I Spy

I Spy (2002)

Timing: 1:37 (97 min)

5.395/10
1002

6.589/10
12603

5.4/10
55000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 28

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-10-31

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Tall Trees Productions, C2 Pictures, Sheldon Leonard Productions

Genre

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Thriller

Budget

$70 000 000

Revenue

$60 279 822

Website

Director

Betty Thomas

Actors

Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Famke Janssen, Malcolm McDowell, Gary Cole, Phill Lewis, Viv Leacock, Keith Dallas, Tate Taylor, Lynda Boyd
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Mario Kassar, Betty Thomas, Jenno Topping, Andrew G. Vajna, David R. Ginsburg, Marc Toberoff, Warren Carr

Operator

Oliver Wood

Composer

Richard Gibbs

Artist

Barbara Wilson

Audition

Francine Maisler, Kathy Driscoll-Mohler

Editing

Peter Teschner
All team (100)

• At the director Betty Thomas' request, British actor and stuntman Darren Shalavi (1972-2015) lost almost 14 kg to appear in the same weight class as Eddie Murphy in the ring scenes.
• Filming began on September 12, 2001, in Budapest, Hungary. Producer Andrew J. Vajna decided, as in the series "I Spy" (1965), which this film was a remake of, that the action of this adaptation should take place in "exotic locations".
• The filmmakers managed to obtain permission to film at Buda Castle, which resulted in unforeseen difficulties. Beneath the castle is an extensive network of tunnels and dungeons, so delivering heavy equipment to the filming location posed a risk of collapse of the ancient underground structures' vaults.
• It proved very difficult to film the car chase scene on the narrow road towards the Danube. The street had to be closed to the public and illuminated. Cinematographer Oliver Wood had to travel to Germany and rent a dozen huge spotlights there, which were placed on cranes installed on both banks of the river for filming.
• Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson performed some of the stunts themselves, while for the rest they invited several experienced stunt performers from the USA and hired another 18 Hungarian stuntmen. The language barrier became a problem. Each stunt had to be explained to the stunt performers many times to avoid mistakes.
• City authorities did not grant the filmmakers permission to shoot the final scene on the bridge over the Danube, so the bridge was created using digital technology.
• Some scenes of the film were shot in Vancouver, Canada.
• Filming began on September 12, 2001, in Budapest, Hungary. Producer Andrew J. Vajna decided that, like the series "I Spy" (1965), which this film was a remake of, the action of this adaptation should take place in "exotic locations".