The Hunted
Release Date:
March 14, 2003
The Hunted will be described as a thematic sequel to The Fugitive in virtually every article you read about it so far be it for me to break from the norm. Tommy Lee Jones will be portraying a character with a strong surface similarity to the character of Samuel Gerard. In The Hunted, Jones undertakes the role of L. T. Bonham, a professional tracker and former military survivalist, who is hot on the trailer of a killer named Aaron Hallam. The difference in this search from the pursuit of Dr. Richard Kimble is that Hallam is himself a skilled survivalist whose skill exceeds even Bonham’s. It is Hallam, the assassin, who baits Bonham and an FBI agent, Abby Durrell, into a deadly game of pursuit.
The cast is truly top notch with three different Academy Award winners involved. The villain will be played by the masterful Benicio Del Toro, who became famous overnight in Traffic after an eclectic 15 year career of playing such intriguing characters as Fenster in The Usual Suspects and Longbaugh in Way of the Gun. From these three roles alone, it’s apparent that Del Toro plays a good guy and a villain in roughly the same way: hard-edged and dangerous. His casting in The Hunted looks to be a perfect fit and he even got so into his performance that he broke his wrist, thereby delaying the production by six months. He will be joined by Connie Nielsen, who is most famous for her work in Gladiator but who will also be receiving attention in 2002 for her role in One Hour Photo.
Helming this project is William Friedkin, who also directed Tommy Lee Jones in Rules of Engagement. Perhaps best known for his work in The Exorcist, Friedkin won an Academy Award for his direction in The French Connection. The cinematography is being handled by Caleb Deschanel (yes, Zooey’s dad), who has been nominated four times previous his lens work. The table is certainly set for this film to be a wonderful production with such tremendous talent on board. Since Jones has already found success in a similar role that did so well that a sequel was required and Del Toro will be acting in his first film since picking up an Oscar, expectations are lofty.
If The Hunted is successful, don’t be surprised by a quick sequel. The same characters are in a story idea called The Shooter, a project Jones and Friedkin have been developing together for some time now. If people enjoy the Bonham character, getting a green light for the second project should be a breeze since it’s already so far along in the development stage. (David Mumpower/BOP)
Comparison films for The Hunted |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Batman Forever |
6/16/95 | 52.78 |
73.16 |
2842 |
18571.00 |
24761.3 |
184.03 |
255.10 |
3.49 |
| Men in Black II |
7/5/02 | 52.15 |
54.22 |
3557 |
14661.00 |
14661.0 |
192.40 |
200.03 |
3.47 |
| Men In Black |
7/4/97 | 51.07 |
67.09 |
3020 |
16911.00 |
21369.0 |
250.15 |
328.62 |
4.25 |
| Double Jeopardy |
9/24/99 | 23.16 |
27.59 |
2547 |
9093.00 |
10381.8 |
116.40 |
138.71 |
5.03 |
| Space Cowboys |
8/4/00 | 18.10 |
20.24 |
2805 |
6453.00 |
6943.9 |
89.70 |
100.34 |
4.96 |
| Traffic |
1/5/01 | 15.52 |
16.56 |
1510 |
10277.00 |
10549.8 |
124.11 |
132.46 |
7.96 |
| Rules of Engagement |
4/7/00 | 15.01 |
16.79 |
3155 |
4758.00 |
5119.9 |
61.32 |
68.59 |
4.09 |
| Volcano |
4/25/97 | 14.58 |
19.15 |
2774 |
5256.00 |
6641.6 |
47.49 |
62.38 |
3.26 |
| Snatch |
1/19/01 | 8.01 |
8.54 |
1444 |
5544.00 |
5691.2 |
30.09 |
32.11 |
3.75 |
| Excess Baggage |
8/29/97 | 5.03 |
6.60 |
2211 |
2275.00 |
2874.7 |
14.35 |
18.85 |
2.27 |
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas |
5/22/98 | 3.41 |
4.38 |
1126 |
3028.00 |
3744.6 |
10.56 |
13.57 |
2.43 |
| Usual Suspects, The |
9/15/95 | 3.02 |
4.18 |
874 |
3455.00 |
4606.7 |
23.16 |
32.10 |
4.56 |
| Way of the Gun, The |
9/8/00 | 2.15 |
2.40 |
1515 |
1419.00 |
1526.9 |
6.00 |
6.71 |
2.79 |
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