Man on Fire

Man on Fire (2004)

Timing: 2:26 (146 min)

7.457/10
5600

7.97/10
248860

7.7/10
417000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 85

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-04-23

Country

Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Mexico

Production

20th Century Fox, Scott Free Productions, Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Epsilon Motion Pictures

Genre

Action, Drama, Thriller

Budget

$70 000 000

Revenue

$130 300 000

Website

Director

Tony Scott

Actors

Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Christopher Walken, Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony, Giancarlo Giannini, Rachel Ticotin, Mickey Rourke, Roberto Sosa, Jesús Ochoa
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Arnon Milchan, Tony Scott, Lucas Foster, James W. Skotchdopole, Lance Hool

Operator

Paul Cameron

Composer

Harry Gregson-Williams

Artist

Mark Swain, Alejandro Fernández, Carlos Benassini

Audition

Bonnie Timmermann

Editing

Christian Wagner
All team (191)

• The film is based on the novel by A.J. Quinnell, "Man on Fire" (1981).
• Tony Scott could have headed the original "Rage" project in the mid-80s, but the studio decided to forgo his services, as the director had no major hits to his name at the time, and they simply feared he wouldn't be able to bring the project to completion.
• Michael Bay and Antoine Fuqua were considered for the director's position.
• Robert De Niro, Will Smith, and Bruce Willis were considered for the role of Creasy.
• Denzel Washington ended up in the film quite by chance. He was going to see a doctor and, to his surprise, met Tony Scott in the same hospital. The two men sat in the waiting room, had a pleasant conversation, and concluded that they would enjoy working together.
• Before Krisi enters the nightclub, attentive viewers may notice that the music briefly pauses and a rather familiar phrase sounds: "We got a winner!". It belongs to none other than Christopher McDonald, who played talk show host Tabby Tibbons in the film "Requiem for a Dream" (2000).
• In A.J. Quinnell's novel, Dakota Fanning's character was named Pinta. In early versions of the script, her name was Puta. But after Tony Scott learned that "Puta" in Spanish means prostitute, he changed the name to Pita. The girl's full name is Lupita or Lupe.
• The idea of unusual subtitles, appearing from time to time in the film, was borrowed from old kung fu movies.
• As preparation for her role, Dakota Fanning took lessons in piano, swimming, and Spanish.
• Several Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars were specifically purchased for the film and were wrecked during filming.
• The scene in Pity's room where Pity questions Crisi about his women is almost entirely improvised by the two actors.
• The actor who played Aurelio (Jero Camilo) does not speak English.
• The film's screenwriter, Brian Helgeland, first saw the original film "The Bodyguard" (1987) in the late 1980s. He took the film cassette from a video rental store where Quentin Tarantino worked at the time. Brian couldn't decide what to watch and asked Quentin, "What do you have that's interesting to watch?". Tarantino recommended this film to him.
• Two erotic scenes were cut from the film: the first between Crisi and Lisa, the second between Lisa and her husband.
• Crisi's watch is a "Casio Pathfinder 227".
• On the first day of filming, Dakota Fanning shot a scene where Crisi drives Pete to school.
• Initially, Christopher Walken was supposed to play the role of Samuel Ramos' lawyer, Jordan Kaufus (this role later went to Mickey Rourke), but Walken didn't want to play another villain. He agreed to star in the film, but only if he had a positive character, so Walken played Rayburn.
• In the film, the main character says: “May God grant them [the kidnappers] forgiveness, and I will arrange a meeting for them.” This is a reference to the famous quote by Al Capone: “Can you forgive an enemy? God will forgive! Our job is to arrange their meeting.”
• The film is based on A.J. Quinnell's novel 'Man on Fire' (1981).
• Tony Scott could very well have directed the original 'Man on Fire' project in the mid-80s, but the studio decided to forgo his services, as the director had no major hits to his name at the time, and they simply feared he wouldn't be able to see the project through to completion.
• Denzel Washington landed the role quite by chance. He happened to be going to the doctor and, to his surprise, met Tony Scott in the same hospital. The two men sat in the waiting room, had a pleasant conversation, and concluded that they would enjoy working together.
• Before Creasy enters the nightclub, attentive viewers may notice that the music briefly stops and a rather familiar phrase sounds: “We got a winner!”. It belongs to none other than Christopher McDonald, who played the television host Tabby Tibbons in 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000).
• In A.J. Quinnell's novel, Dakota Fanning's character was named Pinta. In early versions of the script, she was named Puta. But after Tony Scott learned that 'Puta' means 'whore' in Spanish, he changed the name to Pita. The girl's full name is Lupita, or Lupe.
• As part of preparing for her role, Dakota Fanning took lessons in playing the piano, swimming, and the Spanish language.
• The actor who played Aurelio (Jero Camilo) does not speak English.
• The film's screenwriter, Brian Helgeland, first saw the original film, "The Bodyguard" (1987), in the late 1980s. He rented the film from a video store where Quentin Tarantino worked at the time. Brian couldn't decide what to watch and asked Quentin, "What do you have that’s interesting?" Tarantino recommended this film to him.
• On the first day of filming, Dakota Fanning filmed a scene where Crisi drives Pete to school.
• Originally, Christopher Walken was supposed to play the role of Samuel Ramos's lawyer, Jordan Kauffman (the role eventually went to Mickey Rourke), but Walken didn't want to play another villain. He agreed to appear in the film only if he had a positive character, so Walken played Reiben.
• In the film, the main character says: "Let God grant them [the kidnappers] forgiveness, and I will arrange a meeting for them." This is a reference to a famous quote by Al Capone: "Can you forgive an enemy? God will forgive! Our job is to arrange their meeting."