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Spring Breakers is a 2012 American film written and directed by Harmony Korine, starring Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and James Franco. The film follows four college-aged girls on their spring break.

The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. It received mixed to positive reviews from movie critics and the movie was a box office success, considering its limited release and adult ratings in many territories.

Plot

Childhood friends and college students Faith, Brit, Candy, and Cotty plan to go on a spring break vacation, but don't have enough money for the trip. To obtain the funds, Brit and Candy rob a fast food restaurant using hammers and realistic-looking squirt guns, with Cotty as the getaway driver. Faith, a Christian and the most innocent of the group, is taken aback by Brit and Candy's actions; however, she overlooks their crimes and travels to Florida with them.

On the trip, the girls attend wild beach parties, engaging in drinking and reckless behavior. After a rambunctious party, they are arrested and bailed out by Alien, a rapper and gangster from St. Petersburg. Faith becomes uncomfortable with Alien's surroundings and lifestyle; she decides to leave, begging the girls to come with her. Despite her pleas, Brit, Candy and Cotty return to Alien's mansion and become part of his crime ring. At a strip club, Alien runs into his rival Big Arch, who warns Alien to stop selling drugs in his territory. Alien ignores him and, in retaliation, Big Arch executes a drive-by shooting on Alien's car. Cotty is shot in the arm during the confrontation and decides to return home.

With Cotty gone, Alien, Brit and Candy begin a sexual relationship and decide to take revenge on Big Arch. They go to his waterfront mansion in Alien's boat, but Alien is subsequently killed. Brit and Candy kill Big Arch and his men, leaving their signature pink ski masks in the water by the dock. The girls kiss Alien's dead body, then leave Florida in Big Arch's Lamborghini.

Cast

• James Franco as Alien
• Selena Gomez as Faith
• Vanessa Hudgens as Candy
• Ashley Benson as Brit
• Rachel Korine as Cotty
• Gucci Mane as Archie
• Heather Morris as Bess
• Ash Lendzion as Forest
• Emma Holzer as Heather
• Jeff Jarrett as Youth Pastor
• John McClain as Judge
• Sidney Sewell as ATL Twin
• Thurman Sewell as ATL Twin

Production

According to Harmony Korine, he wrote the film partially to make up for his own spring breaks, as he had been fully devoted to skateboarding, and therefore missed out on what he saw as opportunities for hedonistic pursuits. The original lineup for the lead girls were Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Emma Roberts, and Rachel Korine. Emma Roberts was the first to be confirmed in the project. Roberts dropped out in early 2012, reportedly after hearing she would need to gain body fat for her role. Director Korine had purposely collected a group of well-known young actresses with a similar reputation to Roberts in Hollywood.

There was speculation that the character Alien was based around a rap artist by the name of Riff Raff. According to Franco, his character is based on underground rap artist Dangeruss. "Of course Harmony and I looked at some of Riff Raff's videos as inspiration, but he was one of a number of people we looked at. I would say the biggest influence on the role was this local Florida rapper named Dangeruss. He's fairly unknown, but he was down there in the place, living the life, and he became the biggest model for me and he's in the movie." The film was shot in March and April 2012 in and around St. Petersburg, Florida. Skrillex produced the score for the film.

Release

A three-minute preview of Spring Breakers was released at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in May 2012. The entire film premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2012. The film was released in New York and Los Angeles on March 15, 2013. The film was released nationwide on March 22, 2013. The film had a limited release in the UK on April 5, 2013. Spring Breakers will be released on DVD & Blu-ray on July 9, 2013.

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally positive reactions from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 65% "fresh" based on reviews from 131 critics, with a rating average of 6.3 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Spring Breakers blends stinging social commentary with bikini cheesecake and a bravura James Franco performance."

Xan Brooks of The Guardian said the film is Korine's "most fully realised, purely satisfying feature film since Gummo." Emma Seligman of The Huffington Post described the film as "Scarface meets Britney Spears." Oliver Lyttlelton of IndieWire gave the film a B, stating that the film would be a future cult favorite for "midnight moviegoers".

Guy Lodge of Variety gave it a negative review saying, "this attractively fizzy pic may be a shock to the system for fans of teen queens Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, but remains pretty toothless titillation by its writer-helmer's standards." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter noted that James Franco gives one of his more bizarre performances in his unpredictable career, saying "he's a cross between Bo Derek in 10 and Richard Kiel in Moonraker."

Box office

As of April 28, 2013, Spring Breakers has grossed $13,889,758, in North America, and $2,750,861 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $16,640,619.

In North America, the film opened to #6 in its first weekend with $4,858,944, behind The Croods, Admission, The Call, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Olympus Has Fallen.

Accolades

Soundtrack

Spring Breakers is a soundtrack album by the film of the same name, released on March 19, 2013 by Big Beat Records and Warner Music.

Track listing

References

1. Cruz, Niki (February 14, 2013). "'Spring Breakers' Gets An Early Release Date". The Inquisitr. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
2. "SPRING BREAKERS (18)". British Board of Film Classification. February 14, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
3. ^ Spring Breakers at Box Office Mojo
4. "Rachel Korine (Yes, Harmony's Wife) Joins 'Spring Breakers'". The Playlist. Indiewire. November 4, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
5. Buchanan, Jason. "Spring Breakers". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
6. Rothkopf, Joshua. "Spring Breakers". Time Out. Retrieved April 23, 2013. Spring Breakers is either an inspired satire of the youth movie or the most irresponsible comedy mainstream Hollywood will never make.
7. Roeper, Richard (March 20, 2013). "Spring Breakers Movie". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved April 23, 2013. {{cite web}}: Check |authorlink= value (help)
8. Gleiberman Owen (March 22, 2013). "Spring Breakers". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
9. "Venezia 69". labiennale. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
10. ^ Durbin, Jonathan (May 7, 2012). "Girls Gone Wild". Interview. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
11. ^ "Emma Roberts, Selena Gomez & Vanessa Hudgens Star In Spring Break Flick". Hollywire. November 3, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
12. White, Chelsea (9 January 2013). "Taking the Bieber! James Franco and rumoured flame Ashley Benson mock Justin and girlfriend Selena Gomez in parody video". Daily Mail. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
13. "Emma Roberts Pulls Out of Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers". Movieweb. January 12, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
14. Long, Stephanie (March 28, 2012). "James Franco to Play Riff Raff in Upcoming Harmony Korine Film". Vibe. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
15. "Last Night...Talking Cornrows with James Franco". GQ. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
16. "Skrillex Will Score The Movie "Spring Breakers"". Disney Dreaming.
17. "Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens make an arresting sight as they're busted in bikinis Spring Breakers". Daily Mail UK. May 30, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
18. Rosen, Christopher (September 5, 2012). "'Spring Breakers': James Franco Sings Britney Spears In New Film According To Early Reviews". The Huffington Post. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
19. "'Spring Breakers' Gets An Early Release Date". The Inquisitr. February 14, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
20. "Spring Breakers(2013) MovieWeb".
21. Rees, Alex (January 18, 2013). "Disney stars gone wild: see James Franco in the first trailer for Spring Breakers". GQ. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
22. "Spring Breakers Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
23. Brooks, Xan (September 5, 2012). "Spring Breakers – review". The Guardian. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
24. Seligman, Emma (September 18, 2012). "REVIEW: 'Spring Breakers'". The Huffington Post. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
25. Lyttlelton, Oliver (September 4, 2012). "Venice Review: Harmony Korine's 'Spring Breakers' Is A Semi-Conventional Genre Flick & Future Cult Favorite". IndieWire. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
26. Lodge, Guy (September 5, 2012). "Variety Reviews – Spring Breakers – Venice Film Festival Review". Variety. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
27. Rooney, David (September 5, 2012). "Spring Breakers: Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
28. "Weekend Box Office Results for March 22–24, 2013". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. March 25, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
29. ^ "Spring Breakers (Music From the Motion Picture) – Various Artists". iTunes. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
30. "$$$EX (Vanessa Hudgens vs. YLA) – Single:". iTunes. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
31. "Spring Breakers soundtrack". Amazon. Retrieved 2011-09-21.

External links

• Official website
• Spring Breakers at IMDb
• Spring Breakers at Box Office Mojo
• Spring Breakers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Spring Breakers at Metacritic

• 2012 films
• 2010s comedy films
• American black comedy films
• American satirical films
• American films
• English-language films
• Films directed by Harmony Korine
• Films set in Florida
• Films shot in Florida
• Independent films
• American drama films
• 2010s drama films
• 2010s thriller films