Bean (film)

1997 British American comedy

Bean (also known as Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie or Bean: The Movie) is a 1997 comedy film directed by Mel Smith and written by Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll. Based on the British sitcom series Mr. Bean created by Rowan Atkinson and Curtis, the film stars Atkinson in the title role, with Peter MacNicol, Pamela Reed, Harris Yulin, Sandra Oh and Burt Reynolds in supporting roles. In the film, Bean works as a security guard at the National Gallery in London before being sent to the United States to talk about the unveiling of James Abbott McNeill Whistler's 1871 painting Whistler's Mother. Produced by Gramercy Pictures, Working Title Films, and Tiger Aspect Films, Bean was released in the United Kingdom on 2 August 1997 by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, having grossed $251.2 million worldwide against an $18 million budget. and Mr. Bean Goes to a Première. The film was later instead produced by the UK based Working Title Films and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, under the latter's Gramercy Pictures banner.

The North American release differs from the international release, as it includes an additional scene in which David suggests that Bean stuff the turkey while he distracts the Griersons during the dinner party. After losing his watch in the turkey, Bean gets his head stuck inside of it (a recycled gag from "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean") and stumbles blindly around the kitchen and the dining room. The international release includes two alternate scenes on either side of the deleted turkey scene in order to explain its absence. When searching the refrigerator, Bean first finds two frankfurters and then the onion that he offers as an appetizer. Upon finding the turkey, David asks him if he has cooked a turkey before and he replies, "Oh yes." After the two shove the turkey into the microwave oven, Bean suggests running it for 20 minutes as opposed to the 5 hour cooking time suggested by David, which cause the turkey to explode. According to Atkinson in the documentary Bean Scenes Unseen, the differing scenes were the result of very different reactions from the North American and international audiences in test screenings. It remained number one for a second week. In the UK, it opened on 8 August 1997 on 345 screens and grossed £2,563,326 ($4.0 million) (including previews of £284,936) with a £7,430 ($11,719) per theater average, finishing second for the weekend behind the second weekend of Men in Black. It was the highest opening gross for a British production surpassing the £1.4 million opening of Four Weddings and a Funeral. In Germany, it grossed 12.3 million Deutsche mark ($6.8 million) from 682 screens with a $9,998 per theater average to take the number one spot, beating fellow opener The Fifth Element. It remained number one for a second week in Germany. It became the fastest UK film to gross $100 million and reached that milestone before opening in the US. It opened in Canada on 17 October 1997 in 242 theaters and grossed $2,255,233 with a $9,319 per theater average and ranking number 10 at the US and Canadian box office, the first Canadian only release to reach the US and Canadian top 10. By the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed £17,902,161 in the UK, the fourth highest grossing film for the year. It grossed $45,319,423 in the United States and Canada and $251,212,670 worldwide. On Metacritic the film holds a score of 52 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that while he praised the film for having "many moments that were very funny", he criticized the film's runtime of 90 minutes, saying it was too long: "At an hour, Bean would have been nonstop laughs. [But] then they added 30 minutes of stops."

A standalone sequel, titled Mr. Bean's Holiday, was released in 2007, ten years after its predecessor's release.