SYNOPSIS: "The first day [of shooting], I turned to my assistant and said, 'Outside of putting a needle in my arm for five years in the '60s, this is the most insane thing I have ever done,' " says director Schumacher of this project, written by cult horror veteran Larry Cohen (It's Alive!), which at various points attracted and scared off Mel Gibson, Will Smith, the Hughes brothers, Michael Bay, and Jim Carrey. What was everyone afraid of? Maybe the fact that Phone Booth is essentially one long scene: A small-time publicity flack (Farrell) answers a ringing public telephone, and a sniper across the street tells him that if he hangs up he'll be shot. He must try to wiggle out of the jam with the help of his girlfriend, a fast-thinking cop, and, of course, his cell phone. "It was fuckin' horrible," says Farrell of spending ten days inside the booth (constructed on a Los Angeles street made to resemble New York). "I was a nervous wreck. I was smoking nonstop, 120 cigarettes a day." Adding to the pressure, Schumacher shot disparate action simultaneously: One camera would be on Farrell, another on Eldard in his hotel room, and another on Whitaker on the street. The actors "wore earpieces so they could hear each other's cues," Schumacher says. "It was like a play in that sense, with everybody on all the time." Almost Famous: Fox delayed the film's release by a year, hoping that Minority Report would boost Farrell's drawing power. The actor understands. "I fuckin' haven't been in a movie that's done any fuckin' money," he says. "Wouldn't you wait till somebody knows who the fuck I am? 'It's an Irish kid in a phone booth. Whatever. I'll go and see Spider-Man for the third time.' "
|
 |
Phone Booth
Release Date: April 4, 2003
Starring: Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Kiefer Sutherland and Katie Holmes
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
|
Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.