Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for The School for Good and Evil (2022) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Sofia Wylie, Sophia Anne Caruso, Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, Jamie Flatters DIRECTOR: Paul Feig CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Schwartzman MUSIC: Theodore Shapiro PRODUCTION: Feigco Entertainment, Jane Startz Productions, Roth Films

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for The School for Good and Evil (2022). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Casting

Fiona Weir was appointed casting director. Feig made note to select talented, nice, and cooperative actors; Chainani stated casting was based on talent, not looks. Characters were reinterpreted to "make sure [their] spirit ... is best embodied in that particular actor". According to Chainani, casting Hester was difficult due to her "very, very specific energy". Laurence Fishburne joined the cast as the School Master due to his daughter's love for the books, which she started reading as a tween.

Actresses Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie were cast in the roles of Sophie and Agatha, respectively. Wylie auditioned for Agatha through a series of self-tapes and a chemistry read with Caruso. She previously acted in many fantasy films, such as Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Feig, who had worked with her on Arrested Development (2005), expected her to decline the role due to The School for Good and Evil similarities to her other films. However, Lady Lesso differed from her other roles as a teacher who relished evil, allowing Theron to "have much more fun in a way than some of those movies where you have to be very serious".

Feig had long sought to collaborate with Kerry Washington, but their schedules had never allowed it. He knew as soon as he read Professor Dovey's role that he wanted only Washington to play the part, partially due to her comedic skills. Compelled by the idea of working with Feig and Theron, Washington accepted. After reading The School for Good and Evil, she realized that Dovey was different from any character she had portrayed, being "so larger than life and filled with light, and [having] a lot of comedic beats". For the character's foundation, Washington made the decision to draw on real-life examples. She gave considerable thought to the archetype of fairy godmothers and finishing schools, as well as one of her instructors at Spence School, an all-girls school in New York that she had attended.

▸ Filming & Locations

According to Feig, filming on location was essential in order to avoid overusing special effects. Netflix was unable to shoot the production at its Shepperton Studios in Surrey, because it was too small; they decided to instead film at Northern Ireland for the first time. Feig selected its city Belfast as the filming location, as he had friends who had shot there, including production members from Game of Thrones (2011–2019). He also cited its close proximity to London, which would make travel between the two cities easy, though this was not the case due to the COVID-19 pandemic. and Loop Film Studios. At the former, the full of the studio, workshop and office space was used. Local sites The School for Good and Evil was filmed at include St Peter's Church; St Anne's Cathedral; Mount Stewart; Ulster Folk Museum; Clandeboye Estate; Woodburn Forest; Castle Archdale;

Production followed the British Film Commission safe working protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Feig was particularly pleased to film at Big Dog Forest in Fermanagh, since he thought building such a place would be impossible. In January 2021, it was reported filming had begun. The crew encountered difficulties with shooting on the first day, as it rained heavily, creating puddles of mud. Filming wrapped at the end of July 2021.

[Filming] According to Feig, filming on location was essential in order to avoid overusing special effects. Netflix was unable to shoot the production at its Shepperton Studios in Surrey, because it was too small; they decided to instead film at Northern Ireland for the first time. Feig selected its city Belfast as the filming location, as he had friends who had shot there, including production members from Game of Thrones (2011–2019). He also cited its close proximity to London, which would make travel between the two cities easy, though this was not the case due to the COVID-19 pandemic. and Loop Film Studios.

▸ Post-Production

After the film wrapped, Feig began editing, Feig hoped for the film's world to have a sense of realism, despite its magical aspects, which he tried to keep elemental; an example is the stymph. In the books, it is a bird made of bones that takes children to the Schools for Good and Evil. The team wanted it to be sentient while retaining its bones. They researched bird skeletons and decayed birds, studying the way the tissue and feathers stay on the bones, and the interactions of these three things. The team used computer-generated imagery to add expressions and emotions to the animatronic characters.

▸ Marketing & Release

Film marketer Lee Schroder served as The School for Good and Evil publicist. In May 2021, three first-look images were posted on Washington, Theron and Feig's social medias, featuring the former two dressed in their respective roles. Hundreds of responses were posted on Twitter; many fans were impressed and conveyed desires for sequels. In June of that year, during Netflix's virtual fan event Geeked Week, the first teaser was released. It depicted a coven of witches walking towards the screen. Washington and Theron are featured in their costumes, in addition to female characters fighting and a shot of the fantasy setting.

In early June 2022, Netflix launched the film's teaser poster. That same month, a first-look teaser trailer for the film was released, while a panel featuring Wylie, Caruso, and the novel series' author Soman Chainani was held as part of Netflix's 2022 Geeked Week event. In late July 2022, the film's main poster was released. It highlights the schools' divide, with a split between the two that is emphasized through the color palettes. At the end of September, it appeared on bestseller lists by Canadian publications Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 1 win total

CRITICAL RECEPTION

GamesRadar+, GoldDerby, and The Cinemaholic described reviews as "mixed", while Time and HuffPost said they were "mostly negative". According to The Independent, journalists were "quick to tear apart" the film. Metacritic ranked it the fifteenth-worst-rated film of 2022, citing reviewers' criticisms of it as "a campy, underdeveloped, and overstuffed Harry Potter knock-off that was a slog to sit through".

Many people had conflicting opinions on The School for Good and Evil, especially those who had read the book. Some thought the film "did everything it set out to do". Others found fault with the writing, such as the deviations from the book's plot, and disliked Tedros's dark hair, which is blond in the books.

The School for Good and Evil was the most-viewed film on Netflix on October 20, 2022, the day after its release. According to Nielsen Media Research, during its first six days of release, it received 1.058 billion viewing minutes, placing second on the streaming chart after the television series The Watcher. In its first week, the film debuted at number one on Netflix's Top 10, with 78.83 million hours viewed. The next week, it dropped to second, behind The Good Nurse, having received 41.95 million viewing hours. In its third week, The School for Good and Evil ranked third on the Top 10 chart—after Enola Holmes 2 and The Good Nurse—with 19.03 million hours viewed. The film placed ninth the next week after garnering 8.85 million viewing hours. The following week, it dropped off the chart.