Critics praised its ensemble cast, cinematography, and soundtrack, but criticized its pacing, runtime, character beats, and were mixed on Goddard’s screenplay. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $31.9 million against a $32 million budget.

The film premiered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on September 22, 2018, and released on October 12 in the United States. During post-production, editing was completed by Lisa Lassek and the musical score was composed by Michael Giacchino.īad Times at the El Royale 's marketing efforts included posters, trailers, and television advertisements, stylized to evoke nostalgia of the noir genre and to make the movie stand out against other films in theaters. Additional filming took place in the United States. The El Royale hotel was built entirely on a studio set in Burnaby, Canada, under the supervision of production designer Martin Whist, who had envisioned designing a perfectly symmetrical hotel. Principal photography started in January 2018 with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey and finished in April. After telling major studios to avoid buying the script if they could not buy the licenses for each piece of music, he sold it to 20th Century Fox in March 2017.

Goddard began writing the spec script for the film in November 2016, and compiled a list of songs into his screenplay. The film explores themes on morality, faith, and redemption, with the state border and other visual elements symbolizing the concept of right and wrong. The plot centers on six strangers and an employee at the El Royale, a hotel located along the California– Nevada border, who arrive with dark personal secrets that eventually intersect on a fateful night in the late 1960s. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, and Chris Hemsworth. Bad Times at the El Royale is a 2018 American neo-noir hyperlink thriller film written, directed, and produced by Drew Goddard.

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