New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet

No, it’s not a straight-to-video production a la Girls Gone Wild, nor is it a sequel to the 1993 Jason Priestly teen flick. Calendar Girls is a sweetly touching comedy about friendship and bravery that stands every chance of being a strong awards contender when that time of year rolls around.

The screenplay is based on a true story about 11 members of a Women’s Institute (WI) branch in Yorkshire, England who came up with an extremely novel approach to fundraising for medical research on various cancers of the blood. For the uninitiated, the various WI chapters are clubs that encourage craftmaking skills such as jam-making, flower pressing and arranging, baking, and knitting.

These middle-aged women, ranging in age from 45 to 60, posed nude for a calendar. The original goal was to raise 1,000 pounds, but the final result was an astonishing 500,000 pounds in profit by the time it was all said and done. Humorously, each individual month’s pose shows one of the women doing some sort of traditional WI activity, and for purposes of the movie, at least, props will tastefully hide the naughty bits of our heroines. As is obvious from the amazing sales of the calendar, it was a huge hit, which the movie will touch on by sending the WI ladies to L.A. for an appearance on The Tonight Show.

A strong cast includes Helen Mirren and Julie Walters along with a plethora of Brit actors from stage and screen. The story is one that, while unique and unexpected, audiences should find charming and heartwarming. With support from a major studio in Touchstone, Calendar Girls is a film that has a lot of potential to be a big surprise. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

Vital statistics for Calendar Girls Main Cast Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Penelope Wilton Supporting Cast Annette Crosbie, Philip Glenister, Celia Imrie, John-Paul Macleod Director Nigel Cole Screenwriter Juliette Towhidi, Tim Firth Distributor Touchstone Trailer Click Here for Trailer Rating PG-13 Running Time 108 minutes Screen Count 24 Awards Awards page for Calendar Girls Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture

Comparison films for Calendar Girls
Title	Date	Opening	Adjusted Opening	Screens	PSA	Adj PSA	Total BO	Adjusted Total	Mult
Gosford Park	1/18/02	3.40	3.53	658	5161.00	5161.0	41.30	42.93	9.57
Full Monty, The	9/19/97	3.02	3.96	650	4646.00	5870.8	45.95	60.36	12.82
Billy Elliot	11/10/00	2.60	2.90	494	5269.00	5669.8	21.99	24.60	7.23