Showing posts with label Getaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Getaway. Show all posts

"Getaway's" Coolest Star is...the Ford Shelby Super Snake!

7:24:00 PM

Despite Hollywood heavyweights Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, one castmember in Warner Bros. Pictures' new action thriller “Getaway” that everyone conceded was by far the coolest is—the Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake!

getaway-selena-gomez-ethan-hawke1

In the film, former race car driver Brent Magna (Hawke) is pitted against the clock. Desperately trying to save the life of his kidnapped wife, Brent commandeers a custom Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake, taking it and its unwitting owner (Gomez) on a high-speed race against time, at the command of the mysterious villain holding his wife hostage.

The Shelby is no ordinary Mustang. It has long been an aspirational auto of choice for motor heads and a pop culture symbol of the American spirit. A limited number are built each year and it is regarded by many as one of the most capable street-legal hotrods in the world. The dedicated cult following reveres its look, performance and custom status.

getaway-movie-image-8

The majority of Shelbys featured in past films were built in the ‘60s; however, two silver 2008 GT500 Super Snakes with black stripes, and a 5.4-liter Ford SVT V-8 725 horse power engine, with 590 lb.-ft of torque—which translates to the ability to make a quarter-run mile in 12.5 seconds, hitting 119 miles-per-hour—were used in the filming of “Getaway.”

Although the Super Snakes were actually driven in intense stunts, they were used very judiciously because of their high value. And, like every real star, the Super Snake had its own stand-ins and stunt doubles.

Director Courtney Solomon attests, “I chose the GT500 Super Snake because ‘Getaway’ takes place in a foreign country, and I wanted the quintessential American muscle car with enough star power to shine with Ethan and Selena. And boy, did it shine.”

Opening across the Philippines on October 16, “Getaway” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Selena Gomez -- Hot-Shot, Tech-Savvy Girl in "Getaway"

4:49:00 PM

Young actress and international music sensation Selena Gomez (“Monte Carlo,” “Hotel Transylvania”) stars opposite Ethan Hawke in Warner Bros.' race-against-the-clock thriller “Getaway.”

getaway-selena-gomez 

In the film, former race car driver Brent Magna (Hawke) is pitted against the clock. Desperately trying to save the life of his kidnapped wife, Brent commandeers a custom Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake, taking it on a high-speed race against time, at the command of the mysterious villain holding his wife hostage.

While trapped in that driver's seat, Magna is being watched by multiple cameras mounted on the Super Snake. Over the course of the night, he is directed to complete a series of tasks without getting killed, and in turn, getting his wife killed. Each task more dangerous for the people inside and outside the car.

getaway-selena-gomez-2

Into that chaos comes the Kid, a young, hot shot, tech-savvy girl who pulls a gun on Brent, jumping in the front seat and demanding that he turn over the keys. Instead, Brent takes control and tells her to get out of the car. But the Voice has other ideas. Although they can barely tolerate each other, the two become dependent on each other to survive the events that unfold nonstop during the longest night of their lives.

Gomez stars as the complete stranger known only as "the Kid," who ends up in the passenger seat of the Super Snake. She loved the idea of doing her first big action movie, noting, "I'd never really done a movie like this before; so I thought it would be challenging and fun for me, especially since all the car stunts were real instead of effects. And they were awesome -- the whole experience was."

Director Courtney Solomon says, "Brent and this girl don't want to be there with each other. She can't stand him. He thinks she is irritating and doesn't need additional responsibility on his shoulders. He's got enough to deal with."

Since the audience is literally behind the dash with them the entire film, casting the pair was crucial.

Solomon remarks, "Ethan's an incredibly strong actor and in casting Selena, we thought she would be able to hold her own with him, and she did. There was a nice contrast and balance between them. She did a terrific job."

Gomez describes the Kid as "spunky and edgy. She knows a lot about cars and technology, which I know nothing about, so, that was interesting for me. I learned a lot. I also loved working with Ethan."

Of his on-screen costar, Hawke says, "Selena was an absolute pleasure. In a lot of ways she had a tougher role than I do. You know, my character's motivation is incredibly simple. He wants to get his wife back, so he's going to do what he's told. It's up to her character to go through all this rigmarole of figuring out a way to fight back. Left to his own devices, Brent would be dead and so would his wife. The Kid is the engine of the movie in a lot of ways."

Gomez offers, "Brent is very intense. You can see that he's extremely broken because his wife is his complete world. In the beginning, my character is very harsh with him and hard to get along with. But they spend all this time with each other in the car so they're obviously going to get to know a lot about each other, whether they want to or not."

Hawke and Gomez had already spent some time preparing for their own stunts. Gomez recalls, "I went in a car with a stunt driver and got a feel for what it was like, and I was terrified -- but not as terrified as I was when Ethan was driving. He gets in the car, we buckle up and he starts doing these donuts. I asked him, 'Have you ever done this before?' and he answers, 'Nope.' I said, 'Great, this is totally how I'm going to die,'" she laughs. "But he's actually a great driver, so between him and Courtney I was in good hands."

Opening across the Philippines on Oct. 16, “Getaway” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Hot Wheels, Crazy Car Stunts in "Getaway"

1:22:00 PM

Warner Bros.' new action-thriller “Getaway” – in which a former race car driver (Ethan Hawke) is pitted against the clock, desperately trying to save the life of his kidnapped wife – boasts of spectacular and death-defying car stunts conceptualized by stuntman and choreographer Charlie Picerni, Sr.

Getaway_4

A veteran of many action blockbusters, Picerni previously worked with producer Joel Silver on several films, including "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon." He recalls, "When I first read the script for `Getaway' it was loaded with action and I knew this would probably be the biggest movie in terms of car stunts I've done and I've done a lot of them. Every night there was a different car chase. Director Courtney Solomon had a mantra: This movie has to be fast driving and hard hitting!"

The stunts became a family affair with Picerni's sons: Steve, the stunt driver double for Brent; and Chuck, also a stunt driver.

Solomon conveys, "I had an amazing stunt crew. Anybody who gets in the car and says, 'Okay, I'm going to go 70 miles an hour, hit another car, flip up a ramp into the air, go 60 feet upside down and come crashing down on a real concrete highway,' and then walks out of the car more charged than they were when they started the whole thing has a certain mentality...and my utter respect."

The Mustang, or "hero car" as it was called, in which Ethan Hawke races through Sofia in Bulgaria is in almost every frame in the film. Steve Picerni drove the Shelby, going 70mph, with two police cars in pursuit and 25 stunt cars coming straight at him. The scene culminated with a "double cannon" -- both police cars crash and catapult over the Shelby.

Most of the chase and crash stunts were carried out with seven Mustangs that were outfitted with a Shelby shell. A perpetual flow of 130 vehicles, including police cars, pedestrian cars, motorcycles and large trucks had to always be in working condition with multiple duplicates on standby. Some nights every Mustang was under repair.

getaway-movie-image-5

By the end of the first month of filming, the production had already amassed its own junkyard.

Shooting the complicated car chases practically presented a significant challenge. Early on, the filmmakers decided that, instead of doing second unit work simultaneously, they would first shoot the second unit action sequences in Bulgaria.

In order to facilitate the action, large sections of the city needed to be closed to public access so Solomon could manipulate and manage the environment. Adding to that, the entire production shot nights.

The crew and stunt teams were there working months before the actors arrived. Hawke, who at the time was in New York doing a play, recalls, "Courtney would send me emails describing the stunt they had done the night before. I've never had that experience. It actually made it a lot easier because we could just match to what happened in the stunt rather than trying to make the stunt match to what we might have done. It just made so much sense."

In fact, 95 percent of everything in which the characters appear is actually the actors in a car, instead of on a stage with a green screen. A "mick rig" was designed, consisting of one of the Mustangs with a Shelby shell, attached to a small truck equipped with cameras in which Solomon and Picerni sat.

The "mick rig" enabled them to drive Selena Gomez and Hawke around the streets of Bulgaria at high speeds.

Solomon explains, "We actually put cop cars rushing up next to them. They were literally in the middle of the action, whipping lefts and rights and turns. When the car went around the corner at 60 the G-force was taking them that way. They felt the shaking and rattling. And that energy made a difference on screen."

Hawke had already spent some time preparing for his own stunts. Before arriving in Bulgaria, Hawke attended a racing school to learn how to properly maneuver like a professional.

Hawke says, "My brother turned me on to a school out in Ohio that teaches you how to do a 180 and drive 120 miles an hour and zip around without hurting yourself. I think it's the biggest rush I've felt since the first time I went on stage. I'd never experienced anything like it. I thought my head was going to come off."

He got to experience that exhilaration again for four days on location, doing his own driving for some intense stunts.

getaway-ethan-hawke-5 (1)

Solomon says, "Ethan's a brave guy, he wanted to be behind the wheel for real. That's Ethan in the car, with two cars scraping against him. That's Ethan weaving in and out of the traffic and ramming another car up against the wall. That's Ethan going out of control in the intersection."

"We had the best stunt team I've ever been involved with," Hawke adds. "The Picernis were just pure testosterone."

Opening across the Philippines on Oct. 16, “Getaway” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

[featured][carousel][5]

Copyright Notice

All work on this site is copyrighted and cannot be reprinted without express consent of the blogger.

Recent Posts

Recent Posts Widget

Random Posts