City of Ember (2008) on Netflix
PG20081h 35mAdventureFamilyFantasy
Ember, an underground city, is running out of power and supplies. On Assignment Day, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow swap their assignments, and Lina finds a box left by the city's builders.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.4/1073,493 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes53%
Trailer
Plot summary
When a global catastrophe threatens humanity, builders construct Ember, an underground city meant to shelter its people for two hundred years. They leave instructions in a metal box, timed to open after that period, and entrust it to the city's first mayor and each successor. The seventh mayor dies suddenly, and the box is stored away and forgotten; it opens decades later without anyone noticing. By then Ember's generator is failing, and food and medicine are scarce. At the city school's rite of passage, Mayor Cole assigns occupations by lottery. Doon Harrow, whose father Loris Harrow works as a repairman, draws Messenger, while Lina Mayfleet draws Pipeworks Laborer. They secretly swap. Lina, who is descended from the seventh mayor, discovers the opened box at home and asks Doon to help her decipher what it contains.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about City of Ember (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In October 2004 Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman paid in the mid-six figures for the film rights to Jeanne DuPrau's 2003 novel, a deal that also included an option on the sequel novel The People of Sparks.
- Lucas Cruikshank, creator of the YouTube series Fred, was brought in to promote the film in character, uploading a video in which Fred imagines himself starring in City of Ember with Saoirse Ronan appearing as herself, plus a parody trailer titled "City of Fred".
- A former paint hall in the shipyard of Harland and Wolff in Belfast's Titanic Quarter was converted into the underground post-apocalyptic city.
- For all its elaborate sets, City of Ember was a box-office bomb, grossing $17.9 million against a budget of $55 million and drawing mixed reviews from critics.
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