One Night with the King - Wikipedia One Night with the King From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search One Night with the King Theatrical release poster Directed by Michael O. Sajbel Produced by Stephan Blinn Richard J. Cook Laurie Crouch Matthew Crouch Lawrence Mortorff Screenplay by Stephan Blinn Based on Hadassah: One Night with the King by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen Starring Tiffany Dupont Luke Goss John Rhys-Davies John Noble Tommy "Tiny" Lister James Callis Jonah Lotan Peter O'Toole Omar Sharif Music by J. A. C. Redford Cinematography Steven Bernstein Edited by Gabriella Cristiani Stephan Blinn Production company Gener8Xion Entertainment Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date October 13, 2006 (2006-10-13) Running time 123 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $20 million Box office $13.7 million One Night with the King is a 2006 American historical epic film produced by Matt Crouch and Laurie Crouch of Gener8Xion Entertainment, directed by Michael O. Sajbel, and starring Peter O'Toole, Tiffany Dupont, John Rhys-Davies and Luke Goss. The screenplay by Stephan Blinn is based on Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen's novel Hadassah: One Night with the King and Nathaniel Weinreb's novel Esther (the latter uncredited, but the film closely follows Weinreb's book in plot, including direct quotes and events in the novel)[citation needed], One Night with the King is a dramatization of the Biblical story of Esther, who risked her life by approaching the King of Persia to request that he save the Jewish people. Despite being a critical and commercial failure, it received a 2007 CAMIE Award for Goss' portrayal of King Xerxes.[1] Contents 1 Plot 2 Modification 3 Production and sales 4 Cast 5 Production 5.1 Promotion 6 Reception 6.1 Box office 6.2 Critical response 7 Classification 8 See also 9 References 10 External links Plot[edit] The movie is set in Susa, Persia (modern-day Iran). King Xerxes holds a great feast for all the people to attend. Hadassah (the main protagonist) longs to go to Jerusalem to see the Holy Land and prepares to leave with the caravan along with her friend, Jesse. They stop by the King's feast before he goes marching to war to avenge his father's death. Hadassah and Jesse witness the King summoning Queen Vashti. Queen Vashti was opposed to the war, desiring King Xerxes to enhance his kingdom instead. She holds her own feast in protest against the war. When the king summons her to his own feast, she refuses to come, stating, "I am queen, and I will not lower my dignity. Or shame my crown by wearing it before your drunk and thinly veiled war council". Because of this, King Xerxes is advised to banish her and select a more worthy queen. All beautiful virgin women in the stronghold of Susa are brought in so Xerxes can leave behind a queen to keep the kingdom unified. Under the command of her foster-father, "Uncle Mordecai" (who was one of the king's scribes and worked in the palace), Hadassah does not reveal her nationality or family and changes her name to "Esther" (after the Babylonian goddess Ishtar). She is taken in with the rest of the selected women and given cosmetics, perfumes, and treatments under the care of Hegai, the king's royal eunuch. Through her quick wit, intelligence, and integrity, she becomes Hegai's favorite contestant. On their night with the king, each female slave is allowed to bring along whatever she wishes from the harem. She goes in the evening and returns in the morning to a second harem to another royal eunuch who is custodian to the concubines. She will not be able to return to the king unless she pleases him and he summons her by name. During their preparation, Hegai discovers Esther can read and listens to her reading to the other contestants. He admires her bravery. Late into the night, he brings her to King Xerxes to read to him. She starts reading from the assigned scroll and then begins telling the love story of Jacob and Rachel (from the Old Testament). He is amused and intrigued and dismisses her, saying she shall read to him again. From this interaction, Esther falls in love with the King. When it is Esther's turn for her 'one night with the king', she only wears what Hegai advises. She wins the king's favor by revealing her heart to him. He chooses her and crowns her queen. Simultaneously, Haman the Agagite is promoted to the highest-ranking official. He has all the king's servants at the royal gate to kneel before him. Mordecai refuses, declaring he will only kneel before God and the king. He announces himself before Haman to be a son of Abraham, a Jew. Haman, filled with vengeance and hatred, seeks to destroy Mordecai and all his people because centuries earlier, Jews persecuted his forefathers. Esther discovers the plot and breaks protocol by going before the king unsummoned, risking her life to plead for her people. The king lowers his scepter to her and spares her life out of his love for her. She invites the king and Haman to a banquet and there reveals her nationality and Haman's plot to kill the Jews. The king, overwhelmed by her revelation, leaves the banquet. Haman then assaults Esther. The king saves her and, in his fury, commands Haman be hanged on the gallows he had erected to hang Mordecai for revenge. After Haman is taken away, the king goes to Esther's side. Esther asks, "What made you come back"? And the king responds with, "I saw the stars". Then King Xerxes kisses Esther, with the camera pulling away from the small temple. The ending shows Mordecai being made a Prince of Persia, and issuing a royal decree in his own name, with flashbacks of Esther being made Queen, and the crowd of Jews cheering in the streets. The last scenes show the small temple and Mordecai saying, "Thus dictated, I order this decree sent out under the great seal of Mordecai, Prince of Persia, a Jew". Modification[edit] The film generally adheres to the main plot of the Biblical version. However, the film adds stylistic elements not present in the Biblical story, as well as depicting several non-Biblical minor characters. The story presents many facets that could have happened rather than strictly sticking to Biblical texts. For example, the build-up to the Biblical story's climax focuses mainly on Haman and his plot to destroy the Jews, whereas Esther is hardly featured until chapter 6. In the film, Esther is featured prominently throughout, and it is Haman who receives very little screen-time until the last third of the film, although his presence is felt throughout.[citation needed] Production and sales[edit] The movie's Premiere Night took place at Mann Bruins Theater in Los Angeles, California. The movie, filmed entirely in the state of Rajasthan, India, was released in theaters on October 13, 2006. During its opening weekend, it earned $4,120,497 in theaters. By the end of its theatrical run, the film had earned $13,395,961 domestically,[2] and $13,728,450 worldwide. Cast[edit] Tiffany Dupont as Hadassah/Esther, the main protagonist. Luke Goss as King Xerxes I of Persia, Esther's love interest and insecure in his new position as king and therefore almost submits to the influence of the Princes of the Face. John Rhys-Davies as Mordecai, Esther's uncle and father figure. Omar Sharif as Prince Memucan, one of the few truly loyal Princes of the Face. Tommy Lister, Jr. as Hegai, the Royal Eunuch, the harem's bodyguard. Jonah Lotan as Jesse, Esther's close friend who becomes a Eunuch in the Persian palace. John Noble as Prince Admatha, a scheming Prince of the Face who plots to become king himself. James Callis as Haman, the Agagite, the film's main antagonist, Haman plans to use his position of power to kill the Jewish inhabitants of Persia. Scenes including Haman and his henchmen in the film make use of imagery associated with Nazism, including swastika-like symbols and torchlit nighttime rallies. Peter O'Toole as Prophet Samuel Denzil Smith as Prince Carshena Jyoti Dogra as Queen of Persia Vashti Tom Alter as King Saul of Israel Aditya Bal as Amalekite King Agag Dilshad Patel as Hannah Nimrat Kaur as Sarah Asif Basra as Cameo Role Production[edit] Premiere Night at Mann Bruins Theater in L.A. California The movie was filmed entirely in the state of Rajasthan, India.[3] Jeannie Tenney wrote and sang "One Night with the King", which can be heard during the final credits. She was a co-author with her husband, Tommy Tenney (also a producer of the film), of the book upon which the film is based. Promotion[edit] The Genius Club[4] from writer/director Tim Chey[5] was also released theatrically in 2006. The film's trailers showed before One Night With The King.[verification needed] Reception[edit] Box office[edit] One Night with the King was released to theaters on October 13, 2006. During its opening weekend, it earned $4,120,497 in theaters. By the end of its theatrical run, the film had received $13,395,961 domestically, with $13,728,450 worldwide.[6] Subsequent DVD sales were strong at $20,688,299, more than making up for production costs.[7] The success of this film encouraged Fox studio executives to approve production of the even more ambitious Exodus: Gods And Kings project.[8] Critical response[edit] One Night with the King received a generally negative reception, garnering a 19% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 reviews, with an average of 4.4 out of 10.[9] V.A. Musetto of the New York Post, noting that, "The cinematography and sets look great, but the script is a bummer. It's overlong, overwrought and overblown."[10] The film was awarded four Doves by The Dove Foundation and received the Dove Family-Approved Seal.[11] MovieGuide has also reviewed the film fairly favourably, giving it 3 out of 4 stars, saying that "despite some minor flaws, [it] brings back the biblical epic in an entertaining, inspiring way."[12] The movie has also been endorsed by the American Bible Society.[13] Classification[edit] The British Board of Film Classification granted this motion picture a PG certificate, noting that it contained "images of moderate battle violence".[14] In the US, One Night With The King is also rated PG by the MPAA for violence, some sensuality and thematic elements.[15] See also[edit] Esther and the King (1960 film) Esther (1999 film) The Book of Esther (2013 film) List of historical drama films Book of Esther Esther References[edit] ^ Character and Morality in Entertainment, verified 2007-08-20. ^ https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/One-Night-with-the-King#tab=box-office ^ Treasure Valley Christian News, by Ken Malgren, Boise, Idaho ^ Thegeniusclubmovie.com ^ Timchey.com ^ "One Night with the King". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 27, 2009. ^ https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/One-Night-with-the-King#tab=video-sales ^ https://deadline.com/2014/10/fox-chief-on-20ths-biblical-oscar-contender-you-dont-see-movies-on-this-scale-anymore-844493/ ^ "One Night With The King (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 27, 2009. ^ Musetto, V.A. (October 22, 2006). "ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING". New York Post. Archived from the original on October 22, 2006. Retrieved May 22, 2020. ^ "One Night with the King". The Dove Foundation. Retrieved May 27, 2009. ^ One Night with the King - MovieGuide Review ^ Mathews, Jack; Elizabeth Weitzman (October 13, 2006). "King-Size Story". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 27, 2009. ^ "PRINCESS OF PERSIA". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2020-05-22. ^ "Search". FilmRatings.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22. External links[edit] One Night with the King One Night with the King on IMDb One Night with the King at the TCM Movie Database One Night With the King at Rotten Tomatoes One Night with the King at Box Office Mojo One Night with the King at AllMovie Grace-Centered Magazine Christian Movie Review One Night With the King MovieGuide Review Financial data from Yahoo! Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=One_Night_with_the_King&oldid=1001428948" Categories: 2006 films English-language films Cultural depictions of Esther Cultural depictions of Xerxes I Films set in ancient Persia Religious epic films American independent films Films about Jews and Judaism Films based on the Hebrew Bible Films set in the 5th century BC Films shot in Rajasthan American films Films based on American novels Films based on adaptations Foreign films shot in India Hidden categories: Template film date with 1 release date All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2018 Articles with unsourced statements from April 2015 All pages needing factual verification Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from July 2010 Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikiquote Languages Deutsch فارسی Français 한국어 Hrvatski Italiano עברית Nederlands Русский Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 19 January 2021, at 17:05 (UTC). 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