Inkheart is a 2009 fantasy film, directed by Iain Softley and stars Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis and Jim Broadbent. It is based on the novel with the same name by Cornelia Funke. The film was first slated for release on March 19, 2008, but had been pushed back to December 12, 2008 in the UK and January 23, 2009 in the US, partially because of New Line's marketing worries in connection with the now-concluded 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

Inkheart has received generally mixed reviews from critics. It has so far received a 37% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 107 reviews, with 40 reviews "Fresh" and 67 reviews "Rotten". It received an average score of 5 and a score of 27% from top critics, based on 26 reviews. It did, however, reach a higher rating of 76% from the RT Community. Their consensus is "Heavy on cliches and light on charm, this kid-lit fantasy-adventure doesn't quite get off the ground." In addition, Metacritic has given the film a 47 out of 100, indicating "Mixed or Average Reviews".

Kirk Honeycutt of Hollywood Reporter disliked the film, saying, "Whatever made the German novel Inkheart by Cornelia Funke so popular that it got translated into 37 languages is nowhere in evidence in its film version," and "The main problem is the central concept itself." On the other hand, Bill Goodykoontz of Arizona Republic enjoyed the film, saying, " Inkheart is entertaining enough, if not always easy to follow. And if it does nothing else, at least it may inspire kids to read, if for no other reason than to help make sense of it all."

The film grossed $2,110,000 during its opening day in 2,655 theaters. It opened at #7 at the domestic box office with $7,725,000.

The sequel movie "Inkspell" has already been announced in the New York Times.

Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Brendan Fraser) and his 12-year-old daughter, Meggie (Eliza Bennett), share a passion for books. What they also share is an extraordinary gift for bringing characters from books to life when they read aloud. But there is a danger: when a character is brought to life from a book, a real person disappears into its pages.

On one of their trips to a secondhand book shop, Mo hears voices he hasn't heard for years, and when he locates the book they're coming from, it sends a shiver up his spine. It's Inkheart, a book filled with illustrations of medieval castles and strange creatures--a book he's been searching for since Meggie was three years old, when her mother, Resa (Sienna Guillory), vanished into its mystical world.

But Mo's plan to use the book to find and rescue Resa is thwarted when Capricorn (Andy Serkis), the evil villain of Inkheart, kidnaps Meggie and, discovering she has inherited her father's gift, demands that she bring his most powerful ally to life--the Shadow. Determined to rescue his daughter and send the fictional characters back where they belong, Mo assembles a small group of friends and family--some from the real world, some from the pages of books--and embarks on a daring and perilous journey to set things right.

• Official Movie Web Site

You can edit this page to add links to blogs, sites, and other information... If this page has a "PageType" set above - that will determine where the page is listed on SideReel. You can add text, a picture, links or more by editing the page... Check out the links above if you need help.