Salt is an upcoming American action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce, written by Kurt Wimmer and Brian Helgeland, and starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, who is accused of being a KGB sleeper agent, and goes on the run to try to clear her name. While Tom Cruise was initially secured for the lead, he was unable to commit to the role because of commitments to other projects, and the script was ultimately rewritten for Jolie.
Filming took place on location in Washington, DC and New York City between March and June 2009. Jolie was taken to the hospital after suffering a head injury on set but was released the same day where filming resumed. The film will have a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 22 and will be released in North America on July 23, 2010, and August 20, 2010, in the United Kingdom.
Premise
CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) goes on the run to try to clear her name after being accused by a defector of being a KGB sleeper agent plotting to assassinate the President of the United States.
Cast
- Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer accused of being a KGB sleeper agent
- Liev Schreiber as Ted Winter, Salt's friend and colleague
- Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody, a young CIA agent who works for Winter and is mentored by Salt
- Daniel Olbrychski as Orlov
- Andre Braugher as Secretary of Defense
- Yara Shahidi as Cleo, Salt's neighbor
- Zoe Lister-Jones
- Gaius Charles
- Victor Slezak
- Corey Stoll
Production
Development, writing, and casting
In 2007 it was reported that Terry George and Peter Berg would direct, but both dropped out for undisclosed reasons. A year later it was confirmed that Phillip Noyce would direct. In 2007, Tom Cruise had been approached by Noyce to play Edwin A. Salt from the script written by Kurt Wimmer. Cruise was unable to commit to the script because of other commitments to projects and feared that the character was too close to his Mission Impossible character Ethan Hunt. The filmmakers tried to differentiate the character from Hunt, but eventually came to accept they were too similar and decided not to change the characteristics of Salt. Noyce said "But, you know, he had a valid point. It was kind of returning to an offshoot of a character that he’d already played. It’s like playing the brother, or the cousin, of somebody that you played in another movie".
Columbia Pictures executive Amy Pascal suggested Angelina Jolie to Noyce, who had often spoken to Jolie in the past about a desire to create a female spy franchise. Jolie was sent the script in September of that year and liked it. Wimmer, Noyce, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura went to visit Jolie at her home in France to discuss a possible script and character change. Writer Brian Helgelandhelped with the character development and dialogue of the script based on the notes that came out of those discussions with Jolie and to accompany the gender change, the title character's name was changed to Evelyn Salt. When asked if the script written for Cruise was the same for Jolie, he said "I think that it’s just been a continual process, obviously accelerating by changing the central character. But the ideas — the locomotive of ideas that drive the movie are the same. An undercover CIA operative is accused of being a Russian mole, and has to go on the run to defend themselves [sic]. That’s been the same since day one. The tone of the film has changed in this evolution. In the same way, I guess, as — you know — action thrillers have changed along the lines of the Bond films and the Bourne films".
On February 19, 2009, it was confirmed that Liev Schreiber would play the role of Ted Winter, Evelyn Salt's friend and colleague in theCIA. Three days later Variety reported that Chiwetel Ejiofor would play Peabody, "a young CIA agent who works for Winter, the mentor of Evelyn Salt, an agent fingered as a Russian sleeper spy. With Peabody in hot pursuit, she must clear her name and figure out the identity of the real spy".
Filming
Principal photography took place mostly on location in New York and Washington, DC from March to June 2009, while re-shoots were done in December 2009. Filming for a chase sequence took place in Albany on Water Street near the Interstate 787 ramp between April and May.
Jolie spent time training before filming to perform a lot of her stunts herself. Bonaventura said "She is so prepared and so ready and gung-ho, she'll do any stunt. We had her jumping out of helicopters, shooting, jumping off of all sorts of things and infiltrating places that are impossible to infiltrate". On May 29, 2009, filming was temporarily halted after Jolie suffered a minor head injury during filming an action scene. She was taken to hospital as a "precautionary measure" and was released the same day with no life-threatening injuries. Filming was resumed later that day.
Release
The film will be featured at Comic-Con 2010 on July 22. It is scheduled to be released in North America on July 23, 2010 and August 20, 2010 in the United Kingdom.
Critical reception
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 59% of 32 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.8 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 60%, based on a sample of 10 reviews. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 63 based on 16 reviews.
Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter said that "While preposterous at every turn, Salt is a better Bond movie than most recent Bond movies, as its makers keep the stunts real and severely limit CGI gimmickry". Armond White of the New York Press gave the film a negative review, saying that "It offends one’s cinematic and political sensibilities just as carelessly as Syriana, Green Zone orInglorious Bastards.
References
- ^ a b Fleming, Michael (August 11, 2008). "Jolie replaces Cruise in 'Salt'". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved March 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Clint, Morris (February 17, 2009). "Liev Schreiber eyes Salt (Updated!)". Moviehole. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- ^ a b Fleming, Michael (February 23, 2009). "Chiwetel Ejiofor joins Noyce's 'Salt'". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- ^ Bonner, Julie (June 11, 2009). "Exclusive Interview: Yara Shahidi from "Imagine That"". Crushable (b5media). Retrieved June 5, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "New Salt Trailer Shows Angelina Jolie in Action". Movie Web. April 1, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
- ^ "Salt Peppered With Cruise". IGN Entertainment (News Corporation). June 27, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ Sperling, Nicole (December 18, 2007). "Peter Berg to direct Cruise in 'Edwin A. Salt'?". Hollywood Insider (Entertainment Weekly). Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (June 30, 2008). "Phillip Noyce to direct Col's 'Salt'". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Fischer, Paul (June 22, 2009). "Exclusive: Phillip Noyce Talks "Salt"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ^ "First Look at Angelina Jolie in Salt". ComingSoon.net (CraveOnline). March 3, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ^ Murray, Rebecca (March 3, 2009). "Filming Begins on Salt Starring Angelina Jolie". About.com (The New York Times Company). Retrieved December 28, 2009.
- ^ "Angelina Jolie and Salt Filming Albany, New York Latest News!". The Insider (CBS Interactive). April 24, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
- ^ "Angelina Jolie Gearing Up To Film More ‘Salt’". Access Hollywood (NBC Universal). December 16, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
- ^ Gowan, Christen (April 27, 2009). "Yup, it really was Angelina". Times Union (Hearst Corporation). Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- ^ "'Salt' Sneak Peak". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). January 17, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ^ "Angelina Jolie back filming on “Salt” after head injury on set!". The Insider (CBS Interactive). June 1, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
- ^ Davis, Erik (July 8, 2010). "Comic Con Thursday Schedule Announced". Cinematical (Moviefone). Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ^ "Angelina Jolie Filming Action Scene for Salt". <ComingSoon.net (CraveOnline). April 27, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ^ "Salt Worldwide Release Dates". SonyPictures.com. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- ^ "Salt Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes FAQ: What is Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
- ^ "Salt (Top Critics)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
- ^ "Salt Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
- ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (July 16, 2010). "Salt -- Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
- ^ White, Armond (July 20, 2010). "Supermom with Salt". New York Press. Avalon Equity Partners. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
External links
- Official
- Database
- Salt at the Internet Movie Database
- Salt at Allmovie
- Salt at Box Office Mojo
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| Salt | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Phillip Noyce |
| Produced by | Lorenzo di Bonaventura Sunil Perkash |
| Written by | Kurt Wimmer Brian Helgeland |
| Starring | Angelina Jolie Liev Schreiber Chiwetel Ejiofor Andre Braugher |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | Robert Elswit |
| Editing by | Stuart Baird John Gilroy |
| Studio | Relativity Media di Bonaventura Pictures |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment) |
| Release date(s) | July 23, 2010 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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