Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a 2007 children's fantasy comedy film written and directed by Zach Helm, produced by FilmColony, Mandate Pictures, Walden Media, Richard N. Gladstein and James Garavente, and with music composed by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman.

The film stars Dustin Hoffman as the owner of a magical toy store and Natalie Portman as his store employee. A cameo by Kermit the Frog was the character's first major theatrical appearance since 1999's Muppets from Space.

Theatrically released 16 November 2007 by 20th Century Fox, it received mixed reviews and grossed $69.5 million worldwide. Helm subsequently disowned the film in later years.

Plot
Molly Mahoney, a former musical prodigy suffering from artist's block, is an amateur pianist and an employee at "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium", a magical toy shop run by 243-year-old Mr. Edward Magorium. Besides Molly and Mr. Magorium, store bookbuilder, Bellini, a strongman, is also employed. Eric Applebaum is a boy who comes to the store daily and functions as an employee despite his age.

Mr. Magorium gives Molly the Congreve Cube, a block of wood, and tells her it will guide her to a new life if she has faith in it. Molly wants to become a concert pianist and composer, but has not been able to complete her first concerto.

Mr. Magorium announces that he intends to "leave", and is giving the shop to Molly. In preparation of his departure, Mr. Magorium hires an accountant, Henry Weston, to organize the shop's paperwork and determine his legacy to Molly. Henry does not believe the toy store is magical.

When Molly becomes upset about her inability to properly run the store, the Emporium "throws a tantrum", assaulting everyone inside with the toys until Mr. Magorium calms it down. Molly realizes that Mr. Magorium is going to die, so she rushes him, to a hospital until he is discharged the next day. She attempts to prevent Mr. Magorium's departure by showing him the joys of life. Back at the store, Mr. Magorium uses the stage notes of Shakespeare's King Lear to make a point about the natural simplicity of death, before dying. Believing herself to be incapable of owning a magical store, Molly puts the Emporium up for sale, and the store loses all its magic.

Henry meets Molly to draw up the sales papers. He sees the Congreve Cube and asks her about it. When Molly confesses her complete faith in the store, the block flies around the store. Witnessing this, Henry faints with shock. When he awakes and questions Molly, she tells him that it was a dream. He learns that Molly made the cube fly, and he believes in her, realizing Molly can be anything if she believes in herself. The store returns to its former glory as Molly's confidence increases.

Cast

 * Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Edward Magorium, the toy store's eccentric 243-year-old owner
 * Natalie Portman as Molly Mahoney, the store manager, and former child piano prodigy, who feels "stuck" in life
 * Jason Bateman as Henry Weston (aka "Mutant"), the straight-laced, rigid accountant hired to get Mr. Magorium's paperwork in order
 * Zach Mills as Eric Applebaum, a lonely 9-year-old who comes to the store regularly and has trouble making friends
 * Ted Ludzik as Bellini, the bookbinder who was born in the shop's basement and writes Mr. Magorium's biography
 * Kiele Sanchez as Mrs. Goodman, a customer
 * Jonathan Potts as a hospital doctor
 * Steve Whitmire as Kermit the Frog in a cameo appearance

Production
Photography was from 31 March 2006 to 6 June 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The film was produced by FilmColony's Richard N. Gladstein and Gang of Two's James Garavente, and financed by Walden Media, and Mandate Pictures's Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane.

Novelization
Written by Suzanne Weyn, the novelization was published in 2007 by Scholastic Inc.

Release
The film was released in the United States and Canada 16 November 2007 by 20th Century Fox, under their "Fox-Walden" joint-venture with Walden Media. International sales were handled by Mandate Pictures.

The premiere of Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, attended by Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman, also doubled as a fundraising event with tickets having been made available to the public. Funds raised at the event were donated to the Barnardo's children's charity and other charities based in the United Kingdom.

To promote the film, the Los Angeles Times ran a scratch and sniff advertisement with a frosted cake smell.

Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray 4 March 2008 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Box office
The film grossed $9.6 million in 3,164 theaters on its opening weekend, ranking #5 at the box office. It went on to gross $32.1 million in the U.S., and a further $35.4 million in the rest of the world, which gives the film a box office total of $67.5 million.

Critical response
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 39% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 126 reviews, with an average rating of 5.20/10. The consensus reads, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium's title is much more fun than the film itself, as colorful visuals and talented players can't make up for a bland story." On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 26 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone declared the film the year's Worst Family Film on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote: "This isn't quite the over-the-top fantasy you'd like it to be, but it's a charming enough little movie, and probably the younger you are, the more charming." In recognition of the fact that it was "aimed directly at very young children", William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer observed its "unforced and exceedingly gentle humor, its imaginative but never-quite-excessive production design and its ingratiating and surprisingly detailed performances – especially by Portman and Bateman – gradually break down one's cynical defenses".

Writer-director Zach Helm later disowned the film, calling it "a trainwreck", after the film was referenced in an episode of the AMC drama Breaking Bad.

Awards
For his performance in the film, Zach Mills was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor.

The film has won two awards: the Heartland Film Festival Truly Moving Pictures award; and the Dove Foundation Seal of Approval, whose presenters felt it was "a delightful family film". Shawn Edwards of Fox called it "the most magical film of the year".

Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 4 March 2008 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the U.S.

Music
The score was composed by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman, and was released 13 November 2007. The album includes the song, "Love the World You Find", performed by the Flaming Lips.

In popular culture
In the penultimate episode of the hit AMC series, Breaking Bad (Season 5, Episode 15; "Granite State"), Walter White's off-grid New Hampshire residence contains only two DVDs, both of which are Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

In the Season 1, Episode 7, of the HBO Max series Close Enough, a flashback scene in which Josh and Emily's first date shows Josh explaining to Emily why he feels the Academy Award for Best Picture might go to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.