Allies

Japanese

Civilians

Development

On May 23, 2017, it was reported that Roland Emmerich would be directing the World War II film Midway.^[6] Due to its potential lofty budget (with estimates putting its needed cost at $125 million), Emmerich had trouble getting the film greenlit. When no major studio would bankroll the project, he cut down on potential battle sequences and turned to individuals for the funds, resulting in $76 million; he then got an additional $24 million in equity, mostly from Chinese investors, resulting in the film's $100 million budget. It is one of the most costly independent films ever made.^[3] Emmerich had previously attempted to mount the film at Sony Pictures in the 1990s, with William Goldman becoming interested in the project. However, as with the final rendition, executives balked at the proposed $100 million budget ($152 million by 2019 inflation), and Emmerich moved on to direct The Patriot.^[7]

Harald Kloser also produced the film.^[1] The Naval History and Heritage Command of the US Navy were involved in both the writing and production of the film.^[8]

Casting

In April 2018, Woody Harrelson and Mandy Moore joined the ensemble cast for the film.^[9] In July 2018, Luke Evans was cast in the film to play Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his role in the Battle of Midway.^[10] Robby Baumgartner was hired as cinematographer.^[11] August saw the additions of Patrick Wilson,^[12] Ed Skrein,^[13] Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Tadanobu Asano, Dennis Quaid, and others to the cast.^[14] Darren Criss, Alexander Ludwig, and Brandon Sklenar were cast in September.^[15][16][17]

Filming

Filming began on September 5, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was also shot in Montreal, Quebec.^[11]

In November 2018, it was announced that VFX company Scanline VFX will be the main VFX vendor, and that Pixomondo had signed on to provide additional visual effects.

Marketing

A teaser poster for the film was released on June 4, 2019, which was also the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Midway.^[19] A set of 13 still photographs depicting scenes from the film was released on June 26, 2019, and the first trailer for the film was released the following day (June 27).^[20] The second and final trailer of the film was released on September 12, 2019, with the film's theatrical poster on September 25.^[21][22] All-in-all, Lionsgate spent around $40 million promoting the film.^[23]

Home media

Midway was released on Digital HD on February 4, 2020, and on DVD and Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 18, 2020.^[24]

Box office

Midway grossed $56.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $70.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $127.4 million, against a production budget of $100 million.^[4]

In the United States and Canada, Midway was released alongside Doctor Sleep, Playing with Fire, and Last Christmas, and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,242 theaters in its opening weekend.^[25][26] The film made $6.3 million on its first day (including $925,000 from Thursday night previews). It went on to debut to $17.9 million, beating box office expectations and upsetting projected winner Doctor Sleep by finishing first at the box office.^[23][27][26] In its second weekend the film made $8.5 million, finishing second behind newcomer Ford v Ferrari, before making $4.7 million and finishing in fifth in its third weekend.^[28][29]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 42% based on 169 reviews and an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Midway revisits a well-known story with modern special effects and a more balanced point of view, but its screenplay isn't quite ready for battle."^[30] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[31] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4 out of 5 stars, with 58% saying they would definitely recommend it.^[23]

Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail gave the film a score of 2/4 stars, describing it as "a Second World War epic that runs a comparatively paltry 138 minutes yet feels about five times as long", concluding that the film was "a choppy bore, its main source of intrigue centred around whatever New Jersey-ese accent British actor Ed Skrein is attempting as dive bomber Richard Best."^[32] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film a score of 2.5/4 stars, saying that it "tells a story that's vividly and viscerally rendered, with all the entertainment value of a big, old-fashioned war movie", but added: "the kiss-kiss never really registers with quite the same impact as the bang-bang."^[33] Wendy Ide of The Observer gave the film a score of 2/5 stars, writing: "Every tired war movie cliche is unearthed in a film that brings nothing new but will no doubt please fans of men in uniform yelling at explosions."^[34]

Paul Byrnes of The Sydney Morning Herald gave the film a score of 3/5 stars, describing it as "one of [Roland Emmerich's] better films", but added: "There are a number of earlier versions to pick from, including John Ford's original 18-minute Oscar-winning documentary. We didn't need a new one, unless he had something new to say or a new way to say it. To both questions, the answer is no."^[35] Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "The film's drama is B-movie basic. But the destructive colliding metal-on-metal inferno of what war is what makes Midway a picture worth seeing."^[36] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described the film as being "so square, so old-school and old-fashioned, it almost feels avant-garde", adding: "It aims to celebrate heroism, sacrifice, determination and grit, and if you don't like that it really does not care."^[37]