Description
Collateral is a 2004 American neo-noir action thriller film directed and produced by Michael Mann from a script by Stuart Beattie and starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. The supporting cast includes Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Javier Bardem, and Bruce McGill. The film follows Max Durocher, a Los Angeles cab driver, and his customer, Vincent. When offered a high fare for driving to several locations, Max agrees but soon finds himself taken hostage by Vincent who turns out to be a hitman on a contract killing spree. Screenwriter Beattie first conceived the idea for the film when taking a taxicab home from Sydney airport. Beattie shared the idea with producer Julie Richardson, who showed it to director Frank Darabont. The film was pitched to HBO but was declined. It was purchased by DreamWorks but would not see development for three years. Before the trio of Mann, Cruise and Foxx joined the film, Mimi Leder, Janusz Kamiński and Fernando Meirelles were each considered as director, and Russell Crowe and Adam Sandler were in talks to star as Vincent and Max, respectively. Filming primarily took place throughout Los Angeles, and was the first feature film to be shot with a Viper FilmStream High-Definition Camera. The musical score was composed by James Newton Howard, with additional songs from Audioslave and Paul Oakenfold. Collateral was released in the United States on August 6, 2004, and grossed over $220 million worldwide. The film received critical acclaim in particular for the performances of Cruise and Foxx, Mann’s direction and the editing. Collateral was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2004. At the 77th Academy Awards, Foxx received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor; while film editors Jim Miller and Paul Rubell were nominated for Best Film Editing.
