A film about the future inspired by the past, the sequel that never was,
and two Hollywood legends finally join forces. Let's dive into the inspirations
and creative minds behind "Minority Report."
Years before Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise brought "Minority Report" to the big screen,
audiences almost saw a radically different version of this project. Per Gizmodo,
Philip K. Dick's short story "Minority Report" was optioned in the 1990s for a feature film
that would be helmed by "Total Recall" director Paul Verhoeven. When looking over the story,
Verhoeven felt it would be the perfect material for a sequel to his 1990 film "Total Recall." The
connection between these two sci-fi properties wasn't completely random, as "Total Recall" was
based on another Phillip K. Dick story, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale."
From there, the follow-up began to move quickly into production,
with "Total Recall" leading man Arnold Schwarzenegger agreeing to come back for
the sequel. However, just as the project was getting off the ground, the production company
in charge of the feature went bankrupt. The script then got snagged by 20th Century Fox,
who decided to make a stand-alone "Minority Report'' movie that didn't have any connection to
"Total Recall." This eventually led to Spielberg's take on "Minority Report," which was co-produced
by 20th Century Fox. While the final version of "Minority Report'' garnered widespread acclaim,
fans of "Total Recall" are doubtlessly disappointed they never got a sequel to this film.
"Consider that a divorce."
"Minority Report" wasn't just another Tom Cruise action movie nor was it just another sci-fi film
helmed by Steven Spielberg. This was a momentous moment in the career of both of these men, as it
finally gave Cruise and Spielberg a chance to work with each other. It was no coincidence that the
duo was finally making a movie together either, as they had been trying to unite forces for years.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Spielberg recalled how he had first met Cruise on the set
of "Risky Business" back in the early 1980s. Right then and there, a spark began to form
between the two and they were determined to work together. Cruise put it plainly:
"I just knew I wanted to work with the guy. Even back then he
was Steven Spielberg. The guy who did 'E.T.' and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark."'
Years went by, however, as they kept trying to figure out the perfect project to join forces
on. Things almost came together for them when Spielberg was set to direct Cruise on 1988's "Rain
Man." However, Spielberg had to depart from the film because of scheduling conflicts with "Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade," but he never gave up on his ambitions of directing a
Tom Cruise picture. Eventually, Cruise brought "Minority Report" to Spielberg,
and suddenly, the project they had been waiting for came to fruition. Finally,
there was a production that united an iconic director with an equally iconic actor.
At the dawn of the 21st century, speculation was running rampant over what would be the
next Steven Spielberg directorial effort. The filmmaker's last film had been the 1998
feature "Saving Private Ryan," which scored Spielberg a Best Director Oscar
win for the second time and was one of the highest-grossing films of the year,
via Box Office Mojo. These feats, combined with the man's reputation as one of the most
acclaimed and successful directors ever, meant that all eyes were on where he would go next.
Plans to have "Minority Report" film in the first year of the 21st century were scuttled in March
2000 when it was announced that Spielberg would be helming "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" first,
via BBC News. "A.I" was a production that had been lingering on Spielberg's "to-do list" for years,
but it took precedence once Stanley Kubrick, who wrote the screenplay for "A.I.," passed
away in March 1999. Kubrick had spent decades writing "A.I." and this, combined with the
deep bond he and Spielberg shared, inspired Spielberg to make this film a priority. So,
the start date of "Minority Report" got pushed to April 2001, which meant it would not have
the honor of being Spielberg's first directorial effort of the new century.
While Tom Cruise was always set to anchor the world of "Minority Report"
as the protagonist John Anderton, several other actors came and went
from the film's supporting cast throughout its production. Many of these were massive names,
who could've been right at home with the level of prestige associated with Cruise and Steven
Spielberg. One such person was Matt Damon, who was approached to play a character who has a
kinship with John but then is forced to hunt him down when John is pre-accused of murder.
Per USA Today, Damon was interested in the part, and his then-recent Oscar win for writing "Good
Will Hunting" would have made him an appropriately acclaimed artist for such a star-studded project.
Plus, Damon and Spielberg had already worked together once before on the box office juggernaut
"Saving Private Ryan." While Damon was dying to reunite with this filmmaker, it was never meant
to be. Scheduling conflicts prevented him from joining Cruise in "Minority Report." Damon was
already on the line to do "Ocean's Eleven" and the filming schedule for that Steven Soderbergh
ensemble piece directly conflicted with "Minority Report." With that, "Minority Report" began to
look around for someone else to take on the role instead, which eventually went to Colin Farrell.
"Minority Report" was filmed in the summer of 2001 and wrapped just a few months before the
terrorist attacks of September 11th would forever alter the United States of America.
In the wake of such devastating horrors, it was inevitable for people to read new 9/11-relevant
layers into pieces of art that were never meant to comment on this historical event.
When it came to "Minority Report," even director Steven Spielberg was well aware
of this. Speaking to The New Zealand Herald, Spielberg was upfront about how a film like
"Minority Report" — which is about policing and privacy — would register with people in
the wake of 9/11. He noted that the film mirrored how authorities were rounding up
people in real life to get information and prevent future atrocities, saying,
"I feel that history has caught up with our imagination and given us a cold soak of reality."
"If there's a flaw, it's human. It always is."
In many ways, "Minority Report" was a movie that could only exist in the 21st century, namely with
its digital-effects wizardry and its use of then-fresh-faced talent like Colin Farrell and
Samantha Morton. But it's also a feature rooted deeply in one of the great film genres of the
20th century: noir. Film noir — which literally means "black film" — often focuses on stories of
lone protagonists, who must endure in the face of societies gone haywire due to moral corruption.
So, it's easy to see why "Minority Report" would fit into the hallmarks of this genre.
But to ensure that "Minority Report" lived up to all of its potential,
Spielberg opted to do a crash course in the all-time greats of the noir landscape before
he started shooting this high-concept Tom Cruise vehicle. He told Entertainment Weekly that he
thoroughly dug into the classics of the genre. "Asphalt Jungle," "Key Largo," and "The Maltese
Falcon" were the movies he turned to while molding his vision for "Minority Report." He also noted
that he tried to embrace the darker edges of the genre to counter his, quote, "sentimental side."
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?"
Much like our own modern world, the universe that "Minority Report" inhabits is one defined
by technology. Not only is the futuristic tech used to prevent crimes before they even happen,
but virtual ads show up all over the place, while spider robots are used to hunt down
lethal criminals. This is a world defined by machines even more than by the men that
made them. Because of their importance to the story, Steven Spielberg was very
careful about the role technology would play in "Minority Report" and how it would be realized.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Spielberg gathered a group of futurists and asked them
to brainstorm a plausible vision of what life in 2054 could be like. Talking to Roger Ebert,
Spielberg elaborated that his goal with "Minority Report" was to make a movie where
all the futuristic tech shown on-screen could eventually become a reality. This
informed some hopeful details about "Minority Report's" vision of what's to come, including
the idea of a transportation system that isn't as harmful to the environment. Simultaneously,
he wanted to present an eerie quality to the intrusive nature of futuristic
advertising. Spielberg said of his own beliefs about what would become reality,
"In the future, television will be watching us,
and customizing itself to what it knows about us [...] The thrilling thing is, that will make
us feel we're part of the medium. The scary thing is, we'll lose our right to privacy."
This dichotomy gets reflected in various spots in "Minority
Report," which both demonstrates how far media and consumer materials have
come and also how nobody has privacy in the society portrayed on-screen.
In the summer of 2002, both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg released new directorial
efforts that were costly action blockbusters. Lucas debuted "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones,"
which heavily utilized digital sets. In contrast, Spielberg's "Minority Report" primarily employed
practically realized backgrounds. Even though this mystery takes place in the future, Spielberg still
went the route of building elaborate sets that the actors could see and feel as they shot the film.
Talking to Roger Ebert, Spielberg expressed admiration for "Attack of the Clones" and all
that Lucas had accomplished with his digital sets. However, Spielberg also said that he was
hoping to never get to the point where he was shooting movies that would involve just green
screens and CGI sets. This was in part because physical sets stimulate and inspire the actors.
On "Minority Report," Spielberg was insistent that practical sets be used whenever possible.
Even seemingly impossible pieces of camerawork, such as the overhead shot of the robotic spiders
entering the building where John is hiding, were realized through on-set ingenuity rather than
post-production digital wizardry. Spielberg's commitment to old-school production design
choices ensured that the world of "Minority Report" reverberated with tangibility and grit.
Perhaps more distinct than any of the fight scenes or explosions in "Minority Report" is the look of
the entire feature. The visual style of "Minority Report" is unique and feels drained of color,
which complements the grim atmosphere of the film. Talking to The New York Times,
Steven Spielberg noted that he used a process called bleach-bypassing to achieve this effect.
Bleach-bypassing is done in post-production and drains out the color from people's faces.
Now instead of having cheeks and skin tones that radiate warmth, everyone in "Minority
Report" has pale faces, which helps to accentuate their constantly intense and paranoid demeanors.
Spielberg noted that touches like this ensured an old-school grainy appearance that made it
feel more like the noir films of old. The result was that "Minority Report'' combined
older-looking techniques and styles that were seen predominantly in the 1940s with
a modern tale and technology, which truly made it look like no other movie out there.
"Minority Report" arrived in theaters with lots of hype, thanks to its collaboration between Tom
Cruise and director Steven Spielberg. The melding of these Hollywood titans excited film fans,
but there was also some concern wafting in the air around its release. Chiefly,
this was an unusual blockbuster in the summer of 2002, and this was a
season dominated by lighthearted "Star Wars" adventures and the first "Spider-Man" movie.
"So you won't help me?" "I can't help you. Nobody can."
But in the end, "Minority Report" did manage to secure $358.8 million worldwide,
more than tripling its sizable $102 million budget. This feature also came in ahead of
other notable Spielberg titles globally, such as "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind." If there was a complaint to be had here, it's that "Minority
Report" did get overshadowed by several other 2002 movies. While it was the 10th biggest film of the
year worldwide, domestically, "Minority Report" was in 17th place. It even came in behind titles
like "Signs" and "xXx." While it didn't crush all other 2002 movies, "Minority Report" was still a
profitable exercise, reinforcing that Spielberg blockbusters can always draw a mighty crowd.