Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for Sound of Metal (2020) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, Mathieu Amalric, Domenico Toledo DIRECTOR: Darius Marder CINEMATOGRAPHY: Daniël Bouquet MUSIC: Nicolas Becker, Abraham Marder PRODUCTION: Flat 7, Ward Four, Caviar

Box Office Performance

Sound of Metal earned $516,520 in worldwide box office revenue.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Production

Sound of Metal is directed by Darius Marder, who wrote the story with Derek Cianfrance and who also wrote the screenplay with his brother Abraham Marder. The film originated as the unfinished Cianfrance project Metalhead, which centers on a metal drummer who suddenly becomes deaf. The film featured the members of the band Jucifer portraying themselves. However, the project was later scrapped, until Cianfrance's friend Darius Marder took it up. In January 2016, Dakota Johnson and Matthias Schoenaerts joined the cast of the film, with Marder directing. In July 2018, Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke joined the cast of the film, replacing Johnson and Schoenaerts, alongside Mathieu Amalric. Before the casting, Marder had spent 13 years vetting actors who would match his commitment to the film. Marder wanted Ahmed to "trust his instincts" and did not allow him to review dailies of his performance or script analysis. Marder operated on a limited budget, and shot only two takes per scene. The film was shot in the Greater Boston area, primarily in Ipswich, Massachusetts. However, other scenes were shot in Boston, Lynn, Cambridge, Danvers, Framingham, Lawrence, Malden, Rowley, and Topsfield. Filming also took place in Antwerp, Belgium.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: Won 2 Oscars. 90 wins & 179 nominations total

Nominations: ○ Academy Award for Best Picture (93rd Academy Awards)

CRITICAL RECEPTION

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average of . The site's critics consensus reads: "An evocative look at the experiences of the deaf community, Sound of Metal is brought to life by Riz Ahmed's passionate performance." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Sound of Metal received mostly positive reviews from critics. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave the film four stars out of five and praised Marder's direction and Ahmed's performance. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times found the film "underwritten and dramatically muted" but praised Ahmed's performance and Nicolas Becker's sound design. Mark Kermode of The Guardian praised the "astonishing verisimilitude" of the direction and called Ahmed's performance the best of his career. Peter Bradshaw, also writing for The Guardian, credited Ahmed with giving "the film energy and point" but was critical of other aspects, writing that "[the story] perhaps tries to do too much", and that it "telescopes a long story into just a few months." Empire critic Ian Freer praised the sound design and called the film a "powerful but sensitive exploration of a so-called disability that challenges perceptions and assumptions about loss of hearing in thoughtful but provocative ways." Rolling Stone journalist David Fear wrote that the film "immerses you in a noiseless world — but it's the star that makes it speak volumes loudly and clearly".