What Happened to Collateral?

if he and The Insider are agreed upon as Michael man's alltime best films what is the director's most underrated thief the keep Manhunter nah there's only one acceptable answer 2004's criminally overlooked nocturnal Neo Noir collateral featuring a rare villainous turn by Tom Cruz and a restrained Oscar nominated performance by Jamie Fox the LA Crime Story was the first film in history to utilize the Viper film streen highdefinition camera the digital format that David Fincher would adopt for use on zodiac and Benjamin Button Believe It or Not collateral was conceived by screenwriter Stuart batty when he was just 17 years old after taking a taxi home from an airport in Sydney before man Cruz and fox boarded the project the movie was to be directed by city of gods Fernando marz and Russell Crow was attached to play the swaave calculated Hitman Vincent if it weren't for Crow's interest man possibly never would have landed in the director's chair remember man and Crow had made The Insider a few years earlier and were actively looking to reunite for this and a whole lot more it's time to discover what the [ __ ] happed happened to this movie as alluded to Collateral was born from an idea by 17-year-old Australian scribe Stuart batty on roote from the Sydney airport baty imagined what it would be like if a homicidal lunatic was a passenger in the back seat casually exchanging pleasantries with a cab driver and developing a relationship of trust at the time the writer wrote a two-page treatment titled the last Domino and began flushing out a screenplay the original story involved a black female cop witnessing an assassination and a romance formed between a taxi driver and his librarian lover very little of this original concept has been retained in the finished film including the original New York setting and a subplot involving Russian monsters after finishing the script B ran into his UCLA classmate Julie Richardson while waiting tables in La Richardson had risen as a producer working for Frank darabant and Chuck Russell and was searching for lowbudget genre movies to make at HBO B passed the script for the last Domino to Richardson who pitched the project to darabant after meeting with the writer darabant agreed to make the movie for Edge City however after working on two additional drafts of the script including one written by Darabont in September 2000 HBO declined to make the movie Once the project fell apart batty took a general meeting with DreamWorks Studio exec Mark haes read the script overnight and immediately made an offer when the story was set on the East Coast the quintessential New York filmmakers Martin scorsi and Spike Lee were approached to make the movie both directors were interested in the material before ultimately passing when scorsi and Lee passed Steven Spielberg Mimi leader and Janos Kaminsky were briefly considered to direct once they Departed the project Brazilian filmmaker Fernando morz was hired to direct Moray idea was to treat the story as a dark comedy that he intended to make in the style of scorsese's after hours a Kafkaesque nocturnal nightmare that's also set over one night ultimately he passed on the project due to his unwillingness to relocate from Brazil to La for 8 months once he Departed the project it lingered at DreamWorks for 3 years eventually the script found its way to Russell Crowe who expressed interest in playing Vincent Crow recruited his old buddy Michael man to direct once he came aboard man changed the location from New York to LA unfortunately production delays on the ill- fated Australian movie eucalyptus resulted in Crow's unavailability and man approached Tom Cruz to play Vincent instead before crw agreed to Star Edward Norton was offered to play both roles but turned them down at the time man also cast Adam Sandler to play Max the taxi driver Sandler agreed but had to bow out due to his commitments to Jim Brooks's Spanglish once Sandler left Jamie Fox was cast as Max after working with man on Ali just a few years prior although batty insisted on DreamWorks casting Robert dairo as Max to play the opposite of Travis ble in Taxi Driver the studio opted for a younger actor meanwhile Leonardo dicapro was considered to play Vincent but was too busy making The Aviator with scorsi John Travolta and Colin Ferrell were also interested but ultimately passed with Ferell working with man on Miami Vice 2 years later Johnny Depp was eyed to play Max and would also later work with man on Public Enemies Cuba Gooding Jr was also in the running to play Max but was turned down by man because he had already worked with Cruz on Jerry Maguire as for the role of LAPD detective Ray Fanning Val Kilmer was originally cast but had to leave the project due to his commitments to Oliver Stones Alexander once Kilmer departed Mark Ruffalo was cast instead meanwhile while the late Dennis finina was originally slated to play FBI agent Frank Pedrosa but also had to bow out due to his Law and Order schedule Bruce McGill another longtime man collaborator was cast in his place as for Jason Statham's silent airport Cameo many have suggested that his character represents Frank Martin from the transporter franchise once Cruz and fox were locked in the two actors immediately hit it off and forged a genuine friendship while making collateral both actors also underwent extensive training to get into character for example Vincent is a stealth Hitman who possesses the ability to blend in without being detected to prepare for this man ordered Cruz to make undercover FedEx deliveries throughout Los Angeles and he had to not get spotted too Cruz was also impressed by the detailed backstories man and batty had prepared for Vincent and Max and of head first into his history while much of the information does not make it into the film Vincent's love of jazz and upbringing in a foster home with an abusive father helped Cruz hone the character and bring Vincent to life for the film's riveting gun battles Cruz trained with British military veteran Mick Gold and Special Air Service Sergeant Andy McNab Believe It or Not collateral was the first movie in which crew Cru used live rounds and extensive safety measures and training were required before cameras rolled man famously equipped Tom is extraordinarily skilled at everything athletic that he tries indeed Cruz's tactical gun draw is so exemplary in the film that it's been used for instructional training on Expert gun handling similarly Fox trained as a real taxi driver before principal photography for the chase scenes Fox prepared by racing old cars at Willow Springs Raceway in California's Mojave Desert where man would often join in on the fun backed by a $65 million budget principal photography for collateral began in LA in October 2003 the film was shot almost entirely on location in remote areas across the city rarely captured on film unlike the glitz and glamour of Hollywood's affluent neighborhoods collateral excels at depicting la sorted underbelly and vibrant cultural hubs in areas like North Figaroa and North Union Avenue Korea Town South Central's lmer Park khaw Boulevard and many more according to man extra security precautions were taken on the night of filming the foot Bridge scene near the hospital due to the area being hotly contested by rival gangs if collateral feels dangerous it's because genuine Peril surrounds the production to cap capture a specific visual style man opted to film collateral using the Viper film stream highdef camera the first mainstream motion picture to adopt the technology according to man The Clarity of certain overhead and long shots of La would not be possible without using that camera collateral is one of the first films to embrace this Unique Look of digital video rather than using the tech to mimic 35 mm using digital video allowed man more freedom and flexibility to film at nighttime with low light similarly man stated that without using a Sony f900 HD camera for the interior taxi scenes featuring Jada pinket Smith you wouldn't see any definition of the images behind them while using the technology for the first time presented its problems the challenges increased when cinematographer Paul Cameron abruptly Departed the production 3 weeks in Cameron left over creative differences prompting man to hire DP Dion baby in his place in addition to the Viper film stream HD camera which man toyed with for sequences in a league and with later use for Miami Vice the iconic fever nightclub scene was filmed using 35 mm according to man roughly 80% of the film was shot digitally while the remaining 20% was shot on film although Cameron left after 3 weeks he and BB won a baa for best cinematography for their work on the film speaking of fever the sequence was filmed in a real nightclub called Club Bliss on khaw Boulevard the exterior of the real Club was used but the interior was constructed on a set to make room for the large amount of background extras another crucial scene comes when Vincent forces Max to pose as himself and meet Felix played by Javier bardam although bardam spent just 2 days filming his part he spent months learning to speak English with a Mexican accent as for the scene in which Max's taxi sideswipes a car with Vincent in the back Jamie Fox genuinely crashed into the vehicle while filming Fox was amused by how everyone rushed to Cruz's Aid following the mishap and paid little attention to his potential injuries when Max crashes the cab and flips the car several times man captured the shot in the first attempted take Cruz reportedly suffered a concussion and gashed forehead during the crash man felt the result looked too violent and filmed the sequences twice more but opted for the first take instead a total of 17 taxi cabs were used during the making of collateral although Fox accidentally injured Cruz on the set the two actors became extremely close while making the movie fox says Cruz bought the entire casting crew in and outb ERS one night after filming once the production wrapped Cruz showed up at Fox's birthday party unannounced and surprised him with a pinata filled with sour skittles his favorite candy whether the two remain close after Fox began dating Cruz's ex-wife Katy Holmes is anyone's guess meanwhile one of the most memorable scenes happens at the atmospheric jazz club where Vincent tracks down his third target Daniel after Vincent murders Daniel Max hands up to Vincent and States I'm just collateral anyway this throwaway line has led many to believe it's where the movie's title comes from however the title collateral refers to Vincent's professional code name Vincent collateral B's original script referred to the villainous character as Vincent collateral and the name is confirmed in a deleted scene the title collateral was considered for a change following the box office failure of schwarzen Egger's collateral damage in 200 too while the title was kept in place collateral refers to Vincent's Hitman identity not Max's victimhood a cool tidbit many fans may not have known one of the movie's most memorable moments comes when Vincent and Max trade fire on a train get this the train sequence was filmed using a CGI green screen background as man felt a green screen was necessary due to the precise placement of what is shown throughout the windows of course Michael man has earned a reputation as one of the most impeccable filmmakers who takes his time planning precise Framing and action set pieces however one of collaterals most famous moments happened by accident on the spot in the office Showdown during the movie's intense finale Vincent throws a chair through a window steps on it and falls to the ground on his side before quickly getting up to chase Max the fall was an unscripted mishap by Cruz at the moment man felt the happy accident was perfect for the character and kept it in another aspect of the movie that's hard to forget is the soundtrack which favors alternative needle drops over a traditional musical score although nine time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard was hired to compose after Han Zimmer was briefly attacked ped roughly 17 minutes of Howard's Arrangements were used in the finished film Howard created more than an hour of original music but man replaced much of his work with music composed by Antonio Pinto while man's movies tend to be hit or miss at the box office collateral became an instant critical and Commercial Success when it was released in August 2004 Tom Cruz tends to have that kind of draw yet despite playing a villain for just the third time in his career collateral gross over $220 million worldwide against a 65 million budget scored two Oscar nominations and currently boasting 86% on Rotten Tomatoes interestingly many have compared collateral to Man's Hall of Fame La crime movie Heat for instance notice how Vincent wears a similar gray suit to the one sported by Neil mccolley played by dairo also the closing shot of the train in collateral is nearly identical to the opening train shot of heat both movies also feature a key lighting queue that assists the protagonist in heat Vincent Hannah played by alpacino spots mcol Shadow when the airport lights flash at the right time in collateral Max mentions how he got lucky with the lights earlier in the film when driving through traffic signals on the train Max gets lucky with the lights again when the interior lights go out and blind Vincent long enough for Max to take him out there's also the same line of dialogue in both movies in collateral Pedrosa gives instructions to his men as they Storm Into the fever nightclub by saying shots watch your back wait till they are all in get clean shots whether these touches were meant for collateral to play as a nocturnal version of heat is unclear but the similarities are far too hard to ignore 20 years later both Man movies hold up as two of The alltime Great LA crime films if collateral were released to such success now as it was in 2004 chances are a mandated sequel prequel reboot or needless TV adaptation would likely be shoved down our throats it's nice to know that a standalone classic like collateral never received such treatment and stands on its own in 2024 w [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: JoBlo Originals

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Id: s4exPOKIV7o

Length: 17min 51sec (1071 seconds)

Published: Mon May 20 2024