Enemy Of The State

Genre: Action/Thriller.

Studio: Touchstone Pictures.
Production Company: Jerry Bruckheimer Productions.

Project Phase: In the Can.

Who's In It: Will Smith (Robert Clayton Dean); Gene Hackman (Brill); Regina King (Carla Dean); Jon Voight (Thomas Brian Reynolds); Jason Robards (Senator Phil Hammersly); Scott Caan (Jones); Jake Busey (Krug); Lisa Bonet (Rachel Banks); Jason Lee (Zavitz); Jaime Kennedy (Jaime); Barry Pepper (Pratt); Gabriel Byrne ("Brill"); Jake Black; Loren Dean (Hicks); Ian Hart; Bodhi Elfman; Seth Green; Tom Sizemore (Pintero).
Who's Making It: Tony Scott (Director); David Marconi (Screenwriters); Jerry Bruckheimer (Producer); Chad Oman, James Skotchdopole, Andy Davis (Executive Producers); Chris Lebenzon (Editor); Daniel Mindel (Director of Photography); Eric McLeod (Production Manager); Artist Robinson (Assistant Director); Benjamin Fernandez (Production Designer); Jennifer Davis, Jim Murakami, Nina Ruscio (Art Directors); Marlene Stewart (Costume Designer); Holly Hagy (Production Coordinator); Bill Kaplan (Sound); Trevor Rabin (Musical Score).

Premise: A lawyer is targeted for death by the NSA after he witnesses a murder. His only hope to survive lies with a former NSA agent who was forced to go underground twenty years ago.

Release Date: November 20, 1998.

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

December 5, 1997... While shooting in Baltimore, the production blows up and subsequently burned an old Dr Pepper warehouse close to Boston Street in the Canton district. [From '2526'.]

February 22nd, 1998... [Page drafted submitted by CA's Public Enemy #1 'Deadpool'.]

Smith plays a Washington labor lawyer who is mistakenly targeted by a rogue National Security Agency surveillance operation. Hackman will play a former NSA operative who was driven underground by the agency 20 years before and comes to Smith's rescue. The picture has an $80 million budget and started filming last October. [Synopsis sent in by Mike Smith and Steve 'Hodder' Carson, with a tip of the hat to 'Sting'.]

February 23, 1998... Enemy of the State also filmed in Washington, D.C. for a few days last fall, in the trendy "bohemian" neighborhood of Adams Morgan. Will Smith was supposedly in town, right around the time he got married. [Submitted by TV-watcher Bill Watcher.]

In a junket promoting Krippendorf's Tribe, Jenna Elfman revealed that her husband of 7 years, Bodhi Elfman, will be acting in Enemy of the State. However, she didn't elaborate on which role or the name of her husband's character will be. [Thanks to 'NSA' for the dish.]

April 19, 1998... D.C. scooper Bill Watcher fills us in on some of the film's details he picked up from just watching the shoot take place. "The movie takes place around Christmas, since the Marriott on 22nd Street has been done up with a Christmas tree, wreaths, and a big sign that just says 'Greetings' (Weird, huh?) Didn't see Will, but saw his body double and stunt double."

The scene the production was shooting looked like a car chase to Watcher. "A white van that says '(something) Consulting' cuts off another car and pulls into an alley across the street from the hotel. They didn't seem to be going particularly fast." Watcher also noted the crew caps worn by the hands: 'Enemy of the State: A Jerry Bruckheimer Production; A Tony Scott Film.' [Thanks to Bill Watcher for the ops work!]

September 1, 1998... Hans Zimmer has pulled out of his composer slot on this project. Trevor Rabin (who previously worked for Bruckheimer scoring this past summer's Armageddon) is replacing Zimmer. ['C' tracked down the target.]

November 16, 1998... The film's screenwriter contacted CA to let us know that our credits section was in error. David Marconi does indeed receive the full writing credit for his work on Enemy of the State. [Thanks to David Marconi for pulling a few strings in the Pentagon for us.]

November 17, 1998... Tuesday night special press-only screenings of Tony Scott's latest film were held. CA has so far received two reviews of Enemy of the State...and both critics said it was by far one of the best that Bruckheimer ever produced. With that kind of praise (and an aching to see a smart action flick), it looks like our Friday evening dance card is filling up fast...

(Still, the first reviewer said EotS beats Crimson Tide hands down. Better than Crimson Tide??? Dialog better than "Sir, no sir I do not concur, SIR!"?? Now you've awoken a sleeping giant.)

"Just saw the film in a press screening...hands down one of the best Bruckheimer films ever, even better than The Rock and Crimson Tide. Anyway, some supplementary informations you may want to update: Jason Robards plays 'Sen. Phil Hammersly' and Tom Sizemore has an uncredited but pivotal role as a mob guy named 'Pintero.'"

[Reviewed by Ken DeLite.]

"I just got in from seeing Enemy of the State and boy was I impressed...coming from seeing a rash of bad action movies, this one was a marked improvement. It had all of the good action-camera shots that were sort of chaotic, but you still knew what was going on. You never lost your sense of direction and you still had an idea of what was going on.

"The dialogue was OUTSTANDING! Never a dull moment, no groaning one liners and...more importantly...the script was not dominated by the star. Will Smith was awesome, but he didn't dominate, which was great...the peripheral characters were outstanding and they were given their share of screen time. Hell...Gabriel Byrne and Jason Lee only had about ten minutes each...much to my dismay. But Gene Hackmans' character was by far the best...I liked his glasses."

[Review sent in by John.]

The Tag Lines:

"It's Not Paranoia If They're Really After You."

"In God We Trust. All Others We Monitor."

Official Web Site: www.enemyofthestate.com



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