 Elise (Angelina Jolie) sits next to an American tourist, Frank (Johnny Depp), on a train going to Venice. She has chosen him as a decoy, making believe that he is her lover who is wanted by police. Not only will they need to evade the police, but also the mobster whose money her lover stole.
When Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck presented his vision of The Tourist to producer Graham King, it took King all of 30 minutes to decide that he wanted to finance and produce the film. "I wanted to make a film that would be one of those experiences where you just sit back and enjoy life for a couple of hours,” says Henckel von Donnersmarck.
"When Florian sent me the script, there was a combination of factors that made me want to sign on,” says King. "In the past several years, he had seen a lot of scripts and passed on a lot of scripts – he had his choice of projects – so I was intrigued that he had taken to this one. Having Angelina Jolie attached didn't hurt, either.”
The Tourist, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, written by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and Christopher McQuarrie and Julian Fellowes, is a GK Films and Columbia Pictures presentation in association with Spyglass Entertainment. Spyglass developed the property before GK Films stepped in to finance and produce.
Jolie had been attracted to the project by the potential of the strong female character and by the chance to work with director Henckel von Donnersmarck, and to have him co-write the script. After a very early meeting, it was clear that the director and star were on the same page about the kind of movie they wanted to make. "The Lives of Others is a beautiful, intelligent film, but also heavy,” says Jolie. "When we met, he was very clear that he wanted to make a movie that was luxurious and fun, something that would be exciting for people to watch but didn't take itself too seriously. It was a perfect match.”
Now the most important step for director and producer was to find the right male lead. Says Henckel von Donnersmarck: "We really needed someone who wouldn't be eclipsed by Angelina. When we brainstormed over what actor could be a true partner for her in terms of attractiveness, intelligence and acting skill, the only name that kept coming to our minds was Johnny Depp.”
Johnny Depp and Oscar®-winning producer Graham King have been friends for years, and, recently, have teamed up on several projects. After wrapping one such collaboration and with an eye toward working together again, King mentioned to him that Donnersmarck and he were looking for a leading man to star in a fun, exciting, sexy thriller opposite Angelina Jolie, and both felt that he would be perfect for the part.
So Donnersmarck and Depp had a meeting and talked about The Tourist: "I presented the kind of character I envisioned for him, and he liked it,” says Henckel von Donnersmarck. "Our meeting lasted three hours instead of one, and we laughed so much that I realized I needed to introduce a lot of humor into the script to do justice to Johnny's charm.”
Obviously, Jolie and Depp are two of the most engaging, charismatic, and talented actors working in film, but as the film requires its characters to share an immediate attraction to each other, all felt it was a good idea to meet and talk before signing on. And believe it or not, that is how Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp met for the first time. Despite being two of the biggest movie stars, they had not entered each other's orbit until they sat down to discuss The Tourist with the director and producer. King sat quietly and watched them interact, watching to see how the actors would get along. Perhaps it was no surprise that they clicked from the first moment. "There was complete instant chemistry between them both,” says King.
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 The Tourist
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