The Punisher

The Punisher (2004)

Timing: 2:4 (124 min)

6.362/10
3096

6.657/10
50665

6.4/10
180000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 79

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-04-15

Country

Germany, United States

Production

Valhalla Motion Pictures, Lions Gate Films, VIP Medienfonds 3, Marvel Enterprises, VIP 2 Medienfonds

Genre

Action, Crime, Drama

Budget

$33 000 000

Revenue

$54 700 105

Website

https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/the-punisher

Director

Jonathan Hensleigh

Actors

Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Will Patton, Roy Scheider, Laura Harring, Ben Foster, Samantha Mathis, James Carpinello, A. Russell Andrews, Eddie Jemison
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Jonathan Hensleigh, Michael France

Producer

Gale Anne Hurd, Avi Arad, Andreas Schmid, Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, Christopher Roberts, John H. Starke, Christopher Eberts

Operator

Conrad W. Hall

Composer

Carlo Siliotto

Artist

Jonathan Short

Audition

Pam Dixon, Kimberly Mullen, Mark Mullen

Editing

Steven Kemper, Jeff Gullo, Kiley Fascia
All team (154)

• The film is based on the adventures of a hero from popular comics published by Marvel. He first appeared in 1974 in the comic book 'The Amazing Spider-Man,' after which fans of the genre could regularly follow his exploits for 30 years.
• A film of the same name starring Dolph Lundgren was released on video in 1989, although his character had little in common with the comic book heroes.
• Howard Saint did not appear in the comics; this character was specifically created for the film.
• The character of The Russian was played by well-known wrestler Kevin Nash, who had to get rid of his long hair for the role.
• During the filming of the fight scene, Thomas Jane accidentally cut Kevin Nash with a knife.
• The film marked the directorial debut of screenwriter Jonathan Hensley.
• The filming of the explosion scene in front of the "Bank of America" building was not publicized in advance, so hundreds of people called 911, thinking it was a real explosion.
• Five identical "Pontiac GTO" cars were specially manufactured for the film (two of them were completely destroyed during filming). In the film with Lundgren, the main character drove around on a motorcycle.
• Thomas Jane underwent intensive training for the filming: to build muscle, he spent several hours a day weightlifting, followed a diet, and also learned to handle various types of weapons.
• Initially, the main role was offered to Vin Diesel.
• Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Frank Castle but had to decline as he had already begun preparing for the film "Van Helsing" (2004).
• Rebecca Romijn admitted that in the scene where her character stitches up the knife wound sustained by Thomas Jane's character, she inserted the needle too deeply and ended up making several stitches on the actor's body, rather than on an artificial prop simulating the wound.
• Specifically for this role, Thomas Jane, like Dolph Lundgren who played in the 1989 film of the same name, dyed his hair black to more closely resemble the character from the comic book.
• "The Punisher" was filmed in Tampa, Florida. During pre-production, Hensleigh and cinematographer Conrad Hall reviewed numerous action films, crime dramas, and Westerns from the 1970s. These films helped the creators understand the style in which "The Punisher" should be filmed.
• Initially, "The Punisher" was intended to be the first film in a trilogy, but even before filming began, Jonathan Hensleigh had a smaller budget than he wanted, which hindered the plans. Hensleigh knew that most action films had budgets of around $64 million, while he had only $15 million. In addition, he was given 50 days for filming, which was half the time allotted to most films. Due to these problems, most of the script had to be rewritten. According to DVD commentary, the first scene of the film was supposed to be a battle in Kuwait during the Gulf War, and one of the storylines would have revealed the betrayal of Frank's best friend, who gave him up to Saint.
• The basis of the film is the adventures of a hero from popular comics published by Marvel. He first appeared in 1974 in the comic book "The Amazing Spider-Man", after which fans of the genre could regularly follow his exploits for 30 years.
• Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Frank Castle, but had to decline as he had already begun preparing for the film "Van Helsing" (2004).