SALT soars with Php 100M in 12 days!

MANILA, Aug. 9 – There’s no stopping the tenacious Evelyn Salt in her box-office domination! Angelina Jolie’s power-packed action-thriller Salt breached the landmark P100-million gross Sunday, Aug. 8 or 12 days after its release. This according to Victor R. Cabrera, managing director of distributor Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

The film’s cumulative nationwide gross now stands at a spectacular P100.11-million, easily beating the final grosses of previous spy megahits such as Wanted (P94.65-M), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (P83.26-M) and all three Jason Bourne movies -- The Bourne Ultimatum (P58.07-M), The Bourne Supremacy (P35.90-M) and The Bourne Identity (P 36.80-M).

Salt also became the 2nd P100-M hit for Columbia this year, after last June’s blockbuster The Karate Kid.

The Philip Noyce-directed actioner continued to impress discriminating local critics. “Among the fine cinematic lessons Salt teaches is a veritable crash course in relentless editing for maximum suspense and visceral impact,” wrote Nestor Torre in his column. “From the film’s shocking start to its `twist within a twist’ conclusion, the movie’s pacing and ever-intensifying conclusion doesn’t let up until the viewer ends up feeling like a very wet and limp dishrag—no kidding.”

Widely-read columnist Scott Garceau wrote that after the expositional back-story, “Salt kicks into high gear and doesn’t look back. There are enough stunts here to fill a Die Hard trilogy or a handful of Jason Bourne flicks.”

The cinemas that posted the biggest grosses for “Salt” are Trinoma (P6.13-M), SM Mall of Asia (P5.04-M), Glorietta 4 (P3.90-M), SM Megamall (P3.65-M), SM North EDSA (P3.20-M), SM Cebu (P3.12-M), Greenbelt 3 (P3.11-M), Power Plant (P3.03-M), Alabang Town Center (P2.83-M) and Ayala Cebu (P2.66-M).

Also doing great business are Gateway (P2.65-M), Shang Cineplex (P2.29-M), Eastwood (P2.23-M), Robinsons Ermita (P2.19-M), Greenhills (P2.01-M), Gaisano Davao (P1.92-M), Robinsons Galleria (P1.87-M), Market! Market! (P1.71-M), Festival (1.67-M) and SM San Lazaro (P1.33-M)

In the film, CIA officer Evelyn Salt (Jolie) swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture. Salt's efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: "Who Is Salt?"

Still playing across the Philippines, “Salt” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.sonypictures.com.ph to get the latest movie news, video clips, games and free downloads. Find us on Facebook www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.

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SALT movie review

Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA agent which is a Russian spy undercover assigned to kill the Russian president during his visit at the United States. trained and carefully planned by her colleagues, she was fortunate enough to do her job.

but on the other hand, she was also being used by radical Russian ambition to take over and gain power against American power by threatening international security. since she is an asset to the group, they kidnapped and killed her husband as lure to bring her back. but Salt had other plans in mind.

thus, Evelyn Salt has to take herself into exile from the security measures to keep herself alive and bring justice to her husband.

Sony International Pictures packed Salt with extreme action stunts done by Angelina Jolie herself. honestly i wasn't that satisfied seeing Salt. but it is way too far as they wanted to achieve that James Bond appreciation. Lara Croft will still be a better movie for Jolie in terms of action. i expected even more extreme action but from what you see in the trailer, those i think are the best parts. story wise, it was like any other police or CIA or FBI or INTERPOL chases halting terrorist threats.

if you want to see SALT, it opens on July 28, 2010 in theaters nationwide by Sony International Pictures.

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and then Jolie became SALT

Columbia Pictures’ new, contemporary spy thriller SALT, starring Angelina Jolie, began life with an offhand comment Jolie made a few years ago. “I was meeting with (Sony Pictures Co-Chairman) Amy Pascal when it came up in conversation that she was getting ready to make one of the new James Bond films,” Jolie remembers. “I playfully said, ‘I want to be Bond!’ That was our little joke, and then she found this project.”

Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer had originally conceived the role of Salt to be played by a male actor. His original spec script was developed with producer Sunil Perkash, who then brought it to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Amy Pascal at Sony, who in turn brought on director Phillip Noyce. Like all motion picture projects, the screenplay then went through several drafts, but the major change to the script occurred when the filmmakers envisioned Jolie, an Academy Award®-winning actress and one of the few women in the world who can carry an action picture, in the title role. Very quickly, “Edwin Salt” became “Evelyn Salt.” “We had a really smart script we all collectively loved with an intriguing and complex character, so the idea of Angelina doing this suddenly felt like a no brainer,” says Perkash. “She's an incredible actress who would bring such depth and realism to a very enigmatic character. Having that realism in an otherwise fantastical story was very important, and we were beyond thrilled when she responded to the role.”

“When we changed the gender of the main character, we began to question the dynamic of every scene,” explains producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. “We didn’t simply question whether a woman would make all the same choices, but also how the other characters would act or react differently, given that it’s a woman. It was a huge change that rippled through the entire script.”

In the movie, Evelyn Salt must go on the run to prove her innocence when a defector alleges that she’s a mole, triggering Day X – the day when Russian sleeper spies awaken and begin the war against the United States .

Producer di Bonaventura says that the notion of sleeper spies is not fantasy. “There’s no question that they exist,” he says. “The CIA believes that they exist. There’s something really mysterious and sexy about the notion that somebody could lie in wait – for decades, if necessary.”

For example, it has been contended that Soviet Union, and then Russia, deployed covert agents masquerading as citizens in Western countries in the 1980s and 1990s as part of a network of intelligence operatives who would live under assumed names for fifteen to twenty years, or longer. When activated, these sleeper spies would then orchestrate “Day X,” a chain of sabotage and terrorist attacks within the United States , the beginning of a large-scale war with Russia . Sleeper spies for Russia have been discovered in recent years in Estonia and Canada , and the 2006 poisoning death of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London remains a mystery. Just recently, a group of people – assumed by their friends and neighbors to be living ordinary lives – were arrested by US federal prosecutors and accused of being part of a spy ring, living under false identities in deep cover in an effort to carry out assignments for Russia .

“I have no doubt that sleeper spies are out there,” says Phillip Noyce, director of the film. “It’s been a part of spycraft since day one. Even before reading Kurt Wimmer's script, I was fascinated by the question of what might happen if long at rest sleeper spies were suddenly called to action.”

Opening across the Philippines on July 28, Salt is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and like the fanpage to get the latest movie news, video clips and contests.

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PHILLIP NOYCE interview for SALT

Australian director Phillip Noyce has done it all, from acclaimed thrillers like “Clear and Present Danger” and "Patriot Games" to dramas such as "The Quiet American.” Now he's back in the chair for the much anticipated spy thriller SALT, which reunites him with his "The Bone Collector" co-star Angelina Jolie.

In this interview, Noyce takes time out from filming in New York City to talk at length about the film, how it changed from a Tom Cruise movie to a Angelina Jolie film, and working with the talented actress.

Question: This film went from a male lead character, then to a female lead character. And it went through a whole sort of casting process…

Philip Noyce: In the original script by Kurt Wimmer, the lead character was called, at that time, Edwin A. Salt. We discussed the film with Tom Cruise, we had a table read with various actors, including Samuel L. Jackson, who kindly played one of the parts, just so we could hear the script read.

After that table read, Sony Pictures decided they definitely wanted to make the film. Around that time Tom wasn’t prepared to commit to the script as it was – his main fears were that the character was too close to “Mission: Impossible’s” Ethan Hunt, being a rogue spy, with extraordinary abilities. So over many months, we tried to twist and turn the story to differentiate the character of Edwin Salt from Ethan Hunt. But, Tom had a valid point. It was kind of returning to an offshoot of a character that he’d already played. It’s like playing the brother, or the cousin, of somebody that you played in another movie.

Then the project was in hiatus for a couple of weeks. Sony’s Amy Pascal had been talking over the years and had often spoken to Angelina Jolie. They’d expressed their mutual respect for each other and also, their mutual desire to try and create a female spy franchise, so we sent the script to Angelina. Then that script was revised by Brian Helgeland, who basically did a character pass. Based on that script, Angelina committed.

Question: Is the basic script you’re shooting now the same as the Cruise script, in terms of plot structure, and that kind of thing?

Noyce: The script was always evolving. I think that it’s just been a continual process, obviously accelerated by changing the central character. But the locomotive of ideas that drives the movie are the same. An undercover CIA operative is accused of being a Russian mole, and has to go on the run to defend herself. That’s been the same since day one. The tone of the film has changed in this evolution. In the same way, as action thrillers have changed along the lines of the Bond films and the Bourne films. Bond used to be almost cartoonish but now, you can take those Bond stories very seriously, on a dramatic and emotional level.

Question: So, this has a more realistic edge to it?

Noyce: Yeah, it has evolved into a story where we hope at all times that the audience takes seriously the emotional interplay between the characters, and are very, very involved on an emotional level with the story. As well as getting enormous thrills and spills, and all the other popcorn elements that you’d hope to see in a summer movie.

Question: Are you in your element making this kind of movie?

Noyce: This movie is sort of a combination of every movie I’ve ever made, in a weird way. So, was I in my element? Yes. However, the major thing the audience is going to find is that the movie’s a showcase for the incredibly diverse talents of Angelina Jolie. When I say "incredibly", that’s not an understatement. Incredibly diverse. As we know, she’s a brilliant dramatic actress. Without a doubt. That’s been proven. But she’s also shown that she can kick ass as good as any man. In this film, she gets to do both and she does both in a way that I think will startle audiences. It’s highly dramatic, it’s highly emotional. It’s a thrill a minute. People are going to be very, very surprised by what they see, and by what they see her do. As I have been.

(Opening soon across the Philippines, SALT is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and like the fanpage to get the latest movie news, video clips and contests.)

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