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Salt (2010 film)

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Salt
Theatrical poster
Directed byPhillip Noyce
Written byKurt Wimmer
Brian Helgeland
Produced byLorenzo di Bonaventura
Sunil Perkash
StarringAngelina Jolie
Liev Schreiber
Chiwetel Ejiofor
CinematographyRobert Elswit
Edited byStuart Baird
John Gilroy
Music byJames Newton Howard
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • July 23, 2010 (2010-07-23)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$110 million
Box office$156,076,561 [1]

Salt is a 2010 American action-thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce, written by Kurt Wimmer and Brian Helgeland, and starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Daniel Olbrychski, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, who is accused of being a KGB sleeper agent, and goes on the run to try to clear her name. While Tom Cruise was initially secured for the lead, the script was ultimately rewritten for Jolie.

Filming took place on location in Washington, DC, New York City, and Albany, NY between March and June 2009. Jolie was taken to the hospital after suffering a head injury on set but was released the same day where filming resumed. The film had a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 22 and was released in North America on July 23, 2010; it will be released on August 20, 2010, in the United Kingdom.

Plot

Evelyn Salt interrogates a Russian defector, Orlov, who tells her about "Day X", an operation organized by a powerful Russian since the Cold War, which will lead to the destruction of the United States. Orlov also mentions that at the funeral of the late Vice President in New York City, the visiting Russian President will be killed by a trained Russian spy named Evelyn Salt. Salt, who is shaken up at the accusation, attempts to contact her husband Mike, a German arachnologist, fearing that he will be in danger. Meanwhile, Orlov escapes, prompting Salt to escape herself—causing the CIA to think she is a spy. She flees back to her apartment and finds her husband missing. Salt resumes and grabs essentials as well as a venomous spider. After barely escaping a frantic highway pursuit, Salt takes a bus to New York City. The next morning, she sneaks into the heavily guarded St. Bartholomew's Church where the Vice President's funeral is being held and shoots the Russian President. She then encounters Peabody where she surrenders but escapes the NYPD.

A series of flashbacks show Salt growing up in the Soviet Union where Orlov taught her and many other children to obey him and ingratiate themselves into the American government. Then, when it came to Day X, he would command them to strike from various positions in the US. Salt meets Orlov who congratulates her on her killing. He brings her to a river barge, where he tests her allegiance by having another agent kill Mike right in front of her. Salt appears to be unaffected by this, thus passing Orlov's test. He then tells her Part Two of Day X, which would involve seizing the United States' stock of nuclear weapons. Salt, who had gone to Orlov only to discover his plans, kills Orlov and everyone else on the barge. She then goes to the rendezvous set up by Orlov to meet a NATO mole.

The NATO mole and a disguised Salt go to the White House. Once inside, her NATO counterpart suddenly starts shooting at Secret Service agents and detonates a bomb. The Secret Service, along with Winter, rush the President to the lower bunker of the White House. Meanwhile, the President, believing Russia is preparing a nuclear strike against the US, begins to transmit the launch codes from the nuclear football. Salt infiltrates the bunker and dispatches the bodyguards. Winter picks up a gun and kills everyone but the President, whom he knocks unconscious.

He explains to an astonished Salt that he was part of Orlov's plan all along. Winter then uses the nuclear football to start the sequence for launching nuclear missiles at Tehran and Mecca. Salt asks Winter to let her in but before he opens the door, a playing news program reveals that the Russian President is not dead, but only placed in a near-death state from spider venom. He realizes that Salt is not on his side but she manages to break in, and after an intense struggle, she succeeds in knocking him down. Just after she manages to abort the nuclear missile launch set up by Winter, agents break in and arrest her. Winter goes free, but later Salt uses her chains to break his neck

Salt is put on a helicopter with Peabody, and explains everything to him. A skeptical Peabody finally accepts she is telling the truth after he receives an SMS saying that her fingerprints were found at the barge, confirming her betrayal to Orlov. They both know that there are other moles out there, and Peabody agrees to let her escape, so she can find and kill them. He uncuffs her and Salt jumps into the river below, free once more.

Cast

Production

Development, writing, and casting

In 2007, it was reported that Terry George and Peter Berg would direct, but both dropped out for undisclosed reasons.[4][5] A year later it was confirmed that Phillip Noyce would direct.[6] In 2007, Tom Cruise had been approached by Noyce to play Edwin A. Salt from the script written by Kurt Wimmer. Cruise was unable to commit to the script because of other commitments to projects and feared that the character was too close to his Mission Impossible character Ethan Hunt.[7] The filmmakers tried to differentiate the character from Hunt, but eventually came to accept they were too similar and decided not to change the characteristics of Salt. Noyce said "But, you know, he had a valid point. It was kind of returning to an offshoot of a character that he’d already played. It’s like playing the brother, or the cousin, of somebody that you played in another movie".[7]

File:Salt-character-change-angelina-jolie-interview.ogv
Angelina Jolie explains how the film was adapted to support a change in gender for her character.

Columbia Pictures executive Amy Pascal suggested Angelina Jolie to Noyce, who had often spoken to Jolie in the past about a desire to create a female spy franchise. Jolie was sent the script in September of that year and liked it. Wimmer, Noyce, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura went to visit Jolie at her home in France to discuss a possible script and character change. Writer Brian Helgeland helped with the character development and dialogue of the script based on the notes that came out of those discussions with Jolie and to accompany the gender change, the title character's name was changed to Evelyn Salt.[7] When asked if the script written for Cruise was the same for Jolie, he said "I think that it’s just been a continual process, obviously accelerating by changing the central character. But the ideas—the locomotive of ideas that drive the movie are the same. An undercover CIA operative is accused of being a Russian mole, and has to go on the run to defend themselves [sic]. That’s been the same since day one. The tone of the film has changed in this evolution. In the same way, I guess, as—you know—action thrillers have changed along the lines of the Bond films and the Bourne films".[7][8]

On February 19, 2009, it was reported that Liev Schreiber would play the role of Ted Winter, Evelyn Salt's friend and colleague in the CIA.[9] Three days later Variety reported that Chiwetel Ejiofor would play Peabody, who is in pursuit of Salt.[10]

Filming

On a budget of $130 million ($110 million after tax credits), principal photography took place mostly on location in New York and Washington, DC[11][12] from March to June 2009, while re-shoots were done in December 2009.[13][14][15] Filming for a chase sequence took place in Albany on Water Street near the Interstate 787 ramp between April and May.[16]

Jolie spent time training before filming to perform almost all of the stunts herself. Bonaventura said "She is so prepared and so ready and gung-ho, she'll do any stunt. We had her jumping out of helicopters, shooting, jumping off of all sorts of things and infiltrating places that are impossible to infiltrate".[17] On May 29  2009, filming was temporarily halted after Jolie suffered a minor head injury during filming an action scene. She was taken to hospital as a "precautionary measure"; she was released on the same day with no serious injuries and filming was resumed.[18]

Release

The film was featured at San Diego Comic-Con on July 22, 2010.[19] It was released in North America on July 23, 2010. It will be released a month later on August 20 in the United Kingdom.[20][21]

Box office

Salt opened in 3,612 theaters at number two with USD$12,532,333—$3,470 per theater, behind only Inception, which made $42,725,012 on its second weekend.[22] On its opening weekend, the film made $36,011,243—$9,970 per theater.[23] On its second weekend, it declined in ticket sales by 45.9% making $19,471,355—$5,391 per theater and placed number three behind Dinner for Schmucks.[24] By its third weekend the film had a 44% decrease in ticket sales and was removed from 295 theaters. It placed number four, behind Step Up 3D and earned $10,908,204—$3,289 per theater.[25] As of August 9, Salt has come to gross $91,788,345 in the United States and Canada and $62,800,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $154,588,345.[1]

Critical reception

The film received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 58% of critics have given the film a positive reviews based on 164 reviews, with an rating average of 6 out of 10.[26] Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,[27] the film holds an overall approval rating of 58%, based on a sample of 36 reviews.[28] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 65 based on 41 reviews.[29]

Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter said that "While preposterous at every turn, Salt is a better Bond movie than most recent Bond movies, as its makers keep the stunts real and severely limit CGI gimmickry". Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars (his maximum), saying "Salt is a damn fine thriller. ... It's gloriously absurd. This movie has holes in it big enough to drive the whole movie through. The laws of physics seem to be suspended here the same way as in a Road Runner cartoon."[30]

Soundtrack

The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Salt was released on July 20, 2010 exclusively on iTunes [31]. The music was composed by James Newton Howard and released by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc

Untitled

Tracklisting

Salt - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No.TitleLength
1."Prisoner Exchange"4:09
2."Escaping The CIA"5:20
3."Cornered"1:09
4."Orlov's Story"4:43
5."Chase Across DC"6:51
6."Hotel Room Preparations/Parade"3:59
7."Attack On St. Bart's Cathedral"3:10
8."A Dark Goddamn Hole"1:47
9."Taser Puppet"1:34
10."You Are My Greatest Creation"4:13
11."Destiny"2:22
12."Barge Apocalypse"2:26
13."Day X"1:37
14."I'm Going Home"2:16
15."Eight Floors Down"2:51
16."Arming The Football"2:11
17."Not Safe With Me"2:27
18."You're About To Become Famous"1:38
19."Mano A Mano"1:51
20."Garroted"3:32
21."Go Get Em"3:10

References

  1. ^ a b "Salt (2010)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 9, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  2. ^ "Cover Story (Salt)". Total Film. August 2010 (170). Future Publishing: 77. 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Cover Story (Salt)". Total Film. August 2010 (170). Future Publishing: 78. 2010.
  4. ^ "Salt Peppered With Cruise". IGN Entertainment. News Corporation. June 27, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  5. ^ Sperling, Nicole (December 18, 2007). "Peter Berg to direct Cruise in 'Edwin A. Salt'?". Hollywood Insider. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 28, 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Fleming, Michael (June 30, 2008). "Phillip Noyce to direct Col's 'Salt'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d Fischer, Paul (June 22, 2009). "Exclusive: Phillip Noyce Talks "Salt"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  8. ^ Fleming, Michael (August 11, 2008). "Jolie replaces Cruise in 'Salt'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  9. ^ Clint, Morris (February 17, 2009). "Liev Schreiber eyes Salt (Updated!)". Moviehole. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
  10. ^ Fleming, Michael (February 23, 2009). "Chiwetel Ejiofor joins Noyce's 'Salt'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
  11. ^ Fritz, Ben (July 22, 2010). "Movie projector: 'Salt' to challenge 'Inception' in tight box-office race". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  12. ^ "First Look at Angelina Jolie in Salt". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. March 3, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  13. ^ Murray, Rebecca (March 3, 2009). "Filming Begins on Salt Starring Angelina Jolie". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 28, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  14. ^ "Angelina Jolie and Salt Filming Albany, New York Latest News!". The Insider. CBS Interactive. April 24, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  15. ^ "Angelina Jolie Gearing Up To Film More 'Salt'". Access Hollywood. NBC Universal. December 16, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  16. ^ Gowan, Christen (April 27, 2009). "Yup, it really was Angelina". Times Union. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  17. ^ "'Salt' Sneak Peak". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. January 17, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  18. ^ "Angelina Jolie back filming on "Salt" after head injury on set!". The Insider. CBS Interactive. June 1, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  19. ^ Davis, Erik (July 8, 2010). "Comic Con Thursday Schedule Announced". Cinematical. Moviefone. Retrieved July 8, 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  20. ^ "Angelina Jolie Filming Action Scene for Salt". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. April 27, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  21. ^ "Salt Worldwide Release Dates". SonyPictures.com. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
  22. ^ "Salt (2010) – Daily box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  23. ^ "Salt (2010) – Weekend Box Office Results for July 23-25, 2010". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. July 25, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  24. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for July 30–August 1, 2010". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. August 1, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  25. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for August 6–8, 2010". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. August 8, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  26. ^ "Salt Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 9, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help) Cite error: The named reference "RT" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  27. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes FAQ: What is Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  28. ^ "Salt (Top Critics)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 9, 2010. Cite error: The named reference "TopRT" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  29. ^ "Salt Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved July 27, 2010. Cite error: The named reference "metacritic" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  30. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 21, 2010). "SALT (PG-13)". Chicago Sun-Times. John Barron. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  31. ^ "Salt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes Store.
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