Gnomeo & Juliet

In Stratford-upon-Avon, elder neighbors Miss Montague and Mr. Capulet despise each other, reflecting the famous feud between the Montague and Capulet families from Romeo and Juliet. Their feud extends to their respective gardens, which are inhabited by rival factions of garden gnomes and other lawn ornaments. The blue-hatted gnomes in the Montague garden are led by Lady Blueberry, while the red-hatted gnomes in the Capulet garden are led by Lord Redbrick. Like their human counterparts, the gnomes share in their owners' animosity.

One day, Gnomeo, Lady Blueberry’s adventurous son, engages in a lawnmower race with his red-hatted rival, Tybalt. The race ends disastrously when Tybalt sabotages Gnomeo’s lawnmower. Determined to seek revenge, Gnomeo and his best friend Benny sneak into the Red garden to vandalize Tybalt's property. While there, Gnomeo inadvertently stumbles upon Juliet, Lord Redbrick’s spirited daughter, who is on a secret mission to retrieve a prized orchid. Despite belonging to opposing factions, Gnomeo and Juliet are immediately drawn to one another, unaware of their rival allegiances until later.

Their forbidden love blossoms, but the feud between their families makes their relationship perilous. Encouraged by Featherstone, a lonely pink plastic flamingo, Gnomeo and Juliet continue to meet secretly and dream of creating a garden where they can live in peace together. However, the conflict between the two families intensifies. After a series of escalating events, including Tybalt's death in a lawnmower accident, Gnomeo is presumed dead, devastating both sides.

In the midst of the chaos, Benny accidentally orders a powerful lawnmower, the Terrafirminator, in an attempt to exact revenge on the Reds. The lawnmower goes out of control, causing havoc and destruction in both gardens. As the Terrafirminator targets Juliet, who has been imprisoned in her tower by her father for her safety, Gnomeo races back to save her. In a climactic moment, Gnomeo and Juliet embrace as the tower collapses, seemingly burying them alive.

However, in a twist of fate, Gnomeo and Juliet emerge from the rubble unharmed. Their near-death experience finally reconciles the two warring families. Lady Blueberry and Lord Redbrick end their feud, and the two lovers are united. The gnomes celebrate Gnomeo and Juliet's marriage, symbolizing the newfound peace between the blue and red factions, as they drive off on a purple lawnmower, beginning their new life together.

• James McAvoy as Gnomeo, Lady Bluebury's son and Juliet's love interest. He is based on Romeo Montague.
• Emily Blunt as Juliet, Lord Redbrick's daughter and Gnomeo's love interest. She is based on Juliet Capulet.
• Michael Caine as Lord Redbrick, leader of the Red gnomes and Juliet's widowed father. He is based on Lord Capulet.
• Jason Statham as Tybalt, Gnomeo and Benny's nemesis. He is based on the character of the same name.
• Maggie Smith as Lady Bluebury, leader of the Blue gnomes and Gnomeo's widowed mother. She is based on Lord and Lady Montague.
• Ashley Jensen as Nanette, a Scottish plastic garden frog, Paris' love interest and Juliet's best friend. She is based on Nurse.
• Stephen Merchant as Paris, a nerdy red gnome who was arranged to marry Juliet, and Nanette's love interest. He is based on Count Paris.
• Matt Lucas as Benny, Gnomeo's best friend. He is based on both Mercutio and Benvolio, though the fate of his hat being smashed by Tybalt before the film's climax is similar to the former's.
• Jim Cummings as Featherstone, a lonely plastic flamingo with a Spanish accent. He is based on Friar Laurence.
• Julie Walters as Ms. Montague, the elderly owner of the Blue garden.
• Richard Wilson as Mr. Capulet, the elderly owner of the Red garden.
• Patrick Stewart as a statue of William Shakespeare, the author of Romeo and Juliet.
• Ozzy Osbourne as Fawn, a miniature deer statue and Tybalt's best friend.
• Hulk Hogan as Terrafirminator Announcer, an unseen person who promotes the Terrafirminator lawnmower.
• Kelly Asbury as Red Goon Gnomes, a group of miniature gnomes who act as servants to Lord Redbrick and the other Red gnomes. They are based on Gregory, Sampson, Anthony, and Potpan.
• Dolly Parton as Dolly Gnome, the lawnmower race announcer.
• James Daniel Wilson as Fishing Gnome, a red gnome.
• Tim Bentinck and Neil McCaul as Conjoined Gnomes.
• Julio Bonet as Mankini Gnome, Dolly Gnome's love interest.
• Julia Braams as a stone fish attached to the fishing line of the Fishing Gnome.
• Maurissa Horwitz as an unnamed Porcelain doll, Benny's love interest.

Gnomeo & Juliet originated from an idea by writers Rob Sprackling and John Smith, who sold the spec script to Disney through Rocket Pictures. The project was greenlit by Disney studio chairman Dick Cook in 2006 under the Miramax Films banner, which was Disney-owned at the time, after initially being rejected as a project for Walt Disney Animation Studios. In 2010, Disney sold Miramax but retained the rights to the film. The animation and production were handled by Starz Animation. Initially, Disney hesitated to release the film, as it was not produced by a Disney animation unit. Eventually, they chose to distribute it through Touchstone Pictures instead.^[7]

Australian director Adam Elliot was approached to direct Gnomeo & Juliet, but he declined the offer due to the film's incompatibility with his style and his limited experience with CGI.^[8] Kelly Asbury joined the project in 2006, drawn by the opportunity to work with Elton John, whose music is heavily featured in the film.^[9] Asbury, along with Hamilton Shaw, essentially rewrote the script, describing it as "sort of from scratch."^[9] One of the key challenges Asbury faced was finding a way to differentiate the film's ending from the tragic conclusion of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, ensuring that the film's conclusion remained family-friendly and free of the original's daggers, poison, and suicide elements.^[9]

Asbury had full control over casting and conducted the process by focusing solely on the actors' voices, not knowing their identities until he felt they fit the characters.^[9] Initially, Ewan McGregor and Kate Winslet were set to voice Gnomeo and Juliet, respectively, but they were later replaced by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt for the final production.^[10]

Gnomeo & Juliet: Original Soundtrack was released by Buena Vista Records on February 1, 2011, and features a combination of new and classic music by Elton John, who also served as the film's executive producer.^[11] The album includes contributions from Nelly Furtado, Kiki Dee, and selections from the film's score composed by Chris Bacon and James Newton Howard, the latter of whom has a long history of working with John, including playing keyboards and arranging strings on many of his previous projects.

One of the standout tracks, "Hello, Hello," is a duet between Elton John and Lady Gaga. While the duet version was featured in the film, released on February 11, 2011, the soundtrack album only includes the version with John.^[12] On May 4, 2011, the duet version with Lady Gaga was leaked online and became widely available for download on various file-sharing websites.

Gnomeo & Juliet had its worldwide premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on January 23, 2011. It was subsequently released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures under the Touchstone Pictures label on February 11, 2011.^[1] This marked Touchstone's first animated film since The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), and it was also the studio's first and only film to receive a G rating from the MPAA.

While Disney handled distribution globally, there were exceptions in countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, where Gnomeo & Juliet was distributed by Entertainment One Films.^[4] Prior to its release, Elton John and director Kelly Asbury showcased 10 minutes of the film at the Cannes Film Festival to generate early buzz.^[13]

Gnomeo & Juliet was released by Touchstone Home Entertainment on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD on May 24, 2011.^[14][15] The film was available in three different package formats: a 1-disc DVD, a 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, and a 3-disc Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD combo pack, which also included access to a digital download of the film.^[16]

Special features across both the DVD and Blu-ray releases include the music video for Elton John and Nelly Furtado's rendition of "Crocodile Rock", along with featurettes titled "Elton Builds a Garden" and "Frog Talk" with Ashley Jensen.^[17] The Blu-ray edition additionally features several deleted and alternate scenes, as well as an exclusive segment titled "The Fawn of Darkness" with Ozzy Osbourne.^[18]

Gnomeo & Juliet received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise for its humorous and clever take on Shakespeare's play and the charm of its animation. It was also noted for its star-studded voice cast and memorable soundtrack, which featured music by Elton John.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Gnomeo & Juliet holds an approval rating of 55%, based on 129 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "While it has moments of inspiration, Gnomeo & Juliet is often too self-referential for its own good."^[19] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."^[20] Audience members polled by CinemaScore gave the film a B+ grade on an A+ to F scale.^[21]

Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal praised the film, calling it "a lively little film, a comic take on Shakespeare's tragedy, [that] is really entertaining."^[22] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe commented, "It has its own bizarre charms and a breezy confidence that renders it the very definition of a simple pleasure."^[23] Similarly, Justin Chang of Variety described the movie as "a welcome dose of honest silliness at a time when most family-oriented toons settle for smart-alecky."^[24]

In a more mixed review, Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club criticized the film, stating, "Far too much of the film is devoted to eye-rolling pop-culture gags and long montages set to recycled Elton John songs."^[25]

Gnomeo and Juliet earned about $100 million in North America and $94 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $193.9 million.^[6] Gnomeo & Juliet was ultimately a hit for Disney, outperforming the much higher-budgeted (and eventual box office bomb)^[26] Mars Needs Moms the studio released a month following Gnomeo & Juliet. On the first weekend of its US release, the film had a worldwide opening of $30,700,000, finishing in second place behind Just Go with It ($35,800,000).^[27][28] On its second weekend —Presidents' Day weekend— it topped the worldwide box office (without being in first place either in North America^[29] or internationally^[30]) with $29,800,000, ahead of Unknown which ranked second ($26,400,000).

It opened in 2,994 theaters in North America on Friday, February 11, 2011, grossing $6,200,000 on its first day and ranking third behind Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Just Go with It. It then finished the weekend with $25,400,000 in 3rd place.^[31] However, it scored the largest opening weekend ever for an animated feature released during the winter period (both January and February). It also made the largest debut on record for a minor animated movie (i.e., one with little status, expectations or built-in audience), according to Box Office Mojo.^[32] With a $99,970,000 total it became the highest-grossing animated feature among those released in winter, until it was surpassed by The Lego Movie in 2014.^[33]

In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Malta, it topped the weekend box office by earning £2,900,000 ($4,700,000) on its opening. In total it has grossed $25,300,000, making the UK the only market, except North America, where it grossed more than $10,000,000.^[34]

In March 2012, it was reported that a sequel titled Sherlock Gnomes was in development at Rocket Pictures. Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil, two of the nine writers on the first film, were writing the script for the sequel. Steve Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish produced the film, and Elton John was an executive producer, and again composed songs for the film. The film featured Sherlock Gnomes, "the greatest ornamental detective" hired by the characters from the first film, to solve the mystery of disappearing gnomes.^[39] John Stevenson, director of Kung Fu Panda, directed the sequel, and Johnny Depp voiced Sherlock Gnomes.^[40] The film was released March 23, 2018.^[41] Unlike the original, it was released by Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

• Gnomeo & Juliet at IMDb
• Gnomeo & Juliet at AllMovie
• Gnomeo & Juliet at Box Office Mojo
• https://www.scripts.com/script/gnomeo_and_juliet_9045