The film stars an ensemble cast of Will Smith, Edward Norton, Keira Knightley, Michael Peña, Naomie Harris, Jacob Latimore, Kate Winslet and Helen Mirren.
It follows Howard Inlet, a successful New York advertising executive who suffers a great tragedy, and retreats from life where he seeks answers from the universe by writing letters to Love, Time, and Death.
Receiving unexpected personal responses, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.
The trio hires private investigator Sally Price to show Howard is unfit to run the company, hoping to take control.
Whit, Claire, and Simon hire three struggling actors – Amy, Raffi, and Brigitte – to masquerade as the abstracts respectively to confront Howard about his letters.
After encountering "Love", "Time" and "Death", Howard attends a grief support group where Madeleine befriends him, she has lost her own daughter, Olivia, to cancer; which led to the end of her marriage.
Madeleine tells him that on the day Olivia died, an old woman at the hospital had told her to notice the Collateral Beauty, which she has learned to recognize as acts of selfless kindness following tragedies.
The next day, Howard attends a meeting with his company's board of directors in which footage of the incidents, with the actors digitally removed, is shown.
Howard realizes his mental state and behavior are ruining the company, so expresses his gratitude for everything his friends have done for him, promising to be there in their times of need.
On May 13, 2015, it was announced that Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara would star in the New York-set drama Collateral Beauty, to be directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by Allan Loeb.
[9] On July 15, 2015, it was announced that Jackman had exited the project due to his commitment with 20th Century Fox's Logan, and producers were eyeing Johnny Depp to star instead.
[15] On January 14, 2016, The Wrap reported that Edward Norton, Michael Peña, and Naomie Harris were cast in the film, while Rachel McAdams was in negotiations to join as well.
[2] The film was released alongside Rogue One and the wide expansion of Manchester by the Sea, and was initially expected to gross $11–13 million from 3,028 theaters in its opening weekend, on par with Smith's 2015 drama Concussion.
The website's critical consensus reads, "Well-meaning but fundamentally flawed, Collateral Beauty aims for uplift but collapses in unintentional hilarity.
[28] Vince Mancini of Uproxx criticized the film for its misleading trailers and dialogue, writing, "Edward Norton's character tells Keira Knightley's about holding his now-estranged daughter (he's a workaholic!)