identity disorder, with the beaver taking him over. Part of Walter's personality realizes what he has put his family through and wants to get rid of the beaver to get back together with his family, but the beaver 'resists'. Walter finally takes the puppet out of his life by cutting off his arm at the elbow with a circular saw. After surgery, he is equipped with a prosthetic hand and is placed in a psychiatric hospital. Norah reconnects with Porter. She starts reading the speech he wrote, but stops and admits publicly that she did not write it herself. She switches to explaining the value of truth and the trauma caused to her by her brother's death some years previously. Porter realizes the value of his father and reunites with him at the hospital. Walter Black becomes himself again and returns to a normal life. Cast Mel Gibson as Walter Black, a depressed and troubled husband/The Beaver, a hand puppet found in the trash. Jodie Foster as Meredith Black, Walter's wife Anton Yelchin as Porter Black, the teenage son of Walter and Meredith who lobbies his mother to get a divorce Jennifer Lawrence as Norah, Porter's love interest with a secret Riley Thomas Stewart as Henry Black, the younger son of Walter and Meredith Black Zachary Booth as Jared Cherry Jones as Morgan Newell, vice president of Walter's toy company Jeff Corbett as volunteer dad Matt Lauer as himself Production Prior to production, the screenplay for The Beaver topped The Black List in 2008. On a budget of $21 million, The Beaver was filmed in Westchester County, New York and New York City. A portion of the movie was filmed at White Plains Senior High School in White Plains, New York. Filming was completed in November 2009. Before Gibson was hired, Steve Carell and Jim Carrey were both signed on to star at different stages of production. Release The Beaver had its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival on , 2011, where the Los Angeles Times reported that it was given "a relatively warm embrace". The film had a limited release in on , 2011. Reception Box office Over its opening weekend, the film grossed $107,577. Entertainment Weekly and several media outlets reported that the film's box office performance was a "flop" with a haul of only $4,890 per theater against its production budget of $21 million