Red 2 (2013) Production Notes

In RED 2, the high-octane action-comedy sequel to the worldwide sleeper hit, retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing, next-generation lethal device that can change the balance of world power. To succeed, they’ll need to survive an army of relentless assassins, ruthless terrorists and power-crazed government officials, all eager to get their hands on the technologically advanced super weapon.

Please note: Some production notes may contain spoilers.

Former CIA black ops agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) has spent his life dealing with bad guys. Hand-to-hand combat, diplomatic intrigue, jumping out of moving things are his tools of the trade. Only when it came to a burgeoning relationship with Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) did things get shaky for him.

Frank is now content in their quiet life but Sarah is worried that he hasn’t killed anyone in months and that things are getting a little stale between them. She wants to mix things up a little so that their lives are filled with adventure, romance and danger—things they can do as a couple.

Sarah is about to get her wish to “be one of the guys” and Frank learns that keeping the girl is a lot more work than getting the girl and while saving the world can be hard, relationships are ridiculously hard.

Summit Entertainment presents a di Bonaventura Pictures production, Red 2 stars Bruce Willis, Academy Award® nominee John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker and Academy Award® winners Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Directed by Dean Parisot from a screenplay by Jon Hoeber & Eric Hoeber and based on characters created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, the movie also stars Byung Hun Lee, Brian Cox, and Neal McDonough and is produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian. .

The high-octane action-comedy sequel to the worldwide hit of 2010 finds Frank Moses and his old partner Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) still in the not-so-sedate life of retirement, but are now being dragged into a whirlwind as a next generation weapon—Nightshade—from the Cold War that went missing on Frank and Marvin’s watch has apparently resurfaced. And everyone now thinks that the two of them know its whereabouts. MI6 has given Frank and Marvin’s buddy, deadly sharpshooter Victoria (Helen Mirren) a contract to eliminate the duo. In addition, a corrupt U.S. official (Neal McDonough) is sending another contract killer Han (Byung Hun Lee) after them which is music to Han’s ears, since he has an old score to settle with Frank.

Their mission has them hop scotching the globe from London to Paris to Moscow where they cross paths with Frank’s old flame Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and all of them are trying find a long-ago locked away genius scientist Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) who might be able to unravel the mystery of Nightshade, save themselves and save the world.

About The Production

The filmmakers were cognizant that in order to hold onto the comedic elements of the story they had to commit to the action and adventure first and then “the concerns of the characters which at times seem ludicrous become believable,” says director Parisot. “The structure is of an action movie but the characters are comedic because they can’t resolve their absurd issues which are happening during a lot of extreme violence.”

While the movie is filled with exotic locations, a scintillating car chase through Paris, and action galore, at its core it’s a relationship movie and the difficulty of lifer in the Black Ops game (Frank) and him wanting to do the right thing keep his fragile china doll (Sarah) safe. She wants the opposite and finds an ally in Marvin.

“Frank is ill-equipped to handle a basic relationship and Marvin is only too happy to dispense advice on how to make a relationship work, yet there’s a good chance Marvin knows nothing about the subject,” says Willis.

“The old adage ‘a stopped clock is right twice a day’ is applicable here because Marvin is most likely idiotic about relationships and any knowledge he thinks he has probably came from a self-help book because I can’t see Marvin in a relationship,” notes Malkovich.

Frank gets a more sophisticated and educated angle on relationships from Victoria who is well versed in mixing work and romance. “I think Victoria is in charge of Frank’s emotional life to a certain extent,” says Helen Mirren who reprises her role as Victoria. “Marvin may advise Frank, but Frank pays attention to Victoria who actually has had relationships in the context of her work. “She’s balanced in a strangely perverse way but understands that you could die at any time, so you have to commit and move forward,” notes Parisot.

“The great thing about all these characters is that while they lead the most extraordinary lives they have very ordinary problems and are saddled with the same inefficient inadequacies that the rest of us have,” says Mirren.

On the other hand, Sarah, while more emotionally stable, is not all together when it comes to her spy skill set. “She’s not a good liar; not very crafty and just doesn’t have a lot of valuable traits at her disposal,” says Parker. And when she meets Frank’s ex-flame (Katja) and sees the polish sophistication and sheer sultriness…Well, Sarah has her work cut out for her. “She just wants to be one of the gang and for a while all she can fall back on is her earnestness.”

“From the beginning, our goal was to provide the audience with a bigger, more expansive experience than the first movie,” says producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. “But one of the dangers with sequels is that they can get too silly and soft and Bruce and myself were very cognizant of that during the development. Frank Moses is still a hard guy who’s going to pull a gun before he asks a question and Bruce was always grinding, pushing, analyzing because he wants the best out of the movie.”

What remains from the first movie, however, is the almost retro feel of the dialogue between Frank and Sarah. “Bruce and me always thought that our interplay should have a 1930s screwball comedy feel to it,” says Parker.

The interplay between the two actors gave Parisot a lot of options in the editing room: “Mary-Louise and Bruce play off of each other so brilliantly that I chose to go with a lot more two-shots than singles because I didn’t want to cut away from either of them,” says Parisot. “It’s a lot like the chemistry of the old Tracy-Hepburn movies and it was great fun watching them on set get to a fantastic place in the scene.”

With Morgan Freeman’s character dying in the first movie, the creative team had a challenge of more than just setting scenes in London and Paris; they needed firepower within the story and the cast to fill it. “We have powerhouse actors with Bruce, Mary-Louise, Malkovich, Helen and Brian Cox from the first movie, so we have to cast actors who can hold the screen with these folks and also create roles that challenge everyone as actors,” says producer Mark Vahradian.

Without tripping the gag on Anthony Hopkins’ character of Edward Bailey, Hopkins reached back into British history to create an armature for his character. “Tony was sending me emails a couple months before production trying to create this character and it was detailed as to what shoes Bailey would wear,” recalls Parisot. “He reads the script over and over and slowly evolves a character that is so much more than what was written.”

“I do go a bit overboard in reading the text… at least a couple hundred times,” says Hopkins. “But I do it so that I have a framework for improvising because you can open your brain up and not worry about the text because you know it cold. That’s when acting gets fun,” says Hopkins.

Zeta-Jones took the cliché of the female Russian spy and turned it on its head by adding comedy and quirkiness to tilt the character. “My goal was not to make it one dimensional—the type we’ve seen in Bond movies,” she notes. “When I read the script the first thing I did—well, after saying yes—was to go through scores of fashion magazines and send them off to Dean so we could visualize what Katja was about.”

Her scenes on the streets of Paris certainly were worthy of the iconic reputation the city has won for its history of fashion. “There was something wildly intense and eccentric what Catherine wore for the scene where she and Bruce’s character track down David Thewlis’s character of The Frog,” says Parisot. “Along with our costume designer Beatrix Pasztor, the two of them found the character in the wardrobe.”

David Thewlis also starting working on his character of The Frog in pre-production by sending Parisot photographs. They settled on a James Joyce look for his character of The Frog, a misanthrope who has the goods on any and all nefarious activity around the globe. He uses his ill-gotten knowledge to fund his devotion to the most expensive wines.

The anticipated sequel began production Sept. 14, 2012 in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium. Built for the 1976 summer Olympic Games, the facility, like nearly all the multi-use stadiums built in the United States during the 1970s, is rarely used. The concrete dominated structure’s concourses have a very “bunker-like” look, so it dovetailed nicely with the need for the British government’s MI6 secret location.

Production continued for 14 shooting days with locations including a spectacular home that doubled for “The Frog’s” Paris apartment. Built in 1914 by famed architect Jean-Omer Marchand it is located on Wood St. in Montreal’s fashionable Westmount section. Other Montreal locations include a former branch of the Royal Bank of Canada in Old Montreal; St.-Andrew’s church in Chateauguay; the opening scene of the movie was shot in a Costco; the City of Montreal’s Finance Building stood in for the Kremlin’s headquarters and north of the city in St-Colomban was the set for Hank’s Internet Café, which 30 years earlier was the resort the Colford Inn.

Five scenic days were then shot in Paris (as opposed to movies which will have an establishing shot of the Eiffel Tower, then cut to interior shots).

“It was important to us to shoot in Paris,” notes di Bonaventura, “because Paris gives a sense of romance and the romance between Frank and Sarah is looking for its footing. She wants adventure and to be in Paris on a mission is beyond romantic for her.”

The city was also chosen because it’s the place where Frank and Katja see each other for the first time and it gives an insecure Sarah a reason to “up her game” and buy clothes in Paris to at least try and close the gap between her and her perceived rival.

The first day, October 10, was in front of and inside of the Hotel Regina, facing Jardin des Tuileries (The Tuileries Garden) and the Louvre immediately around the corner. A couple hundred onlookers watched from the across the street and for the day the shoot became yet another tourist attraction in Paris.

Much of the Paris shoot revolves around a car chase involving the characters of Willis, Malkovich, Parker, Zeta-Jones and David Thewlis’ quasi-man-of-mystery character “The Frog” on Pont de la Tournelle on the east side of the majestic Gothic masterpiece, Notre Dame. A specially retrofitted Citroen was rigged so that it could drive down the steps to the bank of the Seine.

On October 12, the car chase sequence moved to neighborhood in the shadow of the Pantheon on Rue St. Etienne du Mont on the Left Bank and a day later moved around the corner to Rue de la Montage Ste Genevieve which the locale for Midnight in Paris when Owen Wilson’s character caught his nightly other worldly taxi tide. For Red 2 the scene of Frank and Katja reminiscing over a dinner at an outdoor café was mere yards from the Woody Allen movie. “When we scouted the location it was during the day and it was not until we came to shoot at night did we realize where we were,” notes Parisot.

The company moved on to London with the first scene shot featuring Willis, Malkovich, Parker and Mirren on a Thames riverboat cruise. London’s Fishmonger’s Hall was utilized as the Iranian embassy in its courtyard and the ornate Banqueting Hall.

A street in Moscow was created on October 27, a quiet Saturday in the shuttered financial district in central London that, appropriately enough, had a chill factor in the 20s when the day began.

Closed since 1994 as the realization that the Cold War was truly over, RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire posed as a Russian airfield with the Dunsfold aeropark (another shuttered RAF base) the locale for the German airfield.

The scenes that take place in Paris’ Hotel George-V was done with a variety of London locations; the Langham Hotel, the stately Hedsor House in Taplow and the Luten Hoo estate which has been used for such movies as Four Weddings and a Funeral, War Horse and Eyes Wide Shut.

The inner sanctum of the Kremlin was built in East London at Tobacco Dock. Built in the early 18th century as a warehouse for the storage of tobacco from the New World, the most recent incarnation of the building was a shopping mall until it shuttered a few years ago. The ground floor of arching brick passageways made it ideal to give of a sense of foreboding for the scenes.

About The Cast

BRUCE WILLIS (Frank Moses) has demonstrated incredible versatility in a career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994 Palme D’Or winner at Cannes), the philandering contractor in Robert Benton’s Nobody’s Fool, the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, the traumatized Vietnam veteran in Norman Jewison’s In Country, the compassionate child psychologist in M. Night Shyamalan’s Oscar®-nominated The Sixth Sense (for which he won the People’s Choice Award) and his signature role, Detective John McClane, in the Die Hard pentalogy.

Following studies at Montclair State College’s prestigious theater program, the New Jersey native honed his craft in several stage plays and countless television commercials, before landing the leading role in Sam Shepard’s 1984 stage drama Fool for Love, a run which lasted for 100 performances off-Broadway.

Willis next won international stardom and several acting awards, including Emmy® and Golden Globe® honors, for his starring role as private eye David Addison on the hit television series “Moonlighting,” winning the role over 3,000 other contenders. At the same time, he made his motion picture debut opposite Kim Basinger in Blake Edwards’ romantic comedy Blind Date.

In 1988, he originated the role of John McClane in the blockbuster film, Die Hard, one of the highest-grossing releases of that year. He later reprised the character in four sequels: Die Hard: Die Harder (1990), Die Hard: With A Vengeance (1995’s global box-office champ), Live Free, Die Hard (one of the box-office hits of summer 2007) and a Good Day To Die Hard (2013).

His wide array of film roles includes collaborations with such respected filmmakers as Michael Bay (Armageddon), M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable), Alan Rudolph (Mortal Thoughts, Breakfast of Champions), Walter Hill (Last Man Standing), Robert Benton (Billy Bathgate, Nobody’s Fool), Rob Reiner (The Story of Us), Edward Zwick (The Siege), Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), Barry Levinson (Bandits, What Just Happened), Robert Zemeckis (Death Becomes Her) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Grind House).

Other motion picture credits include 2010’s Red, where he originated the role of Frank Moses; The Jackal, Mercury Rising, Hart’s War, The Whole Nine Yards (and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards), The Kid, Tears of the Sun, Hostage, 16 Blocks, Alpha Dog, Lucky Number Slevin and Perfect Stranger. He also voiced the character of the wise-cracking infant, Mikey, in Look Who’s Talking and Look Who’s Talking Too as well as the lead characters RJ & Spike in the animated hit features Over the Hedge and Rugrats Go Wild! In 2012, Willis successfully added to his credits, two critically acclaimed films: director Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, for which Willis and the film received Independent Film Award nominations, and director Rian Johnson’s sci-fi thriller Looper, co-starring Joseph Gordon Levitt.

In addition to his work before the cameras, Willis produced Hostage and The Whole Nine Yards and executive produced Breakfast of Champions, adapted from Kurt Vonnegut’s best-selling novel. With brother David Willis and business partner Stephen Eads, he co-founded Willis Brothers Films, a film production company based in Los Angeles.

Willis also maintains a hand in the theater. In 1997 he co-founded A Company of Fools, a non-profit theater troupe committed to developing and sustaining stage work in the Wood River Valley of Idaho, and throughout the U.S. He starred in and directed a staging of Sam Shepard’s dark comedy True West at the Liberty Theater in Hailey, Idaho. The play, which depicts the troubled relationship between two brothers, was aired on Showtime and dedicated to Willis’ late brother Robert.

An accomplished musician as well, Willis recorded the 1986 Motown album The Return of Bruno, which went platinum and contained the No. 5 Billboard hit “Respect Yourself.” Three years later, he recorded a second album If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger. In 2002, he launched a U.S. club tour with his musical group, Bruce Willis and the Blues Band and he traveled to Iraq to play for U.S. servicemen.

JOHN MALKOVICH (Marvin Boggs) is an industry legend and one of the most compelling minds in entertainment. With a body of work spanning over nearly 30 years, his celebrated performances traverese every possible genre, and range from roles in thought-provoking independent films to big-budget franchises. In addition to being an Academy Award®-nominated actor, Malkovich is also a director, producer, clothing designer and artist.

He reprises his role as zany retired CIA operative Marvin Boggs in Red 2 after 2010’s Red became one of the surprise box office hits of the year.

Malkovich and his producing partners Lianne Halfon and Russ Smith formed the production company Mr. Mudd in 1998. Their debut film was the celebrated adaptation Ghost World, directed by Terry Zwigoff. A decade later, Mr. Mudd landed its biggest box office and critical success with indie hit Juno, starring Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. The film became the third-biggest indie release of all time.

Malkovich's recent producing credits include The Perks of Being A Wallflower; the Duplass brothers' comedy Jeff, Who Lives at Home, staring Ed Helms and Jason Segel; and Jason Reitman's Young Adult, written by Diablo Cody and starring Charlize Theron, Patton Oswald and Patrick Wilson. Coming soon are Reitman's Labor Day, a drama starring Tobey Maguire, Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin; and Diego Luna's biopic Chavez, starring Rosario Dawson and America Ferrera.

Malkovich served as executive producer on the documentary How to Draw a Bunny, a cinematic portrait of artist Ray Johnson that won the Jury Prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, and Which Way Home, a 2009 Oscar® nominee for Best Documentary Feature.

Other Mr. Mudd credits include The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp and Samantha Morton, and Art School Confidential, directed by Terry Zwigoff and written by Dan Clowes (Ghostworld).

One of cinema's most in-demand actors, Malkovich works frequently in both American and international productions, alongside many of the world's leading directors. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor, once for Robert Benton's Places in the Heart (1985) and again for Wolfgang Petersen's In the Line of Fire (1994). His performance in Places in the Heart also earned him Best Supporting Actor honors from the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review. In 1999, he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor for Being John Malkovich.

More recently, he was seen in the third installment of a blockbuster franchise, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, opposite Shia LaBeouf, for director Michael Bay; Secretariat, opposite Diane Lane; the Coen brothers' comedy Burn After Reading, with Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Frances McDormand; and Clint Eastwood's critically acclaimed drama Changeling, alongside Angelina Jolie and Amy Ryan.

Other film credits include Raoul Ruiz's Klimt, Liliana Cavani's Ripley's Games, Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady, Gary Sinise's Of Mice and Men, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky, Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons, Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, Paul Newman's The Glass Menagerie, Sean McGinly's The Great Buck Howard, Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf and Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields.

Malkovich's television work includes an Emmy®-winning performance as Biff in the 1985 telefilm "Death of a Salesman," directed by Volker Schlöndorff and co-starring Dustin Hoffman. This role also earned him a Golden Globe® nomination. In 1995, he received another Golden Globe® nomination for his supporting role in "Heart of Darkness."

Other notable credits include the miniseries "Napoleon" and the acclaimed HBO telefilm "RKO 281," both of which garnered Malkovich Emmy® nominations.

The actor made his feature directorial debut with The Dancer Upstairs (2003), starring Javier Bardem. He has directed three film shorts for London fashion designer Belle Freud: Strap Hangings, Lady Behave and Hideous Man.

Between 1976 and 1982, Malkovich acted in, directed or designed sets for more than 50 Steppenwolf Theatre Company productions. His debut on the New York stage in the Steppenwolf production of Sam Shepard's True West earned him an Obie Award. Malkovich has directed numerous plays at Steppenwolf, including the celebrated Balm in Gilead in Chicago and Off Broadway, The Caretaker in Chicago and on Broadway as well as Libra, which he adapted from Don LeLillo's novel. Malkovich's 2003 French stage production of Hysteria was honored with five Moliere Award nominations including Best Director. He recently received a Moliere Award as Best Director for his production of Zach Helm's Good Canary in Paris. Other notable stage credits include Slip of the Tongue, Sam Shepard's State of Shock and Lanford Wilson's Burn This in New York, London and Los Angeles.

Malkovich has also delved into the world of fashion design as the creative force behind the menswear line Technobohemian.

Reprising her role from the 2010 box office hit Red, MARY-LOUISE PARKER (Sarah Ross) is a multi-award winning actress with a diverse career in film, television and theater. Mary-Louise Parker’s work in on Showtime’s “Weeds” earned her the Golden Globe® award, as well as four Golden Globe® nominations, the Satellite award, along with five nominations, three Emmy® nominations, and six SAG nominations. Parker’s work in Mike Nichols’ “Angels in America” garnered her an Emmy® award and the Golden Globe® Award; and her work on “The West Wing” and in TV movie “The Robber Bride” were recognized with Emmy® nominations, the latter winning her a Gemini Award. For the small screen she also starred in “Sugartime”, “Saint Maybe”, “A Place for Annie”, “Vinegar Hill”, and many others.

Audiences most recently saw Parker on the big screen in the hit action-comedy Red with Bruce Willis and John Malkovich. Her upcoming feature films include Red 2; R.I.P.D., the action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Bacon; Jamesy Boy and Behaving Badly.

Parker made her Broadway debut in Prelude To A Kiss, garnering a Tony Award® nomination, a Theatre World Award, The Clarence Derwent Award and a Drama Desk nomination. She originated the role of ‘Li’l Bit’ in “How I Learned To Drive”, which earned her an Obie Award, Lucille Lortel Award and an Outer Critics Circle nomination. Her performance in Proof earned her the 2001 Tony Award®, as well as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, Obie, New York Magazine Award, and the T. Schreiber Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre. She also starred in Reckless, for which she received her third Tony Award® nomination. In 2008, Parker starred in Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and was most recently seen in the Broadway revival of Hedda Gabler.

Parker’s film work includes the dark Christian comedy Saved!, Romance & Cigarettes, written and directed by John Turturro and produced by the Coen Brothers. Parker is known widely for her starring roles in Longtime Companion, Grand Canyon, Fried Green Tomatoes, Naked In New York, The Client, Bullets Over Broadway, Boys On The Side, Reckless, The Five Senses, for which she was nominated for a Genie Award, Pipe Dream, Red Dragon, The Best Thief In The World, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Solitary Man and Howl. Additional theatre credits include Communicating Doors, Bus Stop, Four Dogs And A Bone, The Art Of Success, Throwing Your Voice, Babylon Gardens, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Up In Saratoga, The Miser and Hayfever. She co-founded the Edge Theater, where she performed in The Age Of Pie and The Girl In Pink, among other productions.

This fall Parker will next star in Snow Geese at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Parker is currently a contributing writer for Esquire Magazine. She won the Robert Brustein Award for ‘Excellence in Theater’ and the Philadelphia Film Festival Award for ‘Career Achievement’ and was recently awarded Steppenwolf theaters’ ‘Excellence in the Arts’. Her personal and professional belongings, along with career memorabilia, are archived at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.

ANTHONY HOPKINS (Edward Bailey) received an Academy Award® for his performance in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and was subsequently nominated in the same category for his performances in The Remains of the Day (1993) and Nixon (1995). He was also given the Best Actor Award by the British Academy of Film & Television Arts for The Remains of the Day. In 1993, he starred in Richard Attenborough’s Shadowlands with Debra Winger, winning numerous critics awards in the U.S. and Britain. In 1998, he was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Amistad.

In 2012 he starred as legendary movie director Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock.

In 2001, Hopkins starred in the sequel to Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, in which he starred with Julianne Moore. Directed by Ridley Scott, the blockbuster film grossed over $100 million domestically. He also recorded the narration for the 2000 holiday season’s hit film Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

In 1998, he starred in Meet Joe Black, directed by Martin Brest and Instinct, directed by Jon Turletaub, and in Titus, Julie Taymor’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus with Jessica Lange.

In 1992 he appeared in Howard’s End and Bram Stoker’s Dracula before starring in Legends of the Fall and The Road to Wellville. He made his directorial debut in 1995 with August, an adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya for which he composed the musical score and also played Vanya. He starred in the title role in Surviving Picasso and with Alec Baldwin in The Edge, a dramatic adventure written by David Mamet and directed by Lee Tamahori. The Mask of Zorro, directed by Martin Campbell and co-starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, was released in July 1998, and Amistad, directed by Stephen Spielberg, was released in December 1997.

Earlier films include 84 Charing Cross Road, The Elephant Man, Magic, and A Bridge Too Far. The Bounty and Desperate Hours were his first two collaborations with Dino De Laurentis Company. In American television, he received two Emmy Awards for The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976) in which he portrayed Bruno Hauptmann, and The Bunker (1981) in which he portrayed Adolph Hitler.

Born December 31, 1937 in Margum near Port Talbot Wales, he is the only child of Muriel and Richard Hopkins. His father was a banker. He was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School. At 17, he wandered into a YMCA amateur theatrical production and knew immediately that he was in the right place. With newfound enthusiasm, combined with proficiency at the piano, he won a scholarship to the Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff where he studied for two years (1955-1957).

He entered the British Army in 1958 for mandatory military training, spending most of the two-year tour of duty clerking the Royal Artillery unit at Bulford.

In 1960, he was invited to audition for Sir Laurence Olivier, then director of the National Theater at the Old Vic. Two years later, Hopkins was Olivier’s understudy in Strindberg’s Dance of Death. Hopkins made his film debut in 1967, playing Richard the Lionheart in The Lion in the Winter, starring Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn. He received a British Academy Award nomination and the film received an Academy Award® as Best Picture.

American television viewers discovered Hopkins in the 1973 ABC production of Leon Uris’ QBVII, the first American mini-series, in which he played the knighted Polish-born British physician Adam Kleno who is ultimately destroyed by his wartime past. The following year, he starred on Broadway in the National Theatre production of Equus, and later mounted another production of the play in Los Angeles where he lived for 10 years, working extensively in American films and television.

After starring as Captain Bligh in The Bounty (1984), he returned to England and the National Theatre in David Hare’s Pravda, for which he received the British Theatre Association’s Best Actor Award and The Observer Award for Outstanding achievement at the 1985 Laurence Oliver Awards. During this time at the National he starred in Antony and Cleopatra and King Lear.

Hopkins also appeared in the feature adaptation of Stephen King’s Hearts In Atlantis for director Scott Hicks, the action comedy Bad Company, co-starring Chris Rock, and the box-office hit prequel to Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, co-starring Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watkins and in Miramax Films’ adaptation of the Phillip Roth novel The Human Stain, opposite Nicole Kidman and directed by Robert Benton.

He also starred in Miramax Films’ Proof, opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, The World’s Fastest Indian, for director Roger Donaldson, All The King’s Men for director Steven Zallian and co-starring Sean Penn, Jude Law, and Kate Winslet, and the crime thriller Fracture, opposite Ryan Gosling. He wrote, directed and composed the score for his debut independent feature film Slipstream, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and was seen in Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of Beowulf, for Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures’ Wolfman, opposite Benicio Del Toro, and Woody Allen’s You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger in which he co-starred with Josh Brolin and Naomi Watts.

More recently, Hopkins was seen in the thriller The Rite, and the film adaptation of the Marvel Comic Thor. Concurrent with his work on Red 2, Hopkins was shooting Thor 2, also shot in London.

In addition to his busy filming schedule, Anthony Hopkins is also an accomplished composer, whose work has been performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he participated as a composer in the "Festival Del Sole" in Cortona Italy, and recently released a CD collection of his compositions recorded by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Entitled “Anthony Hopkins: Composer,” the album reached the #1 spot on England’s classical music charts.

In 2004 Hopkins started painting, quickly gaining recognition as a prolific contemporary artist. His work is currently being exhibited in fine art galleries, and has been acquired by prominent art collectors around the world (to view visit anthonyhopkinsart.com).

HELEN MIRREN (Victoria) earned an Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, BAFTA and SAG Award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen. Her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in the miniseries “Elizabeth I” brought her an Emmy®, a Golden Globe® and a SAG Award.

In 2011, Helen starred in John Madden’s The Debt as a retired Mossad agent and in Brighton Rock, written and directed by Rowan Joffe from Graham Greene’s novel.

Helen began her career playing Cleopatra with the National Youth Theatre. After four notable years at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Helen went to work with renowned director Peter Brook’s theatre company touring Africa and America. Her theatre work has spanned productions in the West End, the Fringe, the National Theatre and Broadway including A Month in the Country, with a Tony® nomination and The Dance of Death opposite Ian McKellan. Recent productions include Mourning Becomes Electra at the National Theatre, with an Olivier nomination and the title role of Racine’s Phèdre directed by Nicholas Hytner at the National Theatre, London and The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington DC. This made history when it was broadcast as ‘NT Live’ the first theatre production to be seen ‘live’ in cinemas throughout the world. Her most recent stage performance was London in The Audience, where she once again portrayed Queen Elizabeth II., and received the Laurence Olivier Award, the U.K.’s highest stage honor.

Mirren’s film credits are numerous, most recently she starred in the HBO film Phil Spector with Al Pacino seen earlier this year as well as Arthur and the Golden Globe®-nominated RED. She also starred as Prospera in The Tempest., and earned Oscar® and Golden Globe® nominations for her role as Sofya Tolstoy in The Last Station. She earned Oscar® nominations for The Madness of King George and Gosford Park.

On the small screen, Mirren earned Emmys®, BAFTAs and a Golden Globe® for her starring role in “Prime Suspect” as DCI Jane Tennison. Her television credits also include “Losing Chase,” “The Passion of Ayn Rand,” plus “Door to Door” and “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,” all garnering Golden Globe®, Emmy® and SAG Award®/nominations.

Helen Mirren was appointed a Dame of the British Empire in 2003.

CATHERINE ZETA-JONES (Katja) is a multi-award winning actress whose talents range from film to theater. She garnered an Academy Award® for her portrayal of the notorious Velma Kelly, in the screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago. The film, which won the Oscar® and Golden Globe® for Best Picture, also starred Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere. Zeta-Jones was nominated for a Golden Globe® and took home the Critics’ Choice Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

She won the Tony Award® for Lead Actress in a Musical for her critically acclaimed debut on Broadway as Desirée Armfeldt in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. The musical was a box office success co-starring the legendary Angela Lansbury.

In the past year Zeta-Jones was seen in the musical Rock of Ages, Playing the Field, Broken City and Lay the Favorite, with her Red 2 co-star Bruce Willis.

She recently co-starred with Jude Law, Rooney Mara, and Channing Tatum in Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects.

In 2005, she reprised her role as Elena de La Vega in The Legend of Zorro, the sequel to the blockbuster film The Mask of Zorro. She starred in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's 12, and prior to that appeared opposite Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal. Zeta-Jones also starred with George Clooney in the Coen Brothers' comedy Intolerable Cruelty.

Zeta-Jones earned a Golden Globe® nomination for her portrayal of the wife of a drug-runner in Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. The cast of the critically praised film received a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture.

She first captured international recognition in the action adventure film The Mask of Zorro, opposite Antonio Banderas and Anthony Hopkins. Zeta-Jones continued to captivate audiences in 1999, in Jon Amiel’s romantic-thriller Entrapment, opposite screen legend Sean Connery. She also starred with Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal and John Cusack in the ensemble comedy America’s Sweethearts.

Born in Wales, Zeta-Jones began her career on the stage in London and following that was cast in the popular Yorkshire Television series, “The Darling Buds of May”, based on the novels of H.E. Bates.

In 2010, Zeta-Jones was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to the film industry and charity.

Zeta-Jones is married to actor Michael Douglas. They have a son, Dylan, and a daughter, Carys.

BYUNG HUN LEE (Han Cho Bai) is an actor who is recognized as one of the starters of the “Korean Boom” in television and film. Having solidified his position as one of Asia's biggest stars, he is known as one of the Four Kings in Japan. Additionally, he is the only actor to sell out the Tokyo Dome with 45,000 screaming fans.

Lee started his acting career in 1991 with a starring role in the Korean TV drama “Asphalt, My Hometown”. Additional TV projects include “Tomorrow Love”, “Police”, “Son of Wind”, “Happy Together”, “Beautiful Days”, “All In”, and "Iris" in 2009. Although much of his early success came from television dramas, Lee’s real passion is in films. The Good, the Bad, and the Weird and I Come With the Rain premiered in 2008 and his critically acclaimed film I Saw the Devil premiered in 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews.

Lee's first foray in to Hollywood films came in 2010 with a starring role in GI Joe: Rise of Cobra. Following the global success of that film, he signed on for G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, which was released in March 2013 and became an instant international hit. His first period piece feature, Masquerade, was released in late 2012 and received stellar reviews from both audiences and critics, and has become the 3rd highest grossing film to date in Korea.

In 2012, he was one of the first two Korean actors ever to be honored with a hand and foot print ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

BRIAN COX (Ivan) is an award-winning actor of the stage, screen and television. He has appeared in dozens of plays on the stages of London, New York and Scotland. Cox earned AFI and Independent Spirit Award nominations for his work in the critically hailed independent film “L.I.E.” and also shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as part of the ensemble cast of Spike Jonze’s Adaptation. His most recent film credits include roles in Coriolanus, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Campaign, and Blood. Additionally, he has appeared in The Good Heart, Tell-Tale, The Escapist, Troy, X2, Zodiac, 25th Hour, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Ring, Red, The Rookie, The Affair of the Necklace, For the Love of the Game, Rushmore, Desperate Measures, The Boxer, Kiss the Girls, Braveheart, Rob Roy, Manhunter, Hidden Agenda, and Nicholas and Alexandra.

Cox has collaborated with award-winning playwright Conor McPherson on several productions, most recently The Weir, which Cox starred in at the Donmar Warehouse. They also collaborated on Dublin Carol, in which Cox starred as grim alcoholic undertaker John Plunkett.

Repeatedly honored for his work in the theatre, Cox won two Olivier Awards for his performances in Rat in the Skull and Titus Andronicus; British Theatre Association Drama Awards for Best Actor for his work in The Taming of the Shrew and Strange Interlude; and the Lucille Lortel Award, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations, for St. Nicholas. He spent eight months in London’s West End, starring as Max in Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n Roll a role he reprised on Broadway. Cox was also seen on Broadway in The Championship Season. Cox has also helmed stage productions of I Love My Life, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, The Philanderer, The Master Builder and Richard III.

Cox’s recent television credits include “Bob Servant,” the British miniseries “The Sinking of the Laconia,” “The Day of the Triffids” and “The Take,” and a guest-starring role on Showtime’s “The Big C.” He received a 2001 Emmy Award for his performance as Hermann Goering in the miniseries “Nuremberg,” and was also nominated for Golden Globe and SAG Awards. He also earned an Emmy Award nomination for his guest appearance on the comedy series “Frasier,” and co-starred in the third season of HBO’s acclaimed original series “Deadwood.”

Cox made his television directorial debut for the hit HBO prison drama “Oz.”

He is the author of two books, Salem to Moscow: An Actors Odyssey and The Lear Diaries.

In 2003, Cox’s contributions to the arts were honored by Queen Elizabeth II, who named him a Commander of the British Empire. In 2006, Empire Magazine honored his film achievements with the Empire Icon Award and, in 2007, the UK Film Council named him one of the Top 10 powerful British film stars in Hollywood today.

Trained at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts and Sciences, actor NEAL MCDONOUGH (Gordon) has played roles ranging from Detroit gangster Robert Quarles in Justified to Lieutenant Hawk in Star Trek: First Contact. McDonough first appeared in productions of Waiting For Lefty and A Midsummer Nights Dream, before taking home a Best Actor Dramalogue Award for his role is Away Alone in 1991.

McDonough began his move into film with a role in 1990's Darkman and during the same year appeared in popular television shows such as China Beach and Quantum Leap A turn as Lou Gehrig in the 1991 made-for-television feature Babe Ruth, earning him strong notices, as well as a lead role in the Francis Ford Coppola-produced White Fward (1995), McDonough's television career began to take off. He appeared in the film Angels in The Outfield (1994) and then was cast in Star Trek: First Contact in 1996.

In 2001 he was cast as 1st Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton in director Steven Spielberg's critically acclaimed HBO miniseries Band of Brothers A terrific showcase for his talents, McDonough's role as the trouble soldier who suffers a nervous breakdown in the chaos of war caught Spielberg's attention and he cast him as Tom Cruise's best friend in the science fiction thriller Minority Report. Throughout the first decade of the 2000's, McDonough appeared in various television shows such as Boomtown (2002), Desperate Housewives (2004), Medical Investigation (2004), Tin Man (2007) and Justified (2010). In 2006, McDonough played an Army captain leading the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima in Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers. McDonough appeared in the big budget superhero film Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

McDonough was recently cast as Police Chief Parker in Frank Darabont's TNT pilot “L.A. Noir”.

Born and raised in New England, Neal resides in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.

About The Filmmakers

DEAN PARISOT (Director) is a native of Wilton, Connecticut and a graduate of NYU Film School (Tisch). His first short film Tom Goes to the Bar won critical acclaim and numerous awards including the first prize Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. His second film The Appointments of Dennis Jennings with Steven Wright won an Academy Award®, an ACE Award and led to a fellowship at the Sundance Institute’s June Lab (where he continues to return as an advisor).

He moved to Los Angeles with his wife, editor Sally Menke in 1991 and has worked since in both feature films and television. His feature film credits include Galaxy Quest with Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Allen Rickman, Fun with Dick and Jane with Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni, Home Fries with Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson and Framed with Jeff Goldblum and Kristen Scott Thomas.

Parisot's television directing and producing credits include pilot episodes and TV movies for “Monk”, “The Job”, “The Deep End”, “See Kate Run”, “Area 57”, “ATF”, “The Conversation”, “Heart Dept”, “The Marshal”, and “Bakersfield PD”. Episodic directing credits include “Justified”, “Modern Family”, “The Good Wife”, “Monk”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “E.R”., “The Tick”, “LA Doctors”, “Going to Extremes”, “Northern Exposure”, “Get a Life”, and “Bakersfield PD”.

Parisot also co-wrote the movie Still Life and received a Cable ACE Award for the HBO comedy special Kathy and Mo: The Darkside.

Brothers JON HOEBER & ERICH HOEBER (Writers) have worked on numerous feature films and television shows during their 15-year stint in Hollywood.

Their writing credits include the Golden Globe®-nominated Red from 2010; the comedic thriller and Sundance favorite, Montana, starring Kyra Sedgwick,Stanley Tucci, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman; Whiteout from 2009 staring Kate Beckinsale and 2012’s Battleship directed by Peter Berg.

Currently, Erich and Jon are developing their original comic book series, The Mission, an action-thriller published by Image Comics, for television.

LORENZO di BONAVENTURA (Producer) was born in New York. His father, Mario di Bonaventura, is an international conductor.

Mr. di Bonaventura received his undergraduate degree in intellectual history at Harvard College and earned a Master of Business Administration at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He began his professional life operating a river-rafting company and later joined Columbia Pictures and worked in distribution, marketing and in the office of the president.

In February 1989 Mr. di Bonaventura joined Warner Bros. While at WarnerBros., di Bonaventura was involved in over 130 productions. Amongst his biggest commercial and critical successes were: Falling Down (1993), A Time to Kill (1996), The Matrix (1999), Analyze This (2000), The Perfect Storm (2000), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), Training Day (2001) and Three Kings (1999).

In January 2003 di Bonaventura formed a production company based at Paramount Pictures. Since its inception, the company has produced 23 movies.

In 2010 di Bonaventura Pictures produced the film Red, which became a surprise worldwide hit, leading to the current sequel. His other box office hits include, Salt, with Angelina Jolie in the title role; the big screen adaption of the popular comic book, G.I. Joe: Rise Of The Cobra, directed by Stephen Sommers; Transformers and Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, directed by Michael Bay.

The third movie in the “Transformers” series, Transformers: Dark of theMoon, became the highest-grossing film of the franchise. It was also the second highest-grossing film of 2011 worldwide and the fourth highest-grossing film of all time worldwide.

Prior to starting production on Red 2, di Bonaventura produced Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, The Last Stand, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis. During the actual production on Red 2, di Bonaventura was also producing Jack Ryan with both movies shooting at the same time in London.

MARK VAHRADIAN (Producer) was born in Mission Viejo, California. He is a graduate of Duke University and the UCLA School of Law. He spent nine years as a senior film executive at the Walt Disney Company, where he worked to bring to the big screen such films as Flight Plan, Miracle, Remember the Titans, Gone in 60 Seconds, Con Air, Pearl Harbor, and Enemy of the State. Thereafter, Mark spent three years as president of Jerry Weintraub Productions. He is currently president of production for di Bonaventura Pictures.

Vahradian most recently produced Red 2 for Summit Entertainment and Jack Ryan for Paramount Pictures, which stars Chris Pine in the title role and is slated for release later this year. He also recently produced Man on a Ledge and the first Red for Summit Entertainment; and executive produced the Transformers film franchise (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and the first Transformers) for Paramount Pictures, which has grossed a combined total of $2.67 billion worldwide. Other producing credits include Annapolis and executive producing Nancy Drew. He is currently filming the fourth installment of Transformers for summer 2014.

DAVID READY (Executive Producer) is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (’01) and began his career at Warner Brothers Studios, where he worked on such films as “Troy” and “Batman Begins.” He then spent two years as a film executive at Jerry Weintraub Productions (“Oceans 11.”) Ready then segued to di Bonaventura Pics. (“Transformers”) where he rose to senior vice president of production, producing “Red,” starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren, and “Man on a Ledge” starring Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks. Upcoming pictures include the sequel to “Red” as well as “Jack Ryan” which stars Chris Pine and Kevin Costner and will be released in December.

In 1999, Daily Variety named ENRIQUE CHEDIAK, ASC (Director of Photography) one of "10 Cinematographers to Watch," and he hasn't disappointed. His film credits include Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours Charlie St. Cloud starring Zac Efron; Repo Men starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker; 28 Weeks Later; The Flock, starring Richard Gere and Claire Danes; Down In The Valley, starring Edward Norton; Turistas; Lies and Alibies; Cronicas; A Home at the End of the World; and Undefeated for HBO, which Chediak also executive produced. Prior to this, he shot Brown Sugar; The Good Girl, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival; The Safety of Objects; Songcatcher; Boier Room; and The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez.

Chediak won the 1997 Sundance Film Festival's Best Cinematographer Award for Hurricane Streets. His feature film debut was American Southern directed John Joshua Clayton.

Born in Quito, Ecuador, Chediak studied still photography in Madrid and communications in Santiago, Chile, before entering New York University's Film School graduate program in 1992, where he won the Best Cinematography award at NYU's First Run Film Festival.

JIM CLAY’s (Production Designer) diverse career accomplishments range from the fanciful design of Jon Amiel’s BBC classic The Singing Detective to the starkly realistic, dystopian world of Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men. Clay was nominated for a BAFTA for the former, and won a BAFTA and received an Art Directors Guild nomination for the latter. Some of Clay’s more notable credits include Woody Allen’s Match Point; Richard Curtis’ Love Actually; Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz’s About a Boy; Atom Egoyan’s Felicia’s Journey; Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game; and Jon Amiel’s The Man Who Knew Too Little, Copycat, Tune in Tomorrow…, and Queen of Hearts.

Clay’s other film credits include The Brothers Bloom, Stage Beauty, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Trench, Onegin, Circle of Friends, War of the Buttons and A Kiss Before Dying. He won another BAFTA for the BBC’s Christabel.

Clay’s recent films include Shanghai, John Madden’s The Debt and Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Johnny English Reborn and Mike Newell’s 2012 movie of Great Expectations and Closed Circuit.

DON ZIMMERMAN, A.C.E. (Editor) entered the film business as an apprentice editor in music and sound effects. He worked for the Mirisch Co. under Dick Carruth, Frank Warner and Jim Richards on films such as The Hawaiians, Gaily, Gaily, Little Big Man, The Godfather, Where’s Poppa? and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Red 2 marks his third collaboration with Dean Parisot following Galaxy Quest and Fun With Dick and Jane.

Zimmerman became an assistant editor for Hal Ashby on The Landlord, Harold and Maude, Shampoo and Bound for Glory. After eight years in the industry, Zimmerman became an editor on Ashby’s Coming Home (which earned him an Academy Award® nomination) and then edited Ashby’s Being There. More recently his movies include, Men in Black 3, Flight of the Phoenix, Night at the Museum, Jumper and Rush Hour 3.

Other notable credits include A Walk in the Clouds, Heaven Can Wait, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Cobra, Fatal Beauty, The Package and Prince of Tides. He has also edited the Tom Shadyac films Dragonfly, Patch Adams, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

BEATRIX ARUNA PASZTOR (Costume Designer) was born in Budapest and brings her evocative European style to every film she works on. She has a brilliant understanding of character, and her stunning creative talent has afforded her collaboration with such interesting and innovative directors as Gus Van Sant, Jane Campion, Curtis Hanson, Oliver Stone, Joel Schumacher, Terry Gilliam and recently, Woody Allen.

Over the years, Pasztor has brought her iconic designs to the screen on many feature films, including Drugstore Cowboy, To Die For, Good Will Hunting, Alfie, Vanity Fair, In the Cut, Wonder Boys, U Turn, She’s So Lovely, Indecent Proposal, The Fisher King and Æon Flux.

Her most recent credits are Johnny English Reborn, Ironclad, and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, directed by Woody Allen.