Contraband
Short description
Chris Farraday has left his past as a smuggler behind and settled into a quiet family life in New Orleans. That life is disrupted when his brother-in-law Andy botches a drug run for the ruthless dealer Tim Briggs, leaving Chris to cover the debt. To settle it, he returns to the trade he once excelled at, assembling a crew with his friend Sebastian and organising a run to Panama for millions in counterfeit currency. The plan goes wrong, and Chris finds himself pursued by police and criminals alike while his wife Kate and children are drawn into danger.
Baltasar Kormákur directed, working from a screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski. The film is a remake of the Icelandic thriller Reykjavík Rotterdam, which Kormákur himself had co-written and starred in, and it also marks the start of his run of English-language features after Inhale. Mark Wahlberg, who also produced, heads the cast alongside Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Lukas Haas and Caleb Landry Jones.
Made for about 25 million dollars, Contraband took roughly 96 million worldwide, a solid return on its budget. It holds a rating of 6.3 out of 10 on TMDB, based on more than two thousand votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Icelandic director of 'Contraband', Baltasar Kormákur, played the lead role and was one of the producers of the original film 'Reykjavík-Rotterdam' (2008). Editor Elizabeth Rónaldsdóttir worked on both projects, and Icelandic actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson appeared in both the Hollywood remake and the European original.
- Most of the film's scenes were shot in New Orleans. An open casting call was announced for local residents, inviting people of any gender, age, and ethnicity. Due to the specific nature of the film, however, Latino males who spoke both English and Spanish were particularly in demand.
- For the parts of the film set on the ship, all interior scenes were filmed on the S.S. Bellatrix, a giant cargo vessel anchored in Marrero, a suburb of New Orleans. The ship, specifically designed for transporting vehicles, is nearly 290 meters long. Since 2004, due to the high cost of operations, the cargo ship has remained docked almost continuously.
- Exterior maritime scenes were filmed in the port of New Orleans. Finding an available vessel of the appropriate size and appearance was a very difficult task, and the search took five months. Although the script called for two ships, the filmmakers managed quite well with just one. Thanks to the hard work of the set designers, the same 100-meter ship changed its appearance; in one instance, painted blue, it became the B.B.C. Romania, and in another, through partial black painting and the addition of an external section to increase its size, the same ship sailed under the name Borden.
- Certain scenes had to be filmed using a green screen, but it was required that they look as if they were taking place on a river. To achieve this, a large river barge was used as the green screen during filming.
- The armed robbery scene presented particular difficulties. According to the script, it takes place in Panama, but for logistical reasons, it had to be filmed in New Orleans. The film crew managed to find a stretch of highway with a grove of palm trees and a view of the city in the distant background. Five roads had to be closed for the duration of the shoot, with fire department representatives on-site continuously monitoring the situation. After the work was completed, the crew had to collect and remove approximately 30,000 spent shell casings.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
