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NINE LIVES

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Nine Lives (2016 film)

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nine Lives
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBarry Sonnenfeld
Written byGwyn LurieMatt R. AllenCaleb WilsonDaniel AntoniazziBen Shiffrin
Produced byLisa Ellzey
StarringKevin SpaceyJennifer GarnerRobbie AmellCheryl HinesMalina WeissmanChristopher Walken
CinematographyKarl Walter Lindenlaub
Edited byDon ZimmermanDavid Zimmerman
Music byEvgueni GalperineSacha Galperine
Production
company		Fundamental Films
Distributed byEuropaCorp
Release dates31 July 2016 (Los Angeles)3 August 2016 (France)5 August 2016 (United States)9 September 2016 (Canada)
Running time87 minutes[1]
CountriesUnited States[1]FranceCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[2]
Box office$57.8 million[3]

Nine Lives[4] is a 2016 fantasy comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, written by Gwyn Lurie, Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, Dan Antoniazzi and Ben Shiffrin, and starring Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Robbie Amell, Cheryl Hines, Malina Weissman and Christopher Walken. It is an international co-production between the United States, France and Canada. The plot follows a workaholic father who has his mind trapped inside his daughter’s new cat.

The film was released by EuropaCorp on 5 August 2016 and grossed $57 million. The film was panned by critics, who called it unoriginal and unfunny.[5]

Plot

Tom Brand is a successful tycoon in NYC whose workaholic attitude ruined his first marriage. His adult son David works for him, striving for his approval. They live with Tom’s second wife Lara, who is a little more tolerant of Tom’s frequent absences, and the couple’s daughter Rebecca. Tom’s company FireBrand is nearing completion of its greatest achievement, the tallest skyscraper in the northern hemisphere. The film opens with Tom skydiving onto the roof of the new skyscraper. David remained in the plane, refusing to jump.

Rebecca wants a cat for her 11th birthday, something cat-hating Tom has always refused. During his last-minute gift shopping Tom’s GPS directs him to a mysterious pet store called Purrkins Pet Shop, brimming with odd and exotic cats. The store’s eccentric owner, Felix, tells him he doesn’t pick the cat, the cat picks him and a tomcat called Mr. Fuzzypants who has used up seven of his nine lives leaves with Tom. They stop at the office on the way home, and Tom argues with Ian Cox, his building manager, on the roof of the skyscraper. Tom learns a structure in Chicago will be taller and fires Ian. Lightning strikes the antenna moments later, blowing Tom off the building with the cat. His leg snags and flings him through a window. He wakes up to find his human body is in the hospital in a coma, and his consciousness is trapped inside the cat’s body.

Tom is visited by Felix, who is able to talk to him. Aware of what happened, Felix warns Tom to reevaluate his priorities, connect with his family, and avoid past mistakes within one week or else remain a cat forever. When Lara and Rebecca take Mr. Fuzzypants home, he acts stubbornly to convince his wife and daughter he is actually Tom. This drives them mad and he slowly comes to see how much he had ignored his family. Tom’s suspicions of Lara cheating on him with an erstwhile model named Josh prove true, and Tom also learns Josh is a realtor looking for a house for Lara as a prelude to divorce. Tom is motivated to try to make Lara happy. He also learns Ian and the board of directors want to take power from Tom via a public offering. When David tries to stop him, Ian fires David and plans to announce the public offering at the tower’s grand opening.

Rebecca realizes Mr. Fuzzypants is really her father and Tom’s body deteriorates in the hospital. Lara, David, and Rebecca visit with the cat hidden in her backpack. While alone, David apologizes to Tom for failing to save the company and takes Tom’s ID badge, implying he will commit suicide. Lara and Dr. Cole arrange a Do not resuscitate order. Rebecca asks the cat to prove he is really Tom. Remembering Felix’s statement that love is about sacrifice, Tom decides to save David instead, sacrificing his chance to regain his humanity.

David jumps off the building and the cat jumps after him pulling a cable. However, David, wearing a BASE jumping parachute, lands in the middle of the grand opening party, presents the company’s articles of incorporation, and announces he now controls his father’s majority share of the stock. He announces the company will remain a family company. Tom wakes up from his coma and sees David’s announcement on the television. Ian, just fired by David, walks past Felix who tells him to hang up his cell phone. He ignores him and is hit by a car. His consciousness transfers into a cat that Felix takes back to his shop.

Tom and Rebecca return to Felix to ask if he has any dogs. Felix presents them with Mr. Fuzzypants, who has one life left.

Cast

  • Kevin Spacey[6] as Tom Brand, a tycoon and owner of FireBrand who ends up in the body of a cat named Mr. Fuzzypants. Spacey also voices himself when in Mr. Fuzzypants’ body
  • Jennifer Garner[7] as Lara Brand, Tom’s second wife, Rebecca’s mother, and David’s stepmother.
  • Robbie Amell[7] as David Brand, the son of Tom and Madison, the older half-brother of Rebecca and Nicole, (although he spends more time with Rebecca) and the stepson of Lara who works at FireBrand.
  • Cheryl Hines as Madison Camden, the former wife of Tom and the mother of David and Nicole.
  • Mark Consuelos[8] as Ian Cox, the top manager at FireBrand who schemes to take control of the company. Ian also voices himself in a cat’s body.
  • Malina Weissman[9] as Rebecca Brand, the daughter of Tom and Lara and the paternal half-sister of David.
  • Christopher Walken as Felix Perkins,[10] the magician and owner of an exotic pet store.
  • Teddy Sears as Josh Myers, a realtor that Lara sees
  • Jay Patterson as Benson
  • Talitha Bateman as Nicole Camden,[11] the daughter of Madison and the maternal half-sister of David Brand.
  • Jewelle Blackman as Doctor Cole
  • Serge Houde as Stein, a board member[12]
  • Mark Camacho as Josh Boone

Voices

  • Jon Olson as Mr. Fuzzypants vocal effects
  • Barry Sonnenfeld as cat vocal effects
  • Chloe Sonnenfeld as cat vocal effects

Animal cast

Production

On 12 January 2015, it was announced Barry Sonnenfeld would direct the film.[14] On 28 January 2015, Kevin Spacey joined the cast.[6] On 25 March 2015, Malina Weissman joined the cast.[9] On 31 March 2015, Christopher Walken joined the cast to play Felix Perkins, the owner of a mystical pet shop,[10] and on 9 April 2015, Jennifer Garner and Robbie Amell joined as well.[7] On 13 April 2015, Mark Consuelos was cast in the film,[8] and on 27 April 2015, Talitha Bateman was cast as well.[11] Principal photography began on 4 May 2015, and ended on 24 July 2015.[15][16] Filming took place in Montreal.[17]

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released on 29 April 2016, by EuropaCorp,[18] but was pushed back to 5 August 2016.[19]

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 1 November 2016, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United States.[20] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia on 7 December 2016, by Madman Entertainment under the alternate title Mr. Fuzzypants.[4]

Reception

Box office

Nine Lives grossed $19.7 million in North America and $38.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $57.8 million against a budget of $30 million.[21]

The film was released in North America on 5 August 2016 alongside Suicide Squad. The film was projected to gross $10 million from 2,264 theaters in its opening weekend.[22][21] The film made $2.4 million on its first day. It went on to gross $6.2 million in its opening weekend, finishing 6th at the box office.[23]

Critical response

‹ The template below (Rotten Tomatoes prose) is being considered for deletion. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 14% of 71 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.2/10. The website’s consensus reads: “Not meow, not ever.”[24]

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 11 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating “overwhelming dislike”.[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale.[26]

IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of D, saying the film was “less funny than the average cat gif and approximately 1,000 times as long… Cats may have nine lives, but you only get one, and it’s too precious to waste on this drivel. You’re better off watching a gif of a cat whose face is stuck in a slice of bread. It will save you $20 and a few hours of your time”.[27] Wendy Ide of The Observer gave it two out of five stars, writing, “Like a bargain-basement version of Freaky Friday crossed with a cat meme, the comedy here is inert, despite the efforts of a psychotically chipper musical score.”[28] Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers gave the film zero out of four stars and wrote, “At 87 torturous, laugh-free minutes, the film could change the most avid cat fancier into a kitty hater”.[29]

Kevin Spacey later poked fun of the film and its poor reception during a 2026 appearance on Club Random with Bill Maher, Sitting down with Bill Maher at the start of the interview, he stated while reflecting on his Hollywood career and the sexual assault allegations he faced saying about Nine Lives, “And every now and then, you make a Nine Lives. What can you do? I turned into a cat.”. Maher, unfamiliar with the film, asked, “What was that? Was it a bad movie you were in?” When Maher asked where that fell in his career, Spacey admitted, “It was at a point where I was willing to make a movie just for money. Because I was very bankable.”[30]

References

  1.  “NINE LIVES (PG)”. British Board of Film Classification. 29 June 2016. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  2.  “‘Suicide Squad’ Sets Sights on $160+ Million Opening”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  3.  “Nine Lives (2016)”. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  4.  “Mr. Fuzzypants”. Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  5.  Brueggemann, Tom (7 August 2016). “Top 10 Box Office Takeaways: How ‘Suicide Squad’ Beat Bad Reviews”. IndieWire. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  6.  Hayden, Erik (28 January 2015). “Kevin Spacey to Star in Comedy ‘Nine Lives’ From ‘Men in Black’ Director”. Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  7.  Kroll, Justin (9 April 2015). “‘Nine Lives’: Jennifer Garner, Stephen Amell Cast in Kevin Spacey Film”. Variety. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  8.  Ford, Rebecca (13 April 2015). “Mark Consuelos Joins Comedy ‘Nine Lives’ (Exclusive)”. Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  9.  Kroll, Justin (25 March 2015). “Malina Weissman to Co-Star with Kevin Spacey in ‘Nine Lives’ (EXCLUSIVE)”. Variety. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  10.  D’Alessandro, Anthony (31 March 2015). “Christopher Walken Joins Movies ‘Nine Lives’ & ‘Eddie The Eagle'”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  11.  Ford, Rebecca (27 April 2015). “Comedy ‘Nine Lives’ Adds ‘Hart of Dixie’ Actress (Exclusive)”. Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  12.  “Veteran Actor SERGE HOUDE Joins All-Star Cast for Barry Sonnenfeld Comedy “NINE LIVES””. kabookit. 2 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  13.  McNary, Dave (2 August 2016). “‘Nine Lives’ Director on Working With Animals: ‘Dogs Are Easy and Cats are Hard'”. Variety. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  14.  Fleming, Mike (12 January 2015). “EuropaCorp Sets Barry Sonnenfeld For Cat-astrophic Comedy ‘Nine Lives'”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  15.  “On the Set for 5/4/15: Independence Day 2 Starts Shooting While Directors Jodie Foster and Martin Scorsese Wrap Their Films”. Ssninsider.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  16.  “On the Set for 7/31/15: Chris Pratt Wraps ‘Magnificent Seven’, Dwayne Johnson Completes ‘Central Intelligence’, Chris Hemsworth Finishes ‘The Huntsman'”. SSN Insider. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  17.  Kelly, Brendan (7 June 2015). “Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner spotted in Montreal as Hollywood filming heats up”. Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 27 November 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  18.  Vlessing, Etan (8 May 2015). “Kevin Spacey’s High-Concept Comedy ‘Nine Lives’ Gets Release Date”. Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  19.  “Nine Lives (2016)”. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  20.  “Nine Lives Blu-ray”. Blu-ray.com. 8 September 2016. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  21.  “Nine Lives (2016) (2016) – Box Office Mojo”. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  22.  “‘Suicide Squad’ Will Rock August As ‘Nine Lives’ Cozies Up To Family Audience – Box Office Preview”. Deadline Hollywood. 2 August 2016. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  23.  D’Alessandro, Anthony (7 August 2016). “‘Suicide Squad’ Opening Weekend Now At $135.1M – Early Sunday AM Update”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  24.  “Nine Lives (2016)”. Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  25.  “Nine Lives reviews”. Metacritic. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  26.  D’Alessandro, Anthony (5 August 2016). “‘Suicide Squad’ Looking To Loot Year’s Third Biggest Opening With $140M-$145M”. Deadline. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  27.  “‘Nine Lives’ Review: Kevin Spacey Is Transformed Into A Cat In This Neutered Family Comedy From Hell”. IndieWire. 5 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  28.  Ide, Wendy (21 August 2016). “Nine Lives review – a feline comedy with no claws”. The Observer. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  29.  Travers, Peter. “Nine Lives Review: Kevin Spacey’s Talking Cat Movie Is Pure Kitty Litter”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  30.  Club Random Podcast (29 June 2026). Kevin Spacey | Club Random with Bill Maher. YouTube. Retrieved 29 June 2026.

External links

vteFilms directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Unrealized projects
The Addams Family (1991) For Love or Money (1993) Addams Family Values (1993) Get Shorty (1995) Men in Black (1997) Wild Wild West (1999)Big Trouble (2002) Men in Black II (2002) RV (2006)Men in Black 3 (2012)Nine Lives (2016)

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