Race to Witch Mountain
Short description
Jack Bruno is a Las Vegas taxi driver trying to stay on the right side of the law after a stint in prison. His routine is interrupted when two teenagers, Sara and Seth, climb into his cab and offer him a large sum to drive them to a remote location in the Nevada desert. He soon learns that the siblings have paranormal abilities and are being hunted by relentless pursuers. Reluctantly, Jack takes responsibility for protecting them, and with the help of Dr. Alex Friedman, a scientist who studies unexplained phenomena, he tries to keep the pair out of the hands of those chasing them.
The film is a loose remake of the 1975 Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain. It was directed by Andy Fickman, the fifth of the twelve features listed in his filmography, following The Game Plan and preceding You Again. Mark Bomback and Matt Lopez wrote the screenplay, and Andrew Gunn produced. Dwayne Johnson leads the cast as Jack, with AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig as Sara and Seth, and Carla Gugino, Ciarán Hinds and Tom Everett Scott in supporting roles.
Released in March 2009, the film had a budget of 50 million USD and took in 106 million USD worldwide. Its ratings sit below the midpoint: on IMDb it holds 5.7/10 from 66,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.8/10 from 1,865 votes. A film critics' rating of 5.2/10 from 154 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The director also consulted with UFO experts, military personnel, and representatives of the CIA to use the information necessary for the film. He also introduced an extraterrestrial creature named Siphon into the script, whose image was worked on by specialists who created Predator and Alien.
- The film is based on the novel by Alexandre Key, "Escape to Witch Mountain" (1968).
- The team responsible for creating and designing the credits embedded a small message into the soundtrack, encoded in Morse code, saying "please turn off your mobile phones."
- The Pomona, California exhibition center was used in the film as UFO Expo 9, and Cheyenne Mountain became Witch Mountain.
- Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann, who played brother and sister in the original, received small roles – a cafe waitress and a sheriff. The names of these characters are similar to the names of the characters in the first film: Tony and Anthony, Tia and Tina, respectively.
- The taxi number – 1975 – is a reference to the original "Escape to Witch Mountain" film from 1975.
- Actress Meredith Salenger played a small role as television reporter Natalie Gunn. Twenty-four years prior to this, in 1985, she made her screen debut as the main character in the Disney adventure film "The Journey of Natty Gann."
- The initial script, written by Matt Lopez, was rejected by the director. It was much closer to the original 1975 film than the later version by Mark Bomback, which was used as a basis.
- Director Andy Fickman appears in a cameo as one of the exhibition visitors who is pushed aside by Dwayne Johnson while he searches for the children.
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