Around the World in 80 Days
Short description
Phileas Fogg is a London inventor whose ideas about flight, electricity and other marvels are dismissed by the scientific establishment of his day, which regards him as an eccentric. Determined to be taken seriously, he wagers with Lord Kelvin, head of the Royal Academy of Science, that he can travel all the way around the world in no more than eighty days. He sets off with his valet Passepartout, a Chinese man with troubles of his own, and Monique, a French artist in search of excitement. Their race takes them across land, sea and air, while Inspector Fix gives chase and a gang led by General Fang pursues Passepartout.
Frank Coraci directed the film, which sits between The Waterboy and Click in his filmography. The screenplay is by David N. Titcher, David Benullo and David Andrew Goldstein, and the cast includes Jackie Chan as Passepartout, Steve Coogan as Fogg, Cécile de France as Monique, Jim Broadbent as Lord Kelvin, Ewen Bremner as Inspector Fix and Karen Mok as General Fang. It was a large international production with a budget of 110 million dollars, and its worldwide gross of about 72 million dollars was well short of that figure.
Audience responses were moderate. On IMDb it holds 5.9 out of 10 from roughly 99,000 votes, and on TMDB 6 out of 10 from a much smaller set of 2,782 votes. A critics' rating of 4.9 out of 10 from 126 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores. The film runs 120 minutes and blends action, adventure and comedy, drawing on the premise of the Jules Verne story while reshaping its characters.
What's left behind the scenes
- The French balloonist whose hot air balloon is hijacked by the film's heroes is a cameo by Sir Richard Branson, the founder and owner of the business empire "The Virgin Group," which unites more than two hundred companies in the entertainment, mass media, and tourism industries worldwide. He is also known as a great ballooning enthusiast.
- The initial version of the film lasted approximately 3 hours.
- The film failed at the box office, costing its creators approximately 80 million dollars in losses. Such a discouraging financial outcome earns it the title of the most unsuccessful independent project in cinema history (the film was shot by a group of independent studios affiliated with Disney).
- Many of the paintings in the art gallery scene are exact replicas of Vincent van Gogh's paintings.
- Initially, the role of the San Francisco homeless drifter was to be played by Johnny Knoxville, but he later had to withdraw from the film due to commitments to other projects.
- The original version of the film included a battle with a giant octopus and a meeting with Captain Nemo.
- Filming of the movie began on March 13, 2003, in Thailand. In mid-April, filming moved to Berlin (Babelsberg Studios), where it continued for the next three months until the end of June of the same year. Post-production lasted until February 2004.
- The Statue of Liberty used in the film was made by workers at the Babelsberg Studio. It was entirely constructed from styrofoam.
- This film was supposed to be Steve Coogan's ticket to Hollywood, but it didn't happen. Box office receipts were approximately $80 million less than the production costs. This was the biggest loss for an independent film and bankrupted its producers.
- Two “flying cars” were made. One was constructed and used in Thailand, and the other was used in Germany.
- The film is based on the novel 'Around the World in Eighty Days' (Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours, 1873) by Jules Verne.
- Director Frank Coraci has a cameo as a passerby in San Francisco who treats Phileas Fogg quite unkindly.
- Chinese authorities requested such a large sum for filming that it proved unacceptable for the filmmakers. As a result, it was decided to build the sets in Thailand, which cost "only" $4,000,000. Ultimately, all scenes in the Chinese village and scenes on the streets of Agra, India, were filmed in Thailand.
- Sylvester Stallone made a small appearance in the film. According to the script, the film's heroes lacked money for a steamship back from the USA, and Passepartout had to fight a boxer in the ring to win the match and receive money as a reward. Stallone played the Irish boxer. However, all scenes with him were cut during final editing.
- Filming was originally scheduled to take place in Prague, but due to local floods, this option had to be abandoned.
- Before the confrontation near the Statue of Liberty, the heroes notice it but have no idea what it is, and Monique says it's a “French woman.” In reality, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to America.
- The first planned start date for filming was November 2002.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
