The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

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The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
UK release poster
Directed byJohn Madden
Written byOl Parker
Produced byGraham Broadbent
Peter Czernin
StarringJudi Dench
Maggie Smith
Dev Patel
Bill Nighy
Celia Imrie
Penelope Wilton
Ronald Pickup
David Strathairn
Richard Gere
CinematographyBen Smithard
Edited byVictoria Boydell
Music byThomas Newman
Production
companies
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • 26 February 2015 (2015-02-26) (United Kingdom)
  • 6 March 2015 (2015-03-06) (United States)
Running time
122 minutes[2]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
United States[3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[4]
Box office$86 million[5]

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a 2015 comedy-drama film directed by John Madden and written by Ol Parker. It is the sequel to the 2011 sleeper hit film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and features an ensemble cast consisting of stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, David Strathairn, and Richard Gere.

Plot[edit]

Muriel Donnelly and Sonny Kapoor travel to San Diego, California to propose a plan to hotel magnate Ty Burley for buying and opening a second hotel in India as a companion to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. They are told that a company inspector will anonymously visit India to evaluate the project.

Back in Jaipur, Evelyn Greenslade is offered a job as a fabric buyer. She is concerned that at age 79, the job will require many responsibilities and considerable travel. Douglas Ainslie, who is in love with Evelyn, is worried about losing time with her as well, and also eager to introduce her to his daughter.

Sonny's life becomes complicated by plans for his upcoming wedding to Sunaina, plus a possible rival for her affections and his business interests. He is also desperate to impress American visitor Guy Chambers, whom he immediately identifies as the American hotel chain's anonymous inspector. Noting the interest Guy has taken in Sonny's mother, he encourages a romantic relationship between them at first, then angrily resents it when he concludes Guy is not the inspector after all.

Madge Hardcastle's dilemma is deciding between two suitors from India and which to wed. Norman Cousins becomes frantic when he believes a local taxi driver mistakenly assumed Norman wanted a fatal accident to befall his current sweetheart, Carol, but then discovers that she has been sleeping with other men. And Douglas' daughter arrives for a visit with his estranged wife Jean (who returned to the UK at the end of the previous film) seeking a divorce so that she can remarry.

Muriel, while having received bad news from a medical appointment, struggles to keep Sonny from ruining his wedding, his business and his future, having become quite fond of him. Decisions come to a head for all during the colourful wedding of Sonny and Sunaina.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

On 29 October 2012, Vulture reported that screenwriter Ol Parker was consulted to deliver a treatment to Fox Searchlight Pictures executives for a sequel titled The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2. Most of the cast agreed to come back.[7] On 28 October 2013, Radio Times revealed that the cast would be flying to India to shoot the sequel film in January 2014.[6]

Casting[edit]

On 28 October 2013 Radio Times stated that Penelope Wilton confirmed the cast, including Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie, would return for the sequel, set to start filming in January 2014.[6] On 30 October, Deadline reported that Richard Gere was in talks to join the ensemble cast of the sequel.[8] Later on 10 January 2014, Gere confirmed his new role in the film; other newcomers added to the film include Tamsin Greig and David Strathairn.[9]

Filming[edit]

Principal photography began on 10 January 2014 in Jaipur, India.[10]

Marketing[edit]

The first trailer was released on 7 August 2014, with the title The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel announced.[11]

Release[edit]

The film had its world premiere at the Royal Film performance on Tuesday 17 February 2015, an event held in aid of the Film & TV Charity.[12] Subsequently, the film was released in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland on 26 February 2015, and in the United States on 6 March 2015.[13]

Music[edit]

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
Released20 February 2015 (2015-02-20)
Length1:01:05
LabelSony Classical

After the success of the first part, Thomas Newman returned to compose music for the sequel. The Soundtrack Album consisting of 28 tracks was released on 20 February 2015.[14] The Soundtrack included various songs by Indian Artists including Pritam, Himesh Reshammiya and Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.

All tracks are written by Thomas Newman (except where noted)

No.TitleLength
1."Discretion"0:38
2."Second Best Exotic"3:05
3."Knees Then Names"1:56
4."Chai"1:28
5."Catnip"1:49
6."Yeh Ishq Haaye" (Composed by Pritam, Sung by Shreya Ghoshal)3:55
7."Busy Pensioner Bee"1:14
8."Nimish & Abhilash"1:27
9."Roll Call"1:24
10."Already Gone"1:16
11."Soft Hiss of Treachery"1:12
12."Completely Lethal"1:41
13."Balma" (Composed by Himesh Reshammiya, Sung by Shreya Ghoshal & Sriram)3:48
14."The Fun Never Starts"1:39
15."Sagai"4:27
16."Mumbai"2:16
17."Unreasonable behavior"2:01
18."The Brilliant Bits"2:43
19."Aaina"1:01
20."Bringer of New Things"0:34
21."Aaila Re Aaila" (Composed by Pritam, Sung by Daler Mehndi & Kalpana Patowary)3:15
22."Scorpions"2:00
23."Shaadi"1:26
24."Reservoirs of Affection"1:23
25."Wedding"4:21
26."Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" (Composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Sung by KK, Sukhwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan & Mahalaxmi Iyer)3:38
27."Life Piled on Life"1:06
28."Map of The World (End Title)"4:42

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel grossed $33.1 million in North America and $52.9 million in other territories for a total gross of $86 million, against a budget of $10 million.[15]

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel topped the UK box office during its first week, earning £3.8 million.[16] It stayed top of the UK box office chart for a second week, grossing over £1.9 million[17] and held on to the top spot for the third week in a row, fended off competition from latest Liam Neeson actioner, Run All Night, and claimed £1.4 million in total.[18] In the United States, it opened strong at number three at the US box office with an estimated $8.6 million in its first weekend of release. During its opening weekend, the film also scored the highest average gross of any film in wide release, averaging $5,467 from 1,573 theaters.[19]

Critical reception[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of rating of 65%, based on 185 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's consensus reads, "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is about as original as its title—but with a cast this talented and effortlessly charming, that hardly matters."[20] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[22][23]

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "It’s not so common to find an ensemble of this caliber so enthusiastic to work together, and that chemistry comes across."[24] Leslie Felper of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a sluggish also-ran compared to its predecessor."[25]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)". British Film Institute (BFI). Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  2. ^ "THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  3. ^ "BFI Statistics 2015: UK independent films win audiences in a blockbuster box office year". Bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Box Office Preview: 'Chappie' Edging Out 'Unfinished Business' in Slow Weekend". Variety. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  5. ^ "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Dowell, Ben (28 October 2013). "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 to start filming in January". radiotimes.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  7. ^ Brodesser-Akner, Claude (30 October 2012). "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Sequel Script on Way: Hollywood Now Drawn to Senior Set". vulture.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  8. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (30 October 2013). "Richard Gere Courted For 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2'". deadline.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  9. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (10 January 2014). "Richard Gere Checks Into 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2'". deadline.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  10. ^ Bhaskaran, Gautaman (11 January 2014). "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel sequel begins shoot in Jaipur". hindustantimes.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  11. ^ Anderton, Ethan (7 August 2014). "Richard Gere Arrives in 'Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' Trailer". firstshowing.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  12. ^ "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel selected as the charity Royal Film Performance for 2015". HELLO!. 18 December 2014. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  13. ^ Release Info Archived 11 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine at IMDb
  14. ^ "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Thomas Newman on iTunes". iTunes. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  15. ^ "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel beats Fifty Shades at UK box office". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel stays top of UK box office chart". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  18. ^ "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel wins UK box office again". Digital Spice. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  19. ^ "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Opens at #3 at US Box Office". Bolly Spice. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  20. ^ "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  21. ^ "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  22. ^ "NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Actuals: 'CHAPPiE' Leads with an Underwhelming $13.3M; 'Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' Solid with $8.5M; 'Unfinished Business' Bombs with $4.8M; 'American Sniper' Becomes the Highest Grossing Release of 2014". Boxoffice Pro. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel received a solid B+ rating on CinemaScore.
  23. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 20 December 2018.
  24. ^ Debruge, Peter (17 February 2015). "Film Review: 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'". Variety. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  25. ^ Leslie Felper (17 February 2015). "'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.

External links[edit]