Blackhat
Short description
Blackhat follows Nicholas Hathaway, a convicted hacker serving time in prison, who is released into the custody of US authorities when his old code surfaces in a cyberattack that throws the Chicago stock exchange into chaos. Partnered with American agents and Chinese specialists, he joins the hunt for whoever is behind the breach. The trail leads from Chicago to Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Jakarta, and the threat behind it turns out to reach beyond financial disruption, targeting a nuclear facility in China. As the search narrows, the case becomes personal for Hathaway.
The film is a cybercrime thriller directed by Michael Mann, who wrote the story with Morgan Davis Foehl providing the screenplay, and it sits between Public Enemies and Ferrari in his filmography. Chris Hemsworth plays Hathaway, with Tang Wei as Chen Lien, Leehom Wang as Chen Dawai, Viola Davis as Carol Barrett, Holt McCallany as Mark Jessup and Andy On as Alex Trang.
Released in January 2015, Blackhat had a budget of 70 million dollars and returned about 18 million worldwide, a poor result against its cost. On IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from roughly 67,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.5 out of 10 from about 2,200 votes. A critics' rating of 4.9 out of 10 from 190 reviews places it below both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The plot of the film is inspired by the story of the "Stuxnet" network worm, which infected computers running the "Windows" operating system. It was discovered in the summer of 2010 by an antivirus expert from a Belarusian company. It is claimed that the network worm set back Iran's nuclear program by several years. The origin of the virus remains unknown.
- Hackers were present on the set, acting as technical consultants.
- Film director Michael Mann donated 300,000 Hong Kong dollars (or $38,500) to the Hong Kong-based independent non-profit organization “Community Chest of Hong Kong” on behalf of Hang Seng Bank in exchange for permission to film in the bank’s lobby during evening hours.
- Michael Mann continued to work on the film even after its release. In February 2016, he presented an alternate director’s cut of the film at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where it premiered. It is claimed that the new version included some new footage, removed some old scenes, and had a different overall runtime, but the plot remained largely the same.
- The term “Blackhat” refers to a villain (as villains invariably wore black hats in classic Westerns). Hackers designated by this term commit crimes out of malice or for personal gain.
- The final scene, filmed during the traditional Balinese Day of Silence, featured 3,000 extras.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
