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Release Date: April 23rd, 2004 (wide)
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Production Company: Regency Enterprises (Down with Love, First Daughter), Scott Free Productions (Tripoli, Gladiator, Matchstick Men)

Cast: Denzel Washington (Creasy), Dakota Fanning (Pinta Balletto), Christopher Walken (Reyburn), Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell (Rika Balletto);

Director: Tony Scott (Top Gun, Spy Game, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State)

Director Notes: (2/19/03) Director Tony Scott had originally been in talks to direct the first adaptation of this story that ended up starring Scott Glenn, way back in the 1980s, as his second film after the David Bowie vampire movie, The Hunger. Scott's relative newcomer status at the time prevented him from landing the job, so he made Top Gun his sophomore effort instead, which ended up making about 500 times more money worldwide than Man on Fire did when it was released a year later (seriously!).

Based Upon: This movie is based upon the novel "Man on Fire" by A.J. Quinnell, which was previously adapted as a 1987 movie starring Scott Glenn (playing Denzel Washington's character), Danny Aiello, Joe Pesci and Jonathan Pryce. Quinnell's novel was reportedly based upon a true story. "A.J. Quinnell" himself/herself is actually a pseudonym for an author that reportedly lives somewhere in the Mediterranean (hence the setting of this movie). The mercenary character of "Creasy" that appears in this novel is also the hero of several of Quinnell's other books. There are rumors that the reason that Quinnell writes pseudonymously is that he is a real life mercenary and adventurer who writes about his own experiences, using the "Creasy" character Denzel and Glenn play as a stand-in for himself.

Setting Note: (5/6/03) The setting has been switched for this version from Naples, Italy to Mexico City.

Premise: A bitter and remorseful former U.S. Marine (Washington) moves to Mexico City to take a position as the bodyguard for a wealthy family who have been receiving kidnapping threats. When their 10-year-old daughter, Pinta (Fanning), whom he had so recently befriended, is indeed kidnapped and murdered, the soldier-turned-guard devotes himself fully to reaping vengeance on those responsible... (Walken plays an old friend of Washington's who tells him about the "job" in Italy; Mitchell plays Pinta's mother)
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