Tagline: What if your daughter’s imagination… Was the secret to your success?
Like many busy professionals, Evan Danielson (Eddie Murphy) is so focused on his career that quality time with his young daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi), has fallen by the wayside. When an important promotion is suddenly within reach, stressed-out Evan starts to fall apart while trying to fend off his company rival (Thomas Haden Church). But when little Olivia introduces him to the inhabitants of her imaginary land, Evan rediscovers his inner child and finds the answers to all his problems.
Before he found himself standing in front of his friends’ house yelling for his daughter’s purple security blanket in the middle of the night, Evan Danielson (Eddie Murphy) was just your average financial wizard – focused, successful and driven. But when his daughter introduced him to the princesses and their queen living in her imaginary world, Evan followed her on a hilarious adventure that forced him to reexamine the value of their relationship and redefine his meaning of success.
In Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies’ family comedy “Imagine That,” Evan and his seven-year-old daughter Olivia (Yara Shahidi) find it impossible to connect. He’s too distracted by his career demands to understand the value of quality father-daughter time and she has all but given up on her Daddy. When the promotion of a lifetime is suddenly within his reach, Evan finds himself torn between his parental responsibilities and staving off his company rival, the annoyingly pseudo-mystical Johnny Whitefeather. Evan has always been a man in complete control, but when he really starts to lose it, Olivia steps in with her own bit of advice – winning stock tips courtesy of the princesses and queen who she visits through her security blanket – her “Goo-Gaa.”
With Olivia and her imaginary friends leading the way, Evan is suddenly plunged into a world of dragons and other magical creatures – most of whom prove to be much less dangerous than some of his co-workers. He finds himself singing and dancing in public, eating ketchup-and-mustard-covered pancakes, and laughing with Olivia well into the night – and prospering in his career at the same time. Evan’s growing need to climb even higher on the corporate ladder leads him to do some insanely childish things. It also makes him lose track of what is most valuable in his life. In the end, he learns that true success cannot be found in a stock portfolio.
Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies Present a di Bonaventura Pictures Production “Imagine That” starring Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Yara Shahidi, Nicole Ari Parker, Ronny Cox and Martin Sheen. Karey Kirkpatrick directs the film from a screenplay written by Ed Solomon & Chris Matheson. The film is produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ed Solomon. Ric Kidney is the executive producer. The director of photography is John Lindley, ASC. The production designer is William Arnold. The film editor is David Moritz. The costume designer is Ruth E. Carter. The music is by Mark Mancina. The film has been rated PG for some mild language and brief questionable behavior.
Read the Full Production Notes
Imagine That
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Yara Shahidi, Nicole Ari Parker, James Patrick Stuart, Vanessa Williams, Larramie Doc Shaw
Directed by: Karey Kirkpatrick
Screenplay by: Ed Solomon, Chris Matheson
Release Date: June 12th, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG for some mild language and brief questionable behavior.
Studio: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $16,123,323 (89.2%)
Foreign: $1,958,089 (10.8%)
Total: $18,081,412 (Worldwide)