Tagline: A Fish-Out-Of-Water Comedy.
Two teenage best friends, Claire (Emma Roberts) and Hailey (Joanna “JoJo” Levesque) regret that they will be separated in five days, since Hailey has to move to Australia because of her mother’s job. One night, after a violent storm they find a mermaid, named Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) in the swimming pool of their beach club. The girls are frightened at first, but then curious. They start to talk with Aquamarine and promise her they will be back in the morning.
When they return, they find Aquamarine in the beach’s snack shack, but with a human body instead of a mermaid’s. Aquamarine tells them she can assume human form on land during the day if she does not get wet. Claire and Hailey befriend Aquamarine, who tells them that she came to land to find love, an idea she knows nothing about, but desires desperately. She tells them that she made a deal with her father: if she finds love in three days, she will not undergo an arranged marriage. She immediately notices a handsome lifeguard named Raymond (Jake McDorman) and enlists the help of the two girls to win his heart in return for the granting of a wish. The girls see their opportunity to keep Hailey from moving and immediately start helping her.
Claire and Hailey’s rival a spoiled, rich girl, Cecilia (Arielle Kebbel) tries her best to stop them, but fails. Also prominent is an eccentric, compassionate caretaker, Leonard, who rescues Aquamarine from public discovery. Eventually, it is not Raymond that convinces Aquamarine that humans can love, but Claire and Hailey, who are willing to give up their wish and their lives in the aiding of a friend. Raymond and Aquamarine share a kiss and promise to meet up again in the future, Raymond promises he’ll wait for her. Hailey and Claire get their wish from Aquamarine, but decide not to use it until later.But it is mentioned that they plan to use it to make sure all three of them can visit each other every summer.
Aquamarine is a 2006 Australian-American teen comedy film starring Sara Paxton, Emma Roberts and JoJo. The film, which was made in both the United States and Australia, was released in North America on March 3, 2006. The film was loosely based on a children’s book of the same name by Alice Hoffman, and was directed by American director Elizabeth Allen. The movie was filmed in Queensland, Australia.
In its opening weekend the film grossed $7,482,669 in 2,512 theaters, ranking #5 at the box office. By the end of its run, Aquamarine grossed $18,597,342 domestically and $4,409,507 internationally for a worldwide total of $23,006,849.
All About Aquamarine
The journey of AQUAMARINE began with the novel by the acclaimed author Alice Hoffman, whose other books Practical Magic and Here on Earth had previously been adapted for the screen. Fox 2000, which owned the rights to Hoffman’s book, sent a copy of it, along with a preliminary screenplay, to director Elizabeth Allen. Though Allen had not yet directed a feature, the studio was impressed with her award-winning short film Eyeball Eddie, and had been looking for a project to collaborate on.
Allen immediately sparked to the material. “I was so inspired by the story, it really spoke to me,” says Allen. “I thought it would be wonderful to explore the relationship between the best friends, and to watch these girls embrace their individuality and learn to take pride in who they are.
“I was also excited by the unique, visual potential of the story. It was a chance to do something we really don’t see on screen too often, especially in movies aimed at teenage girls
In fact, it seemed like the kind of movie I would’ve wanted to see at that age!” Producer Susan Cartsonis, who was brought on board once Allen was attached to the project, was also drawn to the story’s strong female characters. “I’ve long been drawn to movies about female empowerment,” relates Cartsonis, a former Fox production executive. “When I worked at the studio, I championed films that were about women who had to take charge of their lives, in one way or another – like The Truth About Cats and Dogs and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. After I left I produced similarly themed movies like Where the Heart Is and What Women Want. AQUAMARINE, while its own completely original story, reflects a theme close to my heart, and it has the potential to subtly influence young women in a positive and entertaining way.”
Once Elizabeth Allen finished developing the AQUAMARINE script she started to explore casting, beginning with who would play best friends Hailey and Claire. The first two girls brought in to audition were Emma Roberts and Joanna “JoJo” Levesque – and they were ideal. “They just blew us away,” recalls Allen. “Everyone in casting at Fox was incredulous, used to spending months and months trying to find the perfect young actresses for a role. In one fell swoop, with one audition, we found our leads.
Casting Aqua, the sexy mermaid who turns Hailey’s and Claire’s world upside down, was a longer process. It took several months to find someone with just the right combination of beauty, freshness, and nutty comic ability to play the magical woman of the sea. But Sara Paxton was worth the wait. Says Cartsonis: “Sara had a wonderfully zany, otherworldly quality to her that was perfect for Aqua. She reminded us of great film comediennes who had a funny and specific way of viewing the world.”
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Aquamarine (2006)
Directed by: Elizabeth Allen
Starring: Joanna Levesque, Emma Roberts, Sara Paxton, Arielle Kebbel, Claudia Karvan, Tammin Sursok, Roy Billing, Julia Blake, Shaun Micallef, Natasha Leigh, Dichen Lachman
Screenplay by: John Quaintance, Jessica Bendiger
Production Design by: Nelson Coates
Cinematography by: Brian J. Breheny
Film Editing by: Jane Moran
Costume Design by: Sally Sharpe
Set Decoration by: Lenny Holmdahl
Art Direction by: Bill Booth
Music by: David Hirschfelder
MPAA Rating: PG for mild language and sensuality.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: March 3, 2006
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