''Collide'' is a 2016
action thriller film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Eran Creevy, who also co-wrote it with F. Scott Frazier. The film stars
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in both the American and the British film industries ...
,
Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tel ...
,
Marwan Kenzari
Marwan Kenzari ( ar, مروان كنزاري; born 16 January 1983) is a Dutch actor born in The Hague, Netherlands. Starting his career in 2008, he first came to prominence for his role in the 2013 film ''Wolf'', which earned him a Golden Calf a ...
,
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...
, and
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
. The plot follows two young Americans living in Germany who must complete a drug theft from a crime boss in order to pay for a medical operation.
''Collide'' was first announced in May 2013 as ''Autobahn'', with
Zac Efron and
Amber Heard
Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film ''All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2006), and went on to star in films such as '' The Ward'' (2010) and '' Drive Angry'' (2011). S ...
set to star. After they both dropped out, Hoult and Jones were cast to replace them and filming began in May of the following year.
Collide was released in the United States by
Open Road Films
Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
and grossed $7 million against its $21.5 million budget, and set a new record for
second-weekend drop in box office performance.
Plot
Casey, an American living in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Germany, works with his friend Matthias for a drug dealer, Geran, as money runners. He meets Juliette, another American, one night while she tends bar at one of Geran's hangouts. Though interested in him, Juliette turns him down when he asks her out, stating that she wants nothing to do with someone who runs in Geran's circles, but to look her up when he gets out. Inspired by the conversation, Casey quits his job with Geran, asks Juliette out, and the two quickly begin dating and move in together. All is well for the pair until Juliette suddenly has a seizure one evening and is rushed to the hospital. Told that her kidney is failing, and because she is not a citizen of Germany that she is unqualified for the transplant treatment, Casey proposes that they move back to America for her treatment. In order to obtain the money for the operation and save Juliette, Casey goes back to work for Geran in order to pull off a large drug theft from Germany's biggest drug dealer, Hagen Kahl.
Cast
*
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in both the American and the British film industries ...
as Casey Stein
*
Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tel ...
as Juliette Marne
*
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
as Hagen Kahl
*
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...
as Geran
*
Marwan Kenzari
Marwan Kenzari ( ar, مروان كنزاري; born 16 January 1983) is a Dutch actor born in The Hague, Netherlands. Starting his career in 2008, he first came to prominence for his role in the 2013 film ''Wolf'', which earned him a Golden Calf a ...
as Matthias
*
Clemens Schick
Clemens Schick (born 15 February 1972) is a German actor, model, political activist and human rights advocate.
He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1998, including leading roles in both German and international productions. He has ap ...
as Mirko
*
* Michael Epp as Karl
* Aleksandar Jovanovic as Jonas
* as Talaz
Production
On May 15, 2013,
Zac Efron and
Amber Heard
Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film ''All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2006), and went on to star in films such as '' The Ward'' (2010) and '' Drive Angry'' (2011). S ...
joined the cast of the film, then titled ''Autobahn'', before later dropping out. On May 1, 2014,
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in both the American and the British film industries ...
,
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...
,
Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tel ...
and
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
joined the cast, with Hoult replacing Efron and Jones replacing Heard respectively.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began on May 5, 2014.
Release
''Autobahn'' was scheduled to be released on October 30, 2015, by
Relativity Media
Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commerciall ...
. However, when Relativity filed for bankruptcy, producers had put the film, which had since been retitled ''Collide'', back on the market. An issue occurred when the film was listed in Relativity's assets but IM Global later took back the rights for $200,000. In September 2015, it was announced
Open Road Films
Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
would distribute the film as part of an audit statement. In October 2015, Open Road set an April 1, 2016, release date for the film. It was then pushed back to August 19, In September 2016, it was pushed back to February 3, 2017. In January 2017, the film was pushed back to February 24, 2017.
Reception
Box office
''Collide'' grossed $2.2 million in the United States and Canada and $4.5 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $6.8 million.
[
In North America, ''Collide'' opened alongside '']Get Out
''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Land ...
'' and ''Rock Dog
''Rock Dog'' ( literally "''Rock and Roll Tibetan Mastiff''") is a 2016 computer-animated comedy film produced by Mandoo Pictures and Huayi Brothers. The film is directed by Ash Brannon in his solo directorial debut, from a script by Brannon and ...
'' and was expected to gross $3–4 million from 2,045 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up grossing just $1.5 million, finishing 13th at the box office and marking the 6th-worst-ever debut for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters. In its second weekend the film was pulled from 1,043 theaters and grossed $194,326, dropping 87.2% and marking the biggest-ever second-week decline, breaking the 86.4% set by ''Undiscovered
''Undiscovered'' is a 2005 American drama film directed by Meiert Avis. The plot is about a group of aspiring entertainers who intend to establish their careers in Los Angeles. Released on August 26, 2005, the film received a largely negative r ...
'' in 2005.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Collide'' wastes a talented cast on a would-be thriller fatally undermined by eye-rolling dialogue, logical fallacies, and humdrum set pieces." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
Keith Watson of '' Slant Magazine'' praised Creevy for utilizing the German locations when shooting the action set pieces with "a jaunty, confident air" and the "scenery-chewing" delivered by Hopkins and Kingsley, writing about the latter by saying: "It's difficult to begrudge a film that has the good sense to put so much stock in Ben Kingsley's hammy theatrics." Frank Scheck of ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' commended Creevy and Frazier for adding "amusing, campy touches" to their script that allow both Kingsley and Hopkins to deliver gallows humor but felt it was "forced and artificial", along with the "utterly ludicrous plot machinations" during Casey's escape scenes, concluding that: "The vehicular mayhem is generally well-staged, and the film moves along at a brisk pace during its fat-free, 99-minute running time. But Hoult and Jones are unable to breathe much life into their bland characters, and it's ultimately sad to watch the former Hannibal Lecter and Gandhi reduced to playing silly, tough-guy caricatures." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave it an overall C grade, commending Creevy's "serviceable" direction of the "modestly conceived action sequences", but said that: "The rest is unexceptional, a hodgepodge of corny voice-over and repetitive, anticlimactic plotting, with Hoult and Jones miscast as a couple of party-hardy American expats." Marc Savlov of ''The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
'' called it "a mediocre-at-best chase film" that Creevy and cinematographer Ed Wild shoot with "little visual flair" and a lack of inventiveness outside of the Autobahn pursuit, concluding that "''Collide'' is a cheap genre product produced with an eye on foreign market box office. Wake me when Dominic Toretto
Dominic "Dom" Toretto is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Vin Diesel and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Brian O'Conner, in ''The Fast and ...
torques his way into Havana."[ ]
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Eran Creevy
2016 films
2016 action thriller films
2010s American films
2010s English-language films
2010s German films
American action thriller films
English-language German films
Films about drugs
Films directed by Eran Creevy
Films produced by Joel Silver
Films scored by Ilan Eshkeri
Films set in Cologne
Films shot in Cologne
German action thriller films
Open Road Films films
Silver Pictures films