Spy Game

Release Date: November 21, 2001

Spy Game

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2001 has been the year of the spy, with Spy Kids becoming a blockbuster and Tailor of Panama becoming a footnote in Pierce Brosnan's career. The last spy entry of the year will come from the skilled hands of Tony Scott (Top Gun, Enemy of the State), and re-teams the River Runs Through It duo of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

They will play a retiring CIA operative and his protégé, respectively. As the action unfolds, we see Pitt's character, Tom Bishop, arrested by the Chinese government and accused of espionage. This film will fracture time to tell a lot of the story using flashbacks, so that we have a better understanding of the history and relationship between the two characters. Catherine McCormack of Braveheart fame plays a human-rights activist who becomes Pitt's lover.

The good here is that Brad Pitt is back in movie-star mode, for this film as well as Ocean's Eleven. Fresh from a run of smaller indie films and controversial roles such as Narrator in Fight Club, his next two performances are mainstream films with big-time directors and casts. Due to his eccentric career choices, one of the most recognizable actors of this generation has managed to star in only two $100 million-making films, Interview with the Vampire and Se7en. Yes, that does mean he hasn't had a blockbuster since 1995. There exists the possibility that he will double this total in a four-week period at the end of the year. Redford continues to show the class and elegance of a true living legend, as he tapers off his work and selectively chooses parts that interest him. The only two films in which he has acted in the last five years are Up Close and Personal and Horse Whisperer. In short, we know this script must have something special going for it to bring him on board as an actor.

The bad is that, as we see in the table below, neither actor's recent box-office history is particularly impressive. In fact, Tony Scott has easily the best track record of the three. What does this mean? Some will say it means everything and others will argue it means nothing. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. We know from lots of experience that neither of the stars guarantees a hit, but we also know that if there is a quality product involved, there is virtually no ceiling to how much business the film can do. (David Mumpwer/BOP)




Vital statistics for Spy Game
Main Cast Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack
Supporting Cast Stephen Dillane, Larry Bryggman, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Director Tony Scott
Screenwriter Michael Frost Beckner, David Arata
Distributor Universal
Trailer Click Here for Trailer
Official Site http://www.thespygame.net/
Rating R
Running Time 126 minutes
Screen Count 2,770
Also see Stephanie Star Smith reviews the Spy Game trailer
Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture



Comparison films for Spy Game
Title
Date
Opening
Adjusted Opening
Screens
PSA
Adj PSA
Total BO
Adjusted Total
Mult
Interview with a Vampire 11/11/9436.39 53.78 2604 13975.00 19866.4 105.26 155.56 2.89
Spy Kids 3/30/0126.55 28.33 3104 8552.00 8779.0 106.26 113.41 4.00
Mexican, The 3/2/0120.11 21.46 2951 6814.00 6994.9 66.81 71.30 3.32
Enemy of The State 11/20/9820.04 25.76 2393 8374.00 10355.9 111.54 143.40 5.57
Crimson Tide 5/12/9518.61 25.79 2382 7813.00 10417.3 91.37 126.65 4.91
Indecent Proposal 4/9/9318.39 26.78 1694 10856.00 15208.9 106.61 155.27 5.46
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams 8/9/0216.71 17.37 3307 5053.00 5053.0 85.63 89.02 4.63
Days of Thunder 6/29/9015.49 22.13 2307 6714.00 9227.8 82.66 118.11 4.95
Meet Joe Black 11/13/9815.02 19.31 2503 6001.00 7421.3 44.62 57.36 2.97
Devil's Own, The 3/28/9714.27 18.74 2504 5699.00 7201.4 42.89 56.34 2.74
Legends of the Fall * 1/13/9514.04 19.46 2005 7002.00 9336.0 66.50 92.18 4.67
Twelve Monkeys 1/5/9613.84 18.88 1533 9028.00 11846.7 57.14 77.95 4.10
Horse Whisperer, The 5/15/9813.69 17.60 2039 6714.00 8303.0 75.37 96.90 5.51
Sleepers 10/18/9612.31 16.79 1915 6428.00 8434.9 53.31 72.73 4.33
Up Close and Personal 3/1/9611.10 15.14 1506 7371.00 9672.4 51.06 69.66 4.60
Fight Club 10/15/9911.04 13.15 1963 5624.00 6421.1 37.02 44.11 3.35
Sneakers 9/11/9210.13 14.71 1731 5852.00 8178.7 50.58 73.49 4.99
Snatch 1/19/018.01 8.54 1444 5544.00 5691.2 30.09 32.11 3.75
Last Boy Scout 12/13/917.92 11.34 1823 4344.00 5984.6 59.51 85.23 7.51
Fan, The 8/16/966.27 8.55 2016 3110.00 4081.0 18.58 25.34 2.96
River Runs through It, A 10/30/924.25 6.17 795 5346.00 7471.5 43.22 62.79 10.17


     


 
 

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