A widowed science-fiction writer considers adopting a six-year-old outcast who thinks he's an alien from Mars.A widowed science-fiction writer considers adopting a six-year-old outcast who thinks he's an alien from Mars.A widowed science-fiction writer considers adopting a six-year-old outcast who thinks he's an alien from Mars.
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDavid Gerrold, the author of the book, adopted a son as an openly-gay man. In his novella, the sexuality of the protagonist is not disclosed, but in his novel, he is identified as gay. In the film adaptation, the protagonist is straight (with a female love interest), causing some criticism from members of the gay community.
- GoofsWhen David receives the letter from child services, the envelope not only has six digits in the zip code instead of five, the state is listed as "CS", which does not exist. However, an early scene includes a tight shot of the front license plate of David's car, which says at the top "COASTAL STATE" where a real license plate would say "OREGON" or whatever. The production designers invented a state, a postal abbreviation (CS), and a ZIP code; bravo for this attention to detail and imagination!
- Quotes
David: Dennis, can I just say one last thing about Mars? - which may be strange coming from a Science-Fiction writer - But right now, you and me here, put together entirely of atoms, sitting on this round rock with a core of liquid iron, held down by this force that seems to trouble you, called gravity, all the while spinning around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour and whizzing through the milkyway at 600,000 miles an hour in a universe that very well may be chasing its own tail at the speed of light; And admist all this frantic activity, fully cognisant of our own eminent demise - which is our own pretty way of saying we all know we're gonna die - We reach out to one another. Sometimes for the sake of entity, sometimes for reasons you're not old enough to understand yet, but a lot of the time we just reach out and expect nothing in return. Isn't that strange? Isn't that weird? Isn't that weird enough? The heck do ya need to be from Mars for?
- Crazy creditsThe end credits include the following: "This film was inspired by actual events; however, the characters and events have been fictionalized."
The film jumps right into things and doesn't really take a lot of pit stops. It charges forward with the story and I think that is the thing I appreciated the most about it. We are not weighted down with too much subplot and extraneous emotional scenes. We are given exactly what we need to form a connection with all the characters.
The film is changed some from the book that it is based on. Mainly that the lead character played by John Cusack is a widower rather than homosexual. In the end, it really doesn't matter the sexuality of the Cusack character, the connection he creates with his son is fantastic to watch develop. They are the same, though different in that one is grounded in reality and the other up in Mars some where. Both are individuals in a world that doesn't want different, the want everyone to do exactly as they are expected to.
Loved the film, will be a definite purchase come DVD time.
- How long is Martian Child?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $27,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $7,500,310
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,650,000
- Nov 4, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $9,411,042
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1