Men in Black: International

Men in Black: International (stylized as MIB: International in promotional material) is a 2019 American science fiction film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. It is a spin-off of the Men in Black film series, which is loosely based on the Malibu/Marvel comic book series of the same name by Lowell Cunningham. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson, Rafe Spall, Laurent and Larry Bourgeois, and Liam Neeson. Emma Thompson reprises her role from the third film, while Tim Blaney returns to voice Frank the Pug from the first two installments.

Talks of a fourth Men in Black film began after the release of Men in Black 3 in 2012. In February 2018, Hemsworth signed on to lead a spin-off while Gray was hired to direct, and Thompson joined the cast the following month. Filming took place in New York City, Morocco, Italy, and London from July to October 2018.

Men in Black: International was theatrically released in the United States on June 14, 2019 by Sony Pictures Releasing, under its Columbia Pictures label. The film was a box office disappointment and received negative reviews from critics, who criticized the "lackluster action and forgettable plot" and considered it to be the worst of the series, although the chemistry between Hemsworth and Thompson was praised.

Plot
In 2016, Agents H and High T of the Men in Black travel to Paris to stop an invasion of the Hive—a parasitic race who invade planets by merging with the DNA of the conquered species—at the Eiffel Tower using a wormhole included in the original migration to Earth. Twenty years earlier in 1996, Brooklyn, Molly Wright, witnesses her parents being neuralyzed by agents of Men in Black while she helps an alien escape, avoiding neuralyzation herself. Twenty-three years later, in 2019, as Molly attempts to gain employment to the secret organization through the CIA and FBI, they are confused and assume she is delusional when she spoke about aliens. Molly finally catches a break and has tracked down an alien landing and follows MIB agents to MIB headquarters in New York City. Caught entering the agency and almost neuralyzed, Molly makes an impression on Agent O, arguing that she has proven her skills and has no life outside her search for the agency and the fact that she found them. She is then awarded probationary agent status as "Agent M" and assigned to the organization's London branch.

There, M meets High T, head of the London branch, and Agent H. M learns about H and T's past; H has since developed a God complex, unconcerned with his duties and only keeping his job due to High T covering for him. M arranges for herself to be assigned to assist H in his meeting with Vungus the Ugly, his close friend, and alien royalty. During their night out with Vungus, they are accosted by mysterious alien twins able to manifest as pure energy. These energy aliens fatally injure Vungus; before he dies, he hands M a crystal stating H has changed since they last met, and he can't be trusted anymore. After being placed in front of High T and almost neuralyzed for allowing Vungus to be assassinated, M points out that few people knew Vungus's location, and that he was likely betrayed by one of the agents present when High T assigned H to guard him. Nervous at the possibility of a mole within MIB, High T assigns Agents H and M to conduct an investigation while C is placed on desk duty, with evidence suggesting that the alien energy twins had DNA traces of the Hive.

H convinces M to join him in following a lead to Marrakesh. There they discover a small being who is the last survivor of a small group of aliens attacked by the energy twins; with his queen killed, he pledges loyalty to M, who names him "Pawny." Walking in the streets, they discover agents were sent to arrest M & H, coordinated by C, who was given recovered video footage of Vungus passing the crystal to M and believes she is the traitor. With the aid of alien contacts Nasr and Bassam, H escapes with M and Pawny on a rocket-powered bike where they crash and land in the desert. There they learn that Vungus's crystal is an ultimate weapon powered by a compressed blue giant star. As they attempt to repair the damaged bike, Bassam (hidden in a water canteen) steals the weapon and takes it to Riza Stavros, an intergalactic alien arms dealer, and H's ex-girlfriend. After traveling to Riza's island fortress near Naples, the trio attempts to infiltrate the base but is caught by Riza and Luca Brasi, her second-in-command. M realizes Luca is the now-adult alien she rescued as a child, after saying the line he told her before disappearing, he returns the favor by allowing them to leave with the weapon while he is keeping Riza contained. The three are then cornered by the energy twins demanding the crystal for the Hive, as they prepare to attack a group of agents, including High T, emerge from the tree line and destroy them.

Although the case appears solved, H and M review the evidence and realize that the energy twins' phrases of doing anything to save their planet suggests they required the weapon to use not as their allies but against the Hive, especially when the only evidence of Hive DNA was provided by High T. They discover High T has deleted the case file and the weapon is missing from evidence. C also realizes High T's deception and informs H and M that High T is in Paris. As they travel to the wormhole, M's questioning of H's memory of the Hive's defeat reveals he was neuralyzed. High T reveals himself as the converted mole of the Hive and activates a wormhole to draw them to Earth. However, H is able to draw out High T's true self long enough for T to relinquish the ultimate weapon, allowing M to acquire and activate it. High T, the wormhole, and the Hive infestation trying to reach Earth are destroyed.

With the truth and tragedy of High T's assimilation into a Hive spy exposed, Agent O joins H and M in Paris, where she grants M full agent status in New York and appoints H probationary head of MIB's London branch. Before M leaves for New York, she takes one last road trip with H back to London, where she has 'gifted' Pawny to H to keep an eye on him.

Cast

 * Chris Hemsworth as Henry / Agent H, a top agent in the MIB UK branch
 * Tessa Thompson as Molly Wright / Agent M, a rookie MIB recruit assigned to the UK branch
 * Mandeiya Flory as Young Molly
 * Liam Neeson as High T, the head of the MIB UK branch
 * Kumail Nanjiani as Pawny (voice) a tiny alien warrior that H and M befriend
 * Rafe Spall as Agent C, an MIB agent in the UK branch who is skeptical of H's past
 * Rebecca Ferguson as Riza Stavros, an alien intergalactic arms dealer and H's ex-girlfriend
 * Laurent and Larry Bourgeois as the Twins, a shape-shifting alien duo seeking a dangerous artifact
 * Larry Bourgeois also portrays the human that the Twins kill and base their appearance on
 * Emma Thompson as Agent O, the head of the MIB who operates in the US
 * Kayvan Novak as Vungus the Ugly, a member of an alien royal family and friend of H
 * Kayvan Novak also portrays Nasr and voices Bassam
 * Tim Blaney as Frank the Pug (voice)
 * Spencer Wilding as Luca Brasi
 * Marcy Harriell and Inny Clemons cameo as Molly's parents in a flashback
 * Thom Fountain and Drew Massey as the Worm Guys (voices) worm-like aliens that work for MIB

Production
In February 2018, it was reported that Chris Hemsworth would star in the film, set to be directed by F. Gary Gray. The following month, Tessa Thompson joined the cast. In May 2018, it was reported that Liam Neeson was in talks to star in the film as the head of the UK branch of the agency. The film was written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway and produced by Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes. In June 2018, Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall, and Les Twins (Laurent and Larry Bourgeois) were added to the cast. Danny Elfman, who scored the first three Men in Black films, returned to compose the score for the film alongside Chris Bacon. Steven Spielberg executive produced, as he did for the first three MIB entries, along with Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed all the previous films. Principal photography on the film began on July 9, 2018, at Leavesden Studios and on location in London, and continued in Marrakesh such as the Jemaa el-Fnaa and El Badi Palace, Ischia and the Aragonese Castle, and New York City. Emma Thompson was announced as reprising her role as Agent O in the film later that month. In August 2018, Rebecca Ferguson joined the cast of the film. On October 17, Hemsworth confirmed that filming had wrapped.

Visual effects for the film were provided by Double Negative, and supervised by Alessandro Ongaro with the help of Rodeo FX, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Method Studios.

The film went through a troubled production due to frequent clashes between director Gray and producer Parkes, which started when the executive overseeing the project, Sony's executive vice president of production David Beaubaire, exited the studio in the summer of 2018, and was not replaced. An early draft of the script, which Sony initially praised, and which received the attention of stars Hemsworth and Thompson, had an edgier tone than the finished film; it featured sociopolitical commentary on the current debate surrounding immigration. The main antagonists were to be an alien music group inspired by the Beatles, with the four members merging into one villain during the climax. Parkes, who had final cut on the film, had a heavy hand in overseeing rewrites during pre-production and filming. Parkes' new script pages stripped away the early draft's modern sensibilities, and were newly sent, daily, to Hemsworth and Thompson, who were both so confused that they hired their own dialogue writers. Parkes not only dictated rewrites but stepped in on directing duties, although no Directors Guild of America rules were said to have been violated. Gray tried to exit the production several times but was convinced to stay by Sony. Parkes and Gray also clashed over the color-correction process during post-production. The studio tested two cuts - one put together by Gray, the other by Parkes - with the version by Parkes being chosen as the theatrical cut.

Release
The film was originally going to be released on May 17, 2019 but was pushed back from its original release date of May 17, 2019 to June 14, 2019. The film had its world premiere in New York City on June 11, 2019.

Sony spent around $120 million on prints and advertising for the film, a figure considered to be on the "lower end" for a tentpole feature. They also partnered with several companies to promote it, including Lexus, Hamilton Watches, Zaxby's, Dave & Buster's and Booking.com, for about $75 million worth of advertising.

Lexus had a partnership with Sony Pictures to use their vehicles for the film, the RC and the RX, all in their F Sport variants. The motor company also designed an alien-looking spaceship in the same body of the RC model.

Home media
The film was released on Digital HD on August 20, 2019 and on Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray and DVD on September 3, 2019 in the United States.

Box office
Men in Black: International has grossed $80 million in the United States and Canada, and $173.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $253.9 million. With a production budget of $94–110 million, and an additional $120 million spent on marketing, it was estimated that the film would have needed to gross $300 million worldwide in order to break even.

In the United States and Canada, Men in Black: International was released alongside Shaft, as well as the wide expansion of Late Night, and was projected to gross $30–40 million from 4,224 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $10.4 million on its first day, including $3.1 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $30 million, topping the weekend box office but coming in below expectations. This debut made it the first film in the series not to open above $50 million. The underwhelming opening was blamed on the dated franchise, poor critical reviews and audience anticipation for other, upcoming big releases Toy Story 4 and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The film fell 64% in its second weekend to $10.7 million, finishing fourth, and then made $6.7 million in its third weekend, finishing in sixth.

Worldwide, the film was released concurrently with the United States in 56 additional countries and was projected to gross $70–85 million, for a worldwide debut of $100–115 million. It ended up making $73.7 million overseas and $102.2 million globally, finishing first in 36 of the markets. It underperformed in Asian countries like China ($26.3 million) and South Korea ($4.9 million) due to poor word-of-mouth, similar to the U.S., although finished first in Mexico ($3.9 million), Brazil ($1.8 million), Russia ($5.1 million), the UK ($3.4 million), Australia ($2.6 million) and France ($2.5 million).

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 300 reviews, with an average rating of 4.49/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Amiable yet forgettable, MIB International grinds its stars' substantial chemistry through the gears of a franchise running low on reasons to continue." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest score of the franchise, while those at PostTrak gave it a 72% overall positive score and a 46% "definite recommend."

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it "Meh in Black, making another intensely tiresome and pointless reappearance," and gave the film 1 out of 5 stars. Peter DeBruge of Variety said that "The connection between Tessa Thompson and Hemsworth is what saves the day, not anything their characters do onscreen" and called the film itself "amusing, if uneven." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, writing: "Men in Black: International isn't bad; it's an improvement over Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black 3 (2012), sequels that even its makers may have forgotten. As a species we appear destined to revisit this basic concept and renew the hunt for fresh variations on the zingy, disarming first picture, which brought the Lowell Cunningham comics to the screen so shrewdly and well in 1997."