13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)

Timing: 2:24 (144 min)

7.269/10
3905

6.792/10
55985

7.3/10
179000

All about film

Video 7

Photo 50

Actors and characters

Release date

2016-01-14

Country

Malta, Morocco, United States

Production

Paramount, 3 Arts Entertainment, Bay Films, Latina Pictures, Dune Films

Genre

War, Action, History, Drama, Thriller

Budget

$50 000 000

Revenue

$69 411 370

Website

http://www.thirteenhoursmovie.com/

Director

Michael Bay

Actors

John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Dominic Fumusa, Max Martini, Pablo Schreiber, Matt Letscher, Alexia Barlier, David Costabile, David Denman, Payman Maadi
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Michael Bay, Erwin Stoff, Scott Gardenhour, Matthew Cohan, Richard Abate

Operator

Dion Beebe

Composer

Lorne Balfe

Artist

Audition

Denise Chamian, Edward Said

Editing

Michael McCusker, Pietro Scalia, Calvin Wimmer
All team (138)

• This is the third film by director Michael Bay based on real events. Previously, he directed "Pearl Harbor" (2001) and "Pain & Gain" (2013).
• The character played by John Krasinski’s flak jacket displays an emblem in the form of a stylized skull. The same emblem was worn by soldiers of the unit in which Chris Kyle, the hero of the film "American Sniper" (2014), served.
• The film’s premiere was initially scheduled for December 23, 2015, but was postponed to a later date to avoid competition with the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015).
• John Krasinski and David Denman starred together in the popular television series "The Office." Krasinski played Jim Halpert, and Denman played Roy. David Costabile appeared in the episode "The Banker" (2005) of this series.
• Glen Doherty, who died in the attack on the US outpost in Benghazi, was friends with Brandon Webb, who trained Navy SEALs in sniper shooting. The famous sniper Chris Kyle was trained by him.
• As producer Erwin Stoff told it, mock-ups of the diplomatic outpost and the annex where CIA personnel were located were built from the same blueprints as the buildings in Benghazi. In 2016, Stoff reported: "...we simply obtained the original plans and satellite images, and we communicated with the direct participants in those events. So we recreated all the buildings with centimeter accuracy."
• Michael Bay wanted to shoot on film, while cinematographer Dion Beebe insisted on digital shooting. Bay eventually agreed with the cinematographer – due to the large number of scenes in the film taking place at night, and due to the tight shooting schedule.
• Michael Bay later said that during filming in Malta, he had to work with a film crew that was completely unfamiliar to him. The director attributed the coherence of the international creative team's work to the fact that terrorism does not recognize borders or nationalities, so such a tragedy could have happened not only to Americans.
• In a radio interview on Mark Levin's program on January 18, 2016, Mark Geist, whose role in the film was played by Max Martini, stated that the mines with which Islamists shelled the outpost had a blast radius of 6.5 meters, meaning that people in the impact zone had no chance of survival.
• In a radio interview on Mark Levin’s show on January 18, 2016, Mark Geist recounted that during filming, he once took the place of the actor playing him, and the director didn’t notice until Geist looked directly into the camera.
• CinemaScore, a company that researches audience perception of new films, gave "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" an "A" rating.
• The original version of the film has a runtime of 4 hours.
• Initially, the filmmakers offered the role of Tyrone "Rone" Woods to Mark Wahlberg, but the actor had to decline due to commitments to other projects.
• Pablo Schreiber, who played Tanto, wanted to perform all the stunts himself. Apparently, that's why director Michael Bay decided to play a prank on him – giving instructions before the shoot, he didn't warn him that an explosion would occur behind Schreiber’s back. This scene with the actor’s genuine reaction made it into the film, as well as the official poster.
• Press Secretary Sean Smith, played by Christopher Dingli, was an avid fan and player of "EVE Online" (a massively multiplayer online game) under the nickname "Vile Rat," or "Nasty Rat." He was a legend among other players. After his death in Benghazi, many fans of the game expressed sincere condolences to Smith's family.
• The film tells the true story of three former special forces operatives who, for 13 hours, repelled attacks by Islamic radicals on the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, during which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, Press Secretary Sean Smith, and others were killed.
• The characters play the computer game "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare," which actually came on the market two years after the events depicted in the film.
• The film features Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205 models, which were not released until 2014.
• This is the third film by director Michael Bay based on real events. Previously, he directed "Pearl Harbor" (2001) and "Pain & Gain" (2013).
• An emblem in the form of a stylized skull is visible on the body armor of John Krasinski's character. The same emblem was worn by soldiers of the unit in which Chris Kyle, the hero of "American Sniper" (2014), served.
• The film's premiere was scheduled for December 23, 2015, but was postponed to a later date to avoid competition with the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015).
• John Krasinski and David Denman previously starred together in the popular television series "The Office." Krasinski played Jim Halpert, and Denman played Roy. David Costabile appeared in an episode of this series titled "The Banker" (2005).
• Glen Doherty, who died in the attack on the US outpost in Benghazi, was friends with Brandon Webb, who trained Navy SEALs in sniper shooting. The famous sniper Chris Kyle was trained by him.
• As producer Erwin Stoff told, mock-ups of the diplomatic outpost and the annex where CIA personnel were located were built using the same blueprints as the buildings in Benghazi. In 2016, Stoff reported: "...we simply obtained the original plans and satellite imagery, and we communicated with the direct participants in those events. So we recreated all the buildings to within a centimeter."
• CinemaScore, a company that researches audience perception of new films, gave the film '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi' an 'A' rating.
• Initially, the filmmakers offered the role of Tyrone 'Rone' Woods to Mark Wahlberg, but the actor was forced to decline due to commitments to other projects.
• Pablo Schreiber, who played Tanto, wanted to perform all the stunts himself. Apparently, that's why director Michael Bay decided to play a joke on him – giving instructions before the shoot, he didn't warn him that an explosion would occur behind Schreiber's back. This scene with the actor's genuine reaction made it into the film, as well as onto the official poster.
• Press Secretary Sean Smith, played by Christopher Dingli, was an avid fan and player of "EVE Online" (a massively multiplayer online game) under the nickname "Vile Rat," or "Nasty Rat." He was the stuff of legends among other players. Following his death in Benghazi, many game fans expressed their sincere condolences to Smith's family.
• The characters play the computer game "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare," which actually came to market two years after the events depicted in the film.