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Domino (film)
Encyclopedia
Domino is a 2005 American action film directed by Tony Scott
and written by Richard Kelly
. It is inspired by the story of Domino Harvey
, the English daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey
, who became a bounty hunter
working in Los Angeles. The film stars Keira Knightley
as Domino and also features Mickey Rourke
, Edgar Ramirez
, Delroy Lindo
and Mo'Nique in supporting roles. The film is dedicated to Harvey, who died at only 35 years of age from an accidental overdose of fentanyl on June 27, 2005, before the film was released.
), a bounty hunter
, has been arrested by the FBI, which is investigating the theft of $10 million from an armored truck 36 hours prior. Domino is interviewed by criminal psychologist Taryn Mills (Lucy Liu
) and agrees to tell her everything she knows about the case.
Domino, a former model living in Los Angeles becomes a bounty hunter when, after being kicked out of college, she notices a newspaper advertisement for a bounty hunter training seminar. Her colleagues are Ed Moseby (Mickey Rourke
), Choco (Edgar Ramirez
) and their Afghan driver Alf (Riz Abbasi). They are employed by Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo
), a bail bondsman who also runs an armored car business. Claremont's mistress
, Lateesha Rodriguez (Mo'Nique), works for the California Department of Motor Vehicles
. Her granddaughter Mica is suffering from a blood disease and needs an operation urgently. The operation Mica needs costs $300,000 which Lateesha does not have. Claremont comes up with a plan to get the money by setting up the robbery of $10 million from Drake Bishop (Dabney Coleman
), the billionaire owner of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino
in Las Vegas
and a client of Claremont's armored car business. His bounty hunters would then return the stolen money and collect a $300,000 finder's fee from Bishop.
Lateesha has been running a counterfeit driver's license racket at the DMV. A teenager named Frances arrives at the DMV and asks Lateesha for fake driver's licenses for himself, his brother, and two of their friends. The FBI are tipped about Lateesha's counterfeit driver's license racket. They threaten to send her to jail unless she gives them information about Frances, whom they have been surveilling. Lateesha throws them off the trail by stating that Frances, his brother and his two friends are going to commit the robbery, when in reality she and Claremont are planning on doing it themselves.
Lateesha successfully carries out the robbery with the help of three of her co-workers. Claremont then finds out that Frances and his brother, who Lateesha framed for the robbery, are the sons of mafia boss Anthony Cigliutti. He phones Lateesha and tells her to abort the plan, leaving the money with getaway driver Locus Fender who takes the money to his mother's trailer home. Claremont has the bounty hunters apprehend Frances, his brother and his two friends and then tells them to deliver them to men working for Drake Bishop. Claremont next tells them to retrieve the money from Locus Fender and to deliver it to Bishop at the Stratosphere Casino. Following a shootout with Locus's mother the money is retrieved. Cigliutti is told about his sons' arrest and is led to believe that Bishop has had his sons killed. In reality Bishop's men released them on finding that they did not know anything about the robbery. Believing his sons dead, Cigliutti is now out for revenge and, together with his crew, heads for the Stratosphere. In Las Vegas, Domino takes $300,000 of Bishop's money and gives it to Lateesha for Mica's operation.
At the Stratosphere, the bounty hunters meet with Bishop, who has an armed crew with him. Domino and Bishop discuss the money and what should happen next. However, unknown to the bounty hunters, Alf has stolen the money and filled the sacks with plastic explosives. He then reveals that he has the remote detonator taped to his hand, and has already shipped the money to aid freedom fighters in Afghanistan. Shortly after this revelation Anthony Cigliutti turns up with his crew. Though Bishop denies he has had Cigliutti's sons killed, Cigliutti shoots Bishop. In the ensuing gunfight Choco and Ed are severely wounded, but manage to make it into the elevator with the unwounded Domino. Alf waits as long as he can before detonating the explosives, blowing up the top of the Stratosphere, and Domino is the only survivor from the ensuing carnage.
After having told Taryn Mills everything, Domino is released by the FBI. Mills advises Domino to retire from bounty hunting. The film concludes with the money in boxes being delivered to Afghanistan and opened by celebrating children in the streets, Mica getting her operation, and Domino sharing a moment with her mother by the poolside. During the last moments Domino narrates, "I saved her... And when she is older, a woman named Domino will tell her that there is only one conclusion to every story... We all fall down."
In 1994 director Tony Scott was sent an article from the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday
by his business manager Neville Shulman. The article, written by Sacha Gervasi
and titled My gun for hire: Why a movie star's rebel daughter turned into a bounty hunter, was about an English woman named Domino Harvey who was working as a bounty hunter, apprehending fugitives who had skipped bail for the Celes King Bail Bond agency in South Central Los Angeles. While Harvey was one of the few female bounty hunters, what caught the attention of Shulman and Scott was that she was the daughter of the late actor Laurence Harvey
.
Tony Scott tracked Domino to Beverly Hills where she was living at the time with her mother Paulene Stone
and Stone's then husband Peter Morton
. He invited Domino to his office where he proposed a film of her life. Domino agreed and sold the film rights to her life. According to the Los Angeles Times
, Harvey was paid $360,000 for the rights. Tony Scott interviewed Harvey about her life and her work bounty hunting. Scott also met and interviewed Ed Martinez and Choco, who were Domino's bounty hunting colleagues. She took him to meet Celes King III, the bail bondsman whom they worked for.
20th Century Fox
, which had a first refusal deal on the project, turned it down and in the end the film was financed by New Line Cinema
.
Steve Barancik wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1997 which Tony Scott rejected. A second script was written by Roger Avary which was also rejected by Scott. Scott described the two rejected screenplays as conventional biopics of Domino Harvey's life, which was not what he had in mind for the film. Finally, Richard Kelly was asked to write the screenplay after Scott read his script for Southland Tales
. Kelly was sent transcripts of Domino Harvey's interviews with Tony Scott, though he did not read the scripts that Scott had rejected. In discussing the finished product, Kelly commented that "...Domino might be one of the most subversive films released by a major studio since Fight Club
".
The film was released on October 14, 2005 in 2223 theaters across America and grossed $4,670,120 on its opening weekend. The film stayed in release for four weeks and ended up with a gross of $10,169,202. In other territories, the film grossed $12,775,300 which, added to the domestic gross, gave the film a total worldwide gross of $22,944,502. This was an overall loss compared to the film's estimated $50,000,000 budget.
gives the film a score of 19%, based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. At the website Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received a rating average of 36, based on 36 reviews, which it ranks as "generally unfavorable".
with Tony Scott and Richard Kelly, deleted scene
s from the film, featurette
s on Domino Harvey
and the visual style of the film, the teaser trailer
and the theatrical trailer
. While the film was released in its original widescreen
format in all DVD regions, the film was also released in a fullscreen format on Region 1. The film was released on Blu-ray on January 20, 2009.
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
and written by Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly (director)
James Richard Kelly is an American film director and writer, best known for writing and directing the cult classic Donnie Darko in 2001.-Early life:...
. It is inspired by the story of Domino Harvey
Domino Harvey
Domino Harvey was an English bounty hunter, notable within that field for being female and from a privileged background. Though there is speculation as to whether she really was a model, there are in fact photographs which show her involved in what would appear to be modeling-related work...
, the English daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
, who became a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
working in Los Angeles. The film stars Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
as Domino and also features Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
, Edgar Ramirez
Edgar Ramirez
Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano is a Venezuelan actor. He played Carlos in the 2010 French-German biopic series Carlos, a role for which he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor at the César Awards 2011. He also played "Paz", a CIA assassin in the movie The Bourne Ultimatum.Ramírez...
, Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
and Mo'Nique in supporting roles. The film is dedicated to Harvey, who died at only 35 years of age from an accidental overdose of fentanyl on June 27, 2005, before the film was released.
Plot
Domino Harvey (Keira KnightleyKeira Knightley
Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
), a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
, has been arrested by the FBI, which is investigating the theft of $10 million from an armored truck 36 hours prior. Domino is interviewed by criminal psychologist Taryn Mills (Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
) and agrees to tell her everything she knows about the case.
Domino, a former model living in Los Angeles becomes a bounty hunter when, after being kicked out of college, she notices a newspaper advertisement for a bounty hunter training seminar. Her colleagues are Ed Moseby (Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
), Choco (Edgar Ramirez
Edgar Ramirez
Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano is a Venezuelan actor. He played Carlos in the 2010 French-German biopic series Carlos, a role for which he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor at the César Awards 2011. He also played "Paz", a CIA assassin in the movie The Bourne Ultimatum.Ramírez...
) and their Afghan driver Alf (Riz Abbasi). They are employed by Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
), a bail bondsman who also runs an armored car business. Claremont's mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
, Lateesha Rodriguez (Mo'Nique), works for the California Department of Motor Vehicles
Department of Motor Vehicles
In the United States of America, a Department of Motor Vehicles is a state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration and driver licensing. Similar departments exist in Canada...
. Her granddaughter Mica is suffering from a blood disease and needs an operation urgently. The operation Mica needs costs $300,000 which Lateesha does not have. Claremont comes up with a plan to get the money by setting up the robbery of $10 million from Drake Bishop (Dabney Coleman
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
), the billionaire owner of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino
Stratosphere Las Vegas
Stratosphere Las Vegas is a tower, hotel, and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Its tower is also the tallest observation tower, and the 5th-tallest structure, in the United States, as well as being the tallest structure in Las Vegas.It is owned by Whitehall...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and a client of Claremont's armored car business. His bounty hunters would then return the stolen money and collect a $300,000 finder's fee from Bishop.
Lateesha successfully carries out the robbery with the help of three of her co-workers. Claremont then finds out that Frances and his brother, who Lateesha framed for the robbery, are the sons of mafia boss Anthony Cigliutti. He phones Lateesha and tells her to abort the plan, leaving the money with getaway driver Locus Fender who takes the money to his mother's trailer home. Claremont has the bounty hunters apprehend Frances, his brother and his two friends and then tells them to deliver them to men working for Drake Bishop. Claremont next tells them to retrieve the money from Locus Fender and to deliver it to Bishop at the Stratosphere Casino. Following a shootout with Locus's mother the money is retrieved. Cigliutti is told about his sons' arrest and is led to believe that Bishop has had his sons killed. In reality Bishop's men released them on finding that they did not know anything about the robbery. Believing his sons dead, Cigliutti is now out for revenge and, together with his crew, heads for the Stratosphere. In Las Vegas, Domino takes $300,000 of Bishop's money and gives it to Lateesha for Mica's operation.
At the Stratosphere, the bounty hunters meet with Bishop, who has an armed crew with him. Domino and Bishop discuss the money and what should happen next. However, unknown to the bounty hunters, Alf has stolen the money and filled the sacks with plastic explosives. He then reveals that he has the remote detonator taped to his hand, and has already shipped the money to aid freedom fighters in Afghanistan. Shortly after this revelation Anthony Cigliutti turns up with his crew. Though Bishop denies he has had Cigliutti's sons killed, Cigliutti shoots Bishop. In the ensuing gunfight Choco and Ed are severely wounded, but manage to make it into the elevator with the unwounded Domino. Alf waits as long as he can before detonating the explosives, blowing up the top of the Stratosphere, and Domino is the only survivor from the ensuing carnage.
After having told Taryn Mills everything, Domino is released by the FBI. Mills advises Domino to retire from bounty hunting. The film concludes with the money in boxes being delivered to Afghanistan and opened by celebrating children in the streets, Mica getting her operation, and Domino sharing a moment with her mother by the poolside. During the last moments Domino narrates, "I saved her... And when she is older, a woman named Domino will tell her that there is only one conclusion to every story... We all fall down."
Cast
- Keira KnightleyKeira KnightleyKeira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
as Domino HarveyDomino HarveyDomino Harvey was an English bounty hunter, notable within that field for being female and from a privileged background. Though there is speculation as to whether she really was a model, there are in fact photographs which show her involved in what would appear to be modeling-related work...
. Tony Scott thought of Knightley for the role after seeing her in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 adventure fantasy film based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
. - Mickey RourkeMickey RourkePhilip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
as Ed Moseby. Rourke initially turned down the film, describing the part of bounty hunter Ed Moseby as "one dimensional". He agreed to do the film when Tony Scott had the role rewritten. - Edgar RamirezEdgar RamirezÉdgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano is a Venezuelan actor. He played Carlos in the 2010 French-German biopic series Carlos, a role for which he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor at the César Awards 2011. He also played "Paz", a CIA assassin in the movie The Bourne Ultimatum.Ramírez...
as Choco - Riz Abbasi as Alf
- Delroy LindoDelroy LindoDelroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
as Claremont Williams III - Mo'Nique as Lateesha Rodriguez
- Dabney ColemanDabney ColemanDabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
as Drake Bishop - Lucy LiuLucy LiuLucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
as Taryn Mills - Jacqueline BissetJacqueline BissetJacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Bullitt , Airport , The Deep , Class , and the TV series Nip/Tuck in 2006...
as Sophie Wynn - Christopher WalkenChristopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
as Mark Heiss - Mena SuvariMena SuvariMena Alexandra Suvari is an American actress, fashion designer, and model. Shortly after beginning her career as a model, she appeared in guest roles on 1990's television shows such as Boy Meets World and High Incident...
as Kimmie - Ian ZieringIan ZieringIan Andrew Ziering is an American actor best known for playing Steve Sanders on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210.-Personal life:...
and Brian Austin GreenBrian Austin GreenBrian Austin Green is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of David Silver on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role he played from 1990 to 2000. Green also starred in the sitcom Freddie and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Since 2009, he has appeared in a recurring...
as themselves - Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
as the Wanderer - Jerry SpringerJerry SpringerGerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...
also appears as himself - Kel O'Neill as Frances
- Peter JacobsonPeter JacobsonPeter S. Jacobson is an American film and television actor.-Life and career:Jacobson was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Chicago news anchor Walter Jacobson. He is a graduate of Brown University and Juilliard...
as Burke Beckett - Dale DickeyDale DickeyDale Dickey is an American actress best known for her recurring role as Patty on My Name is Earl and for her supporting roles in films such as Domino and Winter's Bone....
as Edna Fender - Lew TempleLew TempleLew Temple is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Locus Fender in the action film, Domino starring Keira Knightley, and Cal, the diner manager in the comedy-drama Waitress starring Keri Russell....
as Locus Fender - Fred Koehler as Chuckie.
- Charles Paraventi as Howie Stein
- T.K. Carter as Lester Kincaid
- Ashley Monique ClarkAshley Monique ClarkAshley Monique Clark is an American television actress best known for the role as Sydney Hughley on the ABC and UPN television program, The Hughleys....
as Kee Kee Rodriguez - Joseph NunezJoseph NunezJoseph Nunez is an American actor and comedian most notable for his recurring role as Manche Sanchez on the show Prison Break. He also played a cleaner in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and the man who ran over Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness...
as Raul Chavez - Tabitha Brownstone as a eight year old Domino
- Adam Clark as agent Eric Cosgrove
- Donna Scott as agent Dina Wilson.
Development
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
by his business manager Neville Shulman. The article, written by Sacha Gervasi
Sacha Gervasi
-Early life and career in screen-writing:Born Alexander Gervasi in London in 1966, Gervasi was educated at Westminster School, and then read modern history at King's College London...
and titled My gun for hire: Why a movie star's rebel daughter turned into a bounty hunter, was about an English woman named Domino Harvey who was working as a bounty hunter, apprehending fugitives who had skipped bail for the Celes King Bail Bond agency in South Central Los Angeles. While Harvey was one of the few female bounty hunters, what caught the attention of Shulman and Scott was that she was the daughter of the late actor Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
.
Tony Scott tracked Domino to Beverly Hills where she was living at the time with her mother Paulene Stone
Paulene Stone
thumb|right|200px|Paulene StonePaulene Stone is a former Vogue cover girl who embodied Swinging London in the 1960s.A top English fashion model of the sixties, she gave birth to actor Laurence Harvey's only child, Domino Harvey. A 1960 image of her that ran in the Daily Express helped to launch...
and Stone's then husband Peter Morton
Peter Morton
Peter Morton was the co-founder with Isaac Tigrett of the Hard Rock Café, a chain of casual dining restaurants. His father is Arnie Morton, founder of Morton's, and his son is Harry Morton, founder of Pink Taco restaurants...
. He invited Domino to his office where he proposed a film of her life. Domino agreed and sold the film rights to her life. According to the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Harvey was paid $360,000 for the rights. Tony Scott interviewed Harvey about her life and her work bounty hunting. Scott also met and interviewed Ed Martinez and Choco, who were Domino's bounty hunting colleagues. She took him to meet Celes King III, the bail bondsman whom they worked for.
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, which had a first refusal deal on the project, turned it down and in the end the film was financed by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
.
Steve Barancik wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1997 which Tony Scott rejected. A second script was written by Roger Avary which was also rejected by Scott. Scott described the two rejected screenplays as conventional biopics of Domino Harvey's life, which was not what he had in mind for the film. Finally, Richard Kelly was asked to write the screenplay after Scott read his script for Southland Tales
Southland Tales
Southland Tales is a 2006 American-Franco-German science fiction dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Kelly. The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and Greater Los Angeles...
. Kelly was sent transcripts of Domino Harvey's interviews with Tony Scott, though he did not read the scripts that Scott had rejected. In discussing the finished product, Kelly commented that "...Domino might be one of the most subversive films released by a major studio since Fight Club
Fight Club (film)
Fight Club is a 1999 American film based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an "everyman" who is discontented with his white-collar job...
".
Release
The release date of the film was announced and delayed several times. The original release date was August 19, 2005. On May 22, 2005, the release date was changed to November 4, 2005. On June 28, 2005, the release date was changed to November 23, 2005. On July 11, 2005, it was moved to October 14, 2005, which was the date the film was released on. The film had its premiere on October 11, 2005 in Los Angeles.The film was released on October 14, 2005 in 2223 theaters across America and grossed $4,670,120 on its opening weekend. The film stayed in release for four weeks and ended up with a gross of $10,169,202. In other territories, the film grossed $12,775,300 which, added to the domestic gross, gave the film a total worldwide gross of $22,944,502. This was an overall loss compared to the film's estimated $50,000,000 budget.
Reception
Domino received mostly negative reviews. Review aggregate website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 19%, based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. At the website Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received a rating average of 36, based on 36 reviews, which it ranks as "generally unfavorable".
Home media
The film was released on DVD on February 21, 2006. The DVD contained several extra features including an audio commentaryAudio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
with Tony Scott and Richard Kelly, deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s from the film, featurette
Featurette
Featurette is a term used in the American film industry to designate a film whose length is approximately three quarters of a reel, or about 20–44 minutes in running time - thus midway between a short subject and a feature film; thus it is a "small feature"...
s on Domino Harvey
Domino Harvey
Domino Harvey was an English bounty hunter, notable within that field for being female and from a privileged background. Though there is speculation as to whether she really was a model, there are in fact photographs which show her involved in what would appear to be modeling-related work...
and the visual style of the film, the teaser trailer
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
and the theatrical trailer
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
. While the film was released in its original widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
format in all DVD regions, the film was also released in a fullscreen format on Region 1. The film was released on Blu-ray on January 20, 2009.