The Call of the Wild(2020)

20th Century Studios

PG
Rated PG for some violence, peril, thematic elements and mild language
1h 40m

Release Date: Feb 21, 2020 | Wide

63%
89%
A-
6.7

A sled dog struggles for survival in the wilds of the Yukon.

Releases

Original Release | Feb 21, 2020

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$24,791,624
Total US & Canada:
$62,342,368
Total International
$48,824,301
Total Worldwide:
$111,166,669

Current Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Chris Sanders
Director

Harrison Ford
John Thornton

Omar Sy
Perrault

Cara Gee
Actor

Dan Stevens
Hal

Bradley Whitford
Judge Miller

Jean Louisa Kelly

Katie Miller

Michael Horse

Edenshaw

Karen Gillan

Mercedes

Colin Woodell

Charles

Micah Fitzgerald

Red Sweater

Heather McPhaul

Head Cook

Adam Fergus

James

Stephanie Czajkowski

Postmaster

Abraham Benrubi

Skookum Bench King

Thomas Adoue Polk

Assistant Postmaster

Raven Scott

Pastry Chef

Brad Greenquist

Skagway Dog Seller

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Surround 7.1,Auro 11.1,Dolby Digital,Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States,Canada

Language: English,French

Summaries

Plot Summary

During the late 19th century Gold Rush, Buck, a large, gentle St. Bernard/Scotch Collie, lives contentedly with his master, Judge Miller (Bradley Whitford) in Santa Clara, California. One night, Buck is abducted (to be sold into slavery) and shipped to the Yukon (Alaska) aboard a freighter. During the voyage, a crew member ill-treats him (by beating and starving him). After arriving, Buck returns a dropped harmonica to a man named John Thornton (Harrison Ford), moments before being sold to Perrault (Omar Sy) and his assistant, Francoise (Cara Gee). They use a dog sled to deliver mail across the Yukon. Perrault hopes to make the long trek to the mail depot before the deadline. Buck is introduced to the other dogs, including the vicious pack leader, a Husky named Spitz.Throughout their travels, Buck gains the loyalty and trust of Francoise (by saving her life when she falls through an ice sheet) and the other sled dogs, antagonizing Spitz. Buck begins experiencing ancestral spiritual visions: a black wolf that acts as his guide throughout their travels. One night, Buck catches & then releases a rabbit. Spitz kills it, then attacks Buck to assert his dominance. Buck pins him down, displacing Spitz as pack leader, who disappears into the wild. Perrault grudgingly makes Buck the lead when no other dog assumes the position. Buck's speed and strength allow the sled to arrive to deposit the mail on time. There, Thornton hands over a letter he has written to his former wife expressing his feeling about their dead son. When Perrault returns, he learns the mail route is being replaced by the telegraph, forcing him to sell the dogs. Hal (Dan Stevens), a corrupt wealthy man, buys the pack, working them to exhaustion carrying a heavy load in weather unsuitable for sledding.The exhausted dogs stop to rest before Hal can force them to cross an unstable frozen lake. When Buck refuses to move, Hal threatens to shoot him. Thornton appears and rescues Buck while Hal forces the other sled dogs to cross the lake. Under Thornton's care, Buck recovers. Later, at a bar, Thornton is attacked by Hal, who reveals the dogs abandoned him. Witnessing the scene, Buck attacks Hal. Buck and Thornton then travel beyond the Yukon map where they can freely live in the wild. They come across an abandoned cabin in an open valley and settle in. Meanwhile, Hal relentlessly hunts them, believing Thornton is hiding gold.In the open wilderness, Thornton and Buck bond over their daily activities, primarily fishing and gold panning. Throughout their time together, Buck is drawn to a female white wolf. Going back and forth between Thornton and the white wolf, Buck is conflicted by his domesticated life with Thornton and his place with the wolf pack that the female belongs to. Thornton believes it is time to return home and tells Buck he is leaving in the morning, and to come and say good-bye. Buck heads into the forest and sleeps beside the white wolf, clearly conflicted. Hal subsequently finds and mortally shoots Thornton. Buck returns and kills Hal, pushing him into the cabin, which has caught on fire. Thornton, dying, wants Buck to live for himself. He embraces him and reassures him with his final words: "It's okay, boy. You're home." The next morning, Buck returns to the wilderness. There, he mates and has offspring with the white wolf and becomes the pack leader, fully embracing the call of the wild.

Storyline

The Call of the Wild is a vibrant story of Buck, a big and kindhearted dog, a crossbreed between a St. Bernard and a Scotch shepherd whose carefree life of leisure was suddenly upset when he was stolen from his home in Santa Clara County, California and deported up north, to be sold in Skagway, Alaska, and taken further north, to Dawson City, Yukon, during the late 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. As a newcomer to the dog team delivery service - and not before long their front-runner - Buck, a dog like no other, who had been spoiled, and who had suffered, but he could not be broken, is having the time of his life. Forced to fight to survive, eventually taken by his last owner, John Thornton, to proximity of the Arctic Circle, somewhere between Yukon and Alaska, he progressively depends on his primal instincts, sheds the comforts of civilization and responds to "the call of the wild", as master of his own. — Davor Blazevic 1959 As the great Klondike Gold Rush is attracting both ambitious treasure hunters and bold adventurers to the unforgiving territories of Canada's late-1890s Yukon, Buck, a pampered St. Bernard-Scotch Collie dog, finds himself without a master in a frozen new world. But, there, in the corner of the Earth, the gentle canine ends up as the newest member of kindly mail carrier Perrault's seasoned team of sled dogs, and after a succession of owners, Buck crosses paths with the grizzled recluse, John Thornton. Now, the adventure of a lifetime commences, as man and beast alike embark on an exciting journey of redemption and freedom into Yukon's uncharted subarctic wilderness. Will Buck answer the call of the wild and finally find his place in the world? — Nick Riganas Jack London's classic story from 1903 about Buck, a dog kidnapped from his home in California and taken to the Yukon where he is mistreated until a prospector discovers him and relates to his situation. Although the two are bonded, Buck yearns to run free with the wild dogs in the wilderness. — andrewpdresden Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life gets turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Alaskan Yukon in the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail-delivery dog sled team, Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime as he ultimately finds his true place in the world. — yusufpiskin 2 more All