Peter Berg still clearly remembers how this terrorist attack affected the diplomatic relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia: "Obviously, this terrorist activity is completely aimed at the United States ... At the same time, Saudi Arabia has racked its brains for this tragedy, and its pain is no less than that experienced by the United States. It was this incident that triggered the FBI's first request to intervene in the Saudi law enforcement system and investigate the case together. However, it turns out that the investigation process is complicated and thankless. Saudi Arabia does not appreciate the feelings of the United States, but also produces resistance. I thought at that time, if this topic was moved to the big screen, what a fascinating story idea it would be, which could not only compare the cultural differences between the United States and Saudi Arabia, but also discuss how many doubts and conflicts this difference would cause. However, when both countries make efforts and respond to the eradication of extremist forces in religion, no matter how big the difference is, it will gradually disappear. "
In the following years, this story concept has been lingering in Peter Berg's mind, accompanied by his directing Moment of Chasing and Weekend Night, and his starting his acting career in Going Up a storey still higher ... During this period, Borg and a very close Saudi friend discussed the political situation and the complexity of Saudi Arabia's relationship with the United States many times, and gradually improved the story concept. Then, the time came to change the fate of the United States.
It was also at that time that Peter Berg suddenly found that the time was ripe for making this kind of film: "After the 9 1 1 incident, there was anti-Saudi hatred in the whole United States, because many hijackers came from there and bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian ... but this sentiment did not affect me and Saudi Arabia. The best way to eliminate this hatred is to show everyone a movie about Saudi Arabia and Americans fighting against extremist violent organizations. At least this is the only meaningful thing I can do at present. "
Peter Berg has always wanted to make an action thriller to show the cooperation between the two countries in maintaining peace. He said: "The whole story revolves around the friendship between two men from different cultural backgrounds, namely, FBI agents and Saudi military officers." In the summer of 2003, this idea was finally recognized by others except Borg and was officially put on the agenda.
Has nothing to do with politics
In June 2003, Peter Berg walked into michael mann's office next door, told him the idea of this story and asked him if he would like to be a producer of such a film. At that time, michael mann was working as a producer for martin scorsese's The Voyager, and he happened to like to challenge the authoritative topic by cooperating with powerful directors ... michael mann's joining made Borg's spirit greatly excited, and he suddenly thought of Matthew Michael carnahan, an unknown screenwriter in his thirties. Borg remembers reading a play he wrote, called Soldier's Field, which tells the story of a Chicago policeman fighting the mafia and Russian gangs. Coincidentally, michael mann also saw it and liked Khana Khan's writing very much.
What Peter Berg appreciates most about Soldier Battlefield is all the strategic views given to it by Matthew Michael Kanahan, so he knows that Kanahan can absolutely materialize his ideas and make a complete screenplay. Borg said, "Khana Khan is a man with a political mind, and he also knows that he should add some grand action scenes to the story at the right time. Because we don't want to turn the film into a current affairs work that exposes political drawbacks, we hope that it will be a box office production with both entertainment and impact, and then truly feedback our political environment with a fair attitude. " Borg finally sold the story idea to Universal Pictures together with michael mann.
For michael mann, it seems that he only has a soft spot for thrillers and ingenious plots with explosive themes, so it is difficult for him to hide his curiosity and thirst for knowledge because of the concept of film put forward by Peter Berg: how to investigate terrorist attacks in the most hostile environment? Michael mann believes that the story surrounding Ronald Lu Rui, the agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, will definitely create great dramatic tension: "No one wants you to go there, even if your government doesn't support you ... These negative forces form the source of conflict, and finally make two policemen and officers with completely different legal systems have a kind of dependence and loyalty that only exists between brothers. Because they are ordinary men who love their families, they are of course responsible for the security and peace of the country. "
Producer Scott Stuber has previously worked with director Peter Berg on Chasing Moment and Weekend Midnight. As the vice chairman of Universal Pictures in charge of global film distribution, he knew that the market potential of this story was huge: "I had lunch with Borg and michael mann, and they told me this story. Tell me that Matthew Michael carnahan is writing a script for this film ... I also like carnahan's Battlefield of Soldiers, so it is a very simple and easy process for me to buy it for Universal Pictures. "
However, after that, Scott Stuber announced that he would leave the film company he founded with Mary Parent, another producer of Universal Pictures. Peter Berg and michael mann contacted Stuber immediately after hearing the news, asking him to stay ... and "Dynasty change" was indeed brought to the universe by Stuber. He couldn't imagine that his departure might kill such an excellent work, so he promised to continue to be a producer. At the same time, Saudi Arabia launched another terrorist attack against westerners. In May 2003, Matthew Michael Kanahan said that he would take this tragedy as the last part of the script.
titbits
Jennifer Garner fainted twice on the set in Phoenix, because it was too hot there, and the temperature exceeded 46 degrees Celsius.
In the film, FBI agent Ronald F. Lu Rui mentioned a newspaper called Trail Forum when talking about terrorist attacks, and Ronald's actor jamie foxx happened to be born in Trail, Texas.
On August 12, 2006, Nick Papac, an assistant prop artist, was driving a van to transport props on a closed 202 expressway in Mercer, Arizona, when he collided with an off-road vehicle carrying director Peter Berger, and suffered multiple head injuries. Three hours after the accident, papak died in the hospital.
In the early version of the script, police officer Huysum was strongly dissatisfied because the government suspected that he had something to do with the bombing and had a set of scenes about him. He said goodbye to four FBI agents sent to Saudi Arabia at the military base, but a secret bomb was tied under his clothes, and the blasting expert Grant Sykes wrestled with him, but Huisumu detonated it before Grant could dismantle the bomb. These scenes were finally replaced by the survival process of Saudi military officer Al Ghazi.
Robert De Niro once wanted to play Grace, the head of the FBI.