The film begins with the prologue: “At 600km above planet Earth the temperature fluctuates between ♦258 and -148 degrees Fahrenheit. There is nothing to carry sound, no air pressure, no oxygen. Life in space is impossible.”
       On 7 Oct 2010, HR announced that actress Sandra Bullock was negotiating with Warner Bros. for the starring role of “Ryan Stone” in Gravity, after a pending deal with Natalie Portman fell through. At that time, Robert Downey, Jr., had been cast as “Matt Kowalski” and director-writer-producer Alfonso Cuarón was preparing for production with his co-writer and son, Jonás Cuarón. According to HR, Gravity began at Universal Pictures as an Angelina Jolie vehicle, but when the property moved to Warner Bros., Jolie was denied her $20 million fee and left the project. The studio subsequently considered Marion Cotillard, Blake Lively, and Scarlett Johansson, before briefly re-engaging Jolie. A 17 Dec 2010 HR news item announced that George Clooney had been hired to replace Downey, Jr., who left the project mid-Nov 2010 just as Bullock’s casting was confirmed. Principal photography was scheduled to begin spring 2011, after Clooney finished filming The Ides of March (2011, see entry). While the 7 Oct 2010 Var reported the film was originally budgeted at $80 million, a 4 Oct 2013 LAT article speculated that the cost reached $110 million.
       According to a 9 Sep 2013 LAT article, Cuarón waited four years to make the picture, biding his time until technology caught up with his vision. In addition, Cuarón and his team, including visual effects supervisor Tim Webber and director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, invented techniques to create “elastic shots,” combining live action, computer-generated imagery (CGI), computerized robots generally used in factory assembly lines, and a custom-made, twenty by ten foot cube “light box,” containing “196 2-by-2 foot panels fitted with 4,096 [LED] lights,” as noted in the 18 Oct 2013 HR. Each of the lights had individual controls, projecting beams on the faces of Bullock and Clooney to indicate their characters’ environment. Action inside the “light box” was filmed with an Arri Alexa digital camera, but eighty percent of the picture was animated by computer, even the clear visors of the actors’ spacesuits.
       Webber noted that his staff of computer graphics (CG) animators at Framestore in London, England, had to relearn their craft, applying laws of physics in outer space, such as zero gravity and lack of air resistance. Unofficially advised by NASA, Lubezki and the visual effects crew worked to portray the ninety-minute duration of daytime that is consistent with orbits around Earth, and matched light sources with the characters’ location above their home planet, including “cool blue lights” when they were orbiting over the ocean, and “warmer colors” reflecting the African desert. Another innovation of the production was a “12-wire rig with a carbon-fiber harness,” in which Bullock was controlled by puppeteers and filmed by various cameras on a “motion-control rig” to portray tumbling through space. CG sequences were created in 3D, while the live action scenes were filmed in 2D and later converted to 3D.
       As noted in a 14 Oct 2013 Time article, the film’s custom technology posed risks to the production, since there were no means of immediate replacement or repair. On the first day Bullock was scheduled to perform in the “light box,” crewmembers discovered the floor emitted electric shocks. It was also challenging to comfortably position the actors in their harnesses and maintain the impression of weightlessness. According to the 9 Sep 2013 LAT, Bullock mentioned her hardships during production to an audience at the Toronto Film Festival, noting that she was isolated and “whipped around” in the “light box” for prolonged periods of time, but that her solitude and duress were filtered back into her character.
       Despite the fact that space is devoid of sound, supervising sound editor/sound designer Glenn Freemantle conveyed resonance that occurs through physical contact and other vibrations, such as breathing and movement. The 18 Oct 2013 HR stated that many of the film’s sound effects were recorded with contact microphones at automobile factories and hospitals, as well as experimenting with recording a guitar, submerged in water.
       Cuarón told Time that he filmed the picture with a third main character in mind. He stated that the camera was neither intended to depict Bullock’s point of view, nor an objective perspective of her plight, but rather a “third astronaut… the audience.” With the aim to immerse the audience with plausible, yet otherworldly visual spectacles, Cuarón wanted his viewers to project their own “emotional experience… onto the screen in a primal way.” Production neared its end in early Oct 2011, as noted in the 3 Oct 2011 Var.
       According to various contemporary sources, including the 4 Jul 2013 LAT, the picture had been prepared for a Nov 2012 release, but in May 2012, Warner Bros. pushed the opening back nearly one year, to 4 Oct 2013. Gravity premiered 28 Aug 2013 on opening night of the Venice Film Festival. It was the first 3-D picture to open the festival, but was not considered for competition. It also screened at the Toronto Film Festival on 8 Sep 2013.
       While critics praised the film, scientists pointed out its inaccuracies, including the erroneously clear view of Earth, as noted by astronaut Buzz Aldrin in an 8 Oct 2013 LAT article, and the fact that the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station are in “vastly different orbits,” with distances impossible to traverse, as reported in the 1 Oct 2013 NYT. Although several NASA members were consultants on the film, including uncredited astronaut Catherine “Cady” Coleman and Andrew Thomas, who is credited onscreen as “astronaut advisor,” NASA declined to provide official production support. An unidentified Gravity filmmaker told LAT that NASA was deterred by the picture’s depiction of space travel dangers. However, the film’s 4 Oct 2013 release coincided with the 2013 U.S. federal government shutdown, in which 97% of NASA employees were left out of work, and the agency subsequently amended its stance on the production. Coleman and astronaut Michael J. Massimo were provided to publicize the film, participating in “question-and-answer sessions” at public screenings, as well as giving interviews about the scientific aspects of the picture. Reflecting on the more accurate parts of Gravity, the astronauts stated that space debris is indeed a real threat, as is space sickness, but they also indicated that astronaut undergarments are not as flattering as Bullock’s athletic undershirt and shorts.
       Test audience surveys indicated an opening weekend box-office gross of up to $45 million, but Gravity surpassed expectation to earn $1.4 million its opening night and $55.6 million total in its first three days of release, according to various contemporary sources, including the 7 Oct 2013 LAT and WSJ. The earnings marked the largest Oct-debut grosses in motion picture history, as well as the biggest opening in Bullock’s career. Despite market trends showing decreased 3-D film attendance, Gravity sold more 3-D tickets its opening weekend than those of previous blockbusters, such as Avatar (2009, see entry), Alice in Wonderland (2010, see entry), and Life of Pi (2012, see entry). An 18 Oct 2013 WSJ item reported that Gravity had earned $200 million, worldwide, in two weeks, and speculated that the picture would ultimately gross over $500 million.
       Gravity was named one of AFI’s Movies of the Year in 2013. It was nominated for Golden Globe awards in the following motion picture categories: Best Picture -- Drama, Best Performance by an Actress -- Drama, and Best Original Score. Alfonso Cuarón won a Golden Globe for Best Director. The film was also nominated for three Academy Awards in the following categories: Actress in a Leading Role, Production Design, and Best Picture. It won seven Academy Awards for Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects.
       End credits include the following acknowledgments: “A mi mamá, gracias,” and, “The producers would like to thank: Guillermo Del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, Tim Sexton, James Cameron, David Fincher, Robert Richardson, Fred Waldman, Marty Wickman, Bob Wotherspoon, Ryan McGuire.” Also included is the statement: “Filmed at Shepperton Studios in England and on location in Lake Powell, Arizona” and, “The Major League Baseball trademarks depicted in this motion picture were licensed by the Major League Baseball Properties, Inc.”