Premium Rush is an upcoming 2012 American
actionAction film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
thriller film directed by
David Koepp-Career:As a writer, Koepp has worked on such blockbuster Hollywood films as Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, and Spider-Man. Koepp had a cameo as the "Unlucky Bastard" in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, in which he was serving as Writer and Second Unit Director.His work as a director has not had...
and written by Koepp and John Kamps. The film stars
Joseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
,
Michael ShannonMichael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
,
Dania RamirezDania Ramirez is a Dominican-American TV and film actress.She is most recently known for playing Alex in Entourage, Maya Herrera in Heroes and Blanca during the last season of The Sopranos. She also played antagonist Callisto in X-Men: The Last Stand.-Early life:Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo,...
and
Jamie ChungJamie Jilynn Chung is an American actress known to reality television audiences as a cast member on the MTV reality television series, The Real World: San Diego and its spin-off show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, and for her appearances in TV and films, such as I Now...
. Setting around a
bicycle messengerBicycle messengers are people who work for courier companies carrying and delivering items by bicycle. Bicycle messengers are most often found in the central business districts of metropolitan areas...
who is chased around
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by a
dirty copPolice corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
who wants an envelope the messenger has, it is scheduled for release on August 24, 2012 by
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
.
Synopsis
The film centers on a New York City bicycle messenger (
Joseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
) who picks up an envelope from
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. A dirty cop (
Michael ShannonMichael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
), desperate to get his hands on the envelope, chases the bicycle messenger around the city.
Cast
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
as Wilee, a New York City bicycle messenger
- Michael Shannon
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
as Bobby, a dirty cop
- Jamie Chung
Jamie Jilynn Chung is an American actress known to reality television audiences as a cast member on the MTV reality television series, The Real World: San Diego and its spin-off show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, and for her appearances in TV and films, such as I Now...
as Nima
- Dania Ramirez
Dania Ramirez is a Dominican-American TV and film actress.She is most recently known for playing Alex in Entourage, Maya Herrera in Heroes and Blanca during the last season of The Sopranos. She also played antagonist Callisto in X-Men: The Last Stand.-Early life:Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo,...
as Vanessa, a bicycle messenger
- Aasif Mandvi
Aasif Hakim Mandviwala , known professionally as Aasif Mandvi , is an American actor and comedian. He began appearing as an occasional contributing correspondent on The Daily Show on August 9, 2006. On March 12, 2007, he was promoted to a regular correspondent.-Early life and stage career:Mandvi...
as Raj
Production
Principal photographythumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began in mid-July 2010 in New York City. Gordon-Levitt was injured during filming on August 1, 2010, when he was cycling too fast and hit the back of a taxi. The impact sent Gordon-Levitt flying into the rear windscreen of the taxi, slashing his arm which required 31 stitches.
Lawsuit and charges of copyright infringement
In 2011, a lawsuit claiming copyright infringement was filed by author
Joe QuirkJoe Quirk is an American author originally from Westfield, New Jersey. His novel The Ultimate Rush, published in 1998, concerns a rollerblading messenger caught in an illegal insider trading ring...
, claiming
Premium Rush was in fact based on Quirk's screenplay from his 1998 novel
The Ultimate RushThe Ultimate Rush is a 1998 novel by author Joe Quirk about a roller-blading messenger Chet Griffin who spends his nights hacking for fun. One of his messenger deliveries gets him mixed up in an illegal investment scheme. He discovers the illegal activities and is framed for murder by a corrupt...
. The suit laid out many plot, character name, and scene similarities to Quirk's original screenplay, and included leaked studio documents that bolstered his claims.