction-drive Zorgon spaceship. None of these were made available outside of the United States, perhaps explaining their rarity.

See also

★ Jumanji (film)

External links

★ Official website

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