The Terminal

The Terminal (2004)

Timing: 2:8 (128 min)

7.35/10
8616

8.123/10
500656

7.4/10
533000

All about film

Video 7

Photo 92

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-06-17

Country

United States

Production

Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, Parkes/MacDonald Productions, MacDonald/Parkes Productions

Genre

Comedy, Drama

Budget

$60 000 000

Revenue

$219 417 255

Website

https://www.paramountmovies.com/movies/the-terminal

Director

Steven Spielberg

Actors

Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna, Barry Shabaka Henley, Kumar Pallana, Zoe Saldaña, Eddie Jones, Jude Ciccolella
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Steven Spielberg, Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Andrew Niccol, Jason Hoffs, Patricia Whitcher

Operator

Janusz Kamiński

Composer

John Williams

Artist

Audition

Debra Zane, Lucie Robitaille

Editing

Michael Kahn
All team (88)

• To film the movie, director Steven Spielberg had to build an exact replica of a modern airport terminal.
• Filming of the movie began on October 1, 2003, after Tom Hanks finished filming “The Terminal” (2004).
• The film is based on a true story that happened to Merhan Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian citizen who “got stuck” in the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France in 1988 (his briefcase with all documents was stolen).
• Initially, Andrew Niccol was supposed to direct the film, having rewritten the first version of the script.
• The role played by Chi McBride was originally intended for Bernie Mac.
• Officer Torres, played by Zoe Saldana, states in the film that she is a fan of "Star Trek." The actress actually appeared in the films "Star Trek" (2009) and "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013).
• When Viktor approaches the immigration officer again, attempting to obtain permission to enter the United States, he holds several documents, including a driver's license issued by the Republic of Belarus in the name of Gulina Gulnar Nazirovna (in Cyrillic), issued in the city of Gomel.
• Before flying home, Viktor passes by the flight schedule. On the board, before the line "Krakhozhia - departure authorized," in the "Country" column, there is a note UA – this is not Ukraine, it is United Airlines. An Indian janitor was stopping the aircraft of this airline that came for Viktor.
• In the episode with Milodragovich, the lines were not written for Valery Nikolaev. The actor speaks the Russian text extemporaneously, simply knowing the general situation. Nevertheless, the scene turned out to be very expressive. As the 'Krakoshian' language, Tom Hanks uses Bulgarian (in the Russian localization; in the original, Hanks uses Russian, with a strong accent). Milodragovich speaks Russian in the original, and Ukrainian in the localization.
• The jazzman from whom Navorski gets an autograph for his father – Benny Golson (who plays himself in the film's final scenes) – is a famous American jazz saxophonist who was actually present in the famous photograph “Harlem-1958,” which gathered many great jazz musicians of the 20th century.
• The plot is based on the real story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who became stranded in a Paris airport in 1988 after being denied entry to the UK because his documents were stolen. French authorities did not allow him to leave the airport grounds, and he remained in the terminal. Over time, Nasseri was granted permission to enter France or return to his native Iran, but he chose to remain living in the terminal. It is claimed that his condition deteriorated significantly over time. In August 2006, he left the terminal for the first time and was hospitalized with an unspecified illness. He subsequently moved to a hotel, where he lived on money received for this film. (It is claimed that 'DreamWorks Pictures' paid him $250,000 for the rights to film his life story.) In October 2022, Nasseri returned to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, where he died on November 12 of the same year.
• The airport sets replicated Düsseldorf International Airport in Germany. The sets were built to almost full scale in one of the vacant hangars. They included three working escalators and replicas of popular brands (such as 'Burger King' and 'Mrs. Fields' restaurants and the 'W.H. Smith' bookstore and stationery retailer). It should be noted that working equipment, such as ovens and cash registers, was even installed in some places. 'DreamWorks Pictures' sought permission from some of these brands to feature them in the film, while others proactively contacted 'DreamWorks Pictures' with similar offers. The same construction crews who actually built these stores and food outlets in airports were involved in the construction. In any case, the presence of any brand's set pieces on the set did not guarantee its appearance in the film, as the final editing of the picture was exclusively the responsibility of 'DreamWorks Pictures', and some brands appeared on screen only fleetingly, while others did not appear at all.
• Construction of the airport sets took 16 weeks. Approximately 10,500 square meters of glass, almost 7,000 square meters of space (enough for 600 extras) and 2,000 miniature lighting fixtures were used. And that's not including the working escalators and actual food courts.
• Initially, it was planned that the main character, played by Tom Hanks, would come from Slovenia, but the former Consul of Slovenia to the USA pointed out (quite rightly) that some call Slovenia "Eastern European Switzerland," so a civil war would hardly break out in such a country.
• The main character's driver's license was issued in Gomel, Belarus in 1995, and its validity expired at the start of filming. The "Name" field in the document reads "Gulnara Gulina" in Cyrillic. These were the genuine rights of Gulina, who worked in the American film industry. The filmmakers only added the name "Viktor."
• During dinner scenes with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gupta juggles the tableware. He was played by Kumar Pallana, who was previously a juggler and toured various countries.