Fight or Flight continues Josh Hartnett’s career emphasis on independent filmmaking. The 46-year-old actor has enjoyed a career resurgence in recent years thanks to his critically acclaimed performance in Oppenheimer, and he has used that renewed spotlight to bring attention to smaller projects.
Following his performance in last summer’s Trap, M. Night Shyamalan’s latest self-financed movie, Hartnett leads Fight or Flight. He stars as Lucas Reyes, a former Secret Service agent tasked with tracking down a hacker while on an airplane. Largely marketed as “John Wick in the sky,” Fight or Flight brings intense hand-to-hand combat to an alтιтude of 30,000 feet.
ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley spoke with Hartnett as well as Fight or Flight co-stars Katee Sackhoff, Charithra Chandran and director James Madigan to discuss the labor of love that was bringing this project to life and how they were able to accomplish the high-octane action.
Josh Hartnett Hopes For More Indie Films Like Fight Or Flight
“If They’re Successful Enough, More Of These Things Will Be Made”
Independent filmmaking is familiar territory for Josh Hartnett, but today’s landscape is a far cry from what it once was.
“It’s very hard to get an independent film through to a general audience. It’s always been difficult, but I think it’s harder now than it was when I first started,” Hartnett said. “There are fewer of them being made. Even this, we knew that there were all the elements that would make it an incredibly entertaining film, but we didn’t know when we made it if it would get a theatrical release. We just knew that we hadn’t seen a film like this in a long time, if ever. If we didn’t do it, this wasn’t going to happen.“
Beyond serving its audience, Hartnett hopes Fight or Flight serves the entertainment industry as a whole.
“My hope is that by putting out original content like this and Trap, ideas that are coming just from filmmakers’ heads, and if they’re successful enough, more of these things will be made, and we won’t have to rely on IP as much,” Hartnett continued. “I always respond to an original story. That’s just where I come from. It was necessary that I do independent films for a lot of my career, and I would like to continue to be able to make original films. If an audience shows up to this, then we can make another one.“
Fight Or Flight Got Innovative With Its Stuntwork
“I Was Literally Running Around Doing 3 Scenes At Once”
The indie spirit of Fight or Flight went far beyond the script. Director James Madigan has been transparent about the movie’s тιԍнт budget, which necessitated a significant emphasis on the practical. That included a wild third-act scene that takes the airplane’s pᴀssengers into a moment of zero gravity.
“From day one, absolutely everyone involved is like, ‘There’s no way we’re going to be able to do this here,’ but I knew we had to have that moment. I was literally running around doing three different scenes at once while we were doing that,” Madigan explained. “We took out the pieces of the ceiling. We just really compartmentalized it down to sH๏τ by sH๏τ, planned the hell out of it, and just made sure we did whatever we could to get that moment in the movie.”
That practical mindset permeated into the talent as well. Hartnett did the majority of his own stunts, marking the first time in over a decade that he had taken on that responsibility.
“In the lead up to the film, I was doing all the prep work and a lot of MMA training and boxing, and was feeling pretty good about myself, and then the first time I got thrown across the plane and hit my head on something, I was like, ‘Ooh, that’s going to hurt,'” Hartnett recalled doing his stunts. “We only had about 25 days to shoot the whole thing, so there wasn’t enough time to worry about recovery. We had a mᴀsseuse on set who was taking care of all of us. He saved the movie, really.”
Hartnett’s action is shared by co-star Charithra Chandran, who also gets her hands dirty on this skybound showdown.
“It was my first stunt of that kind of level of violence and physicality, and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Chandran added. “The stunt team was so professional, and honestly, when you are doing it, you are aiming for that level of intensity. It feels real. Your adrenaline is pumping.“
Katee Sackhoff’s Katherine Is The Empress Of Exposition
“I Like The Challenge Of It…”
As Hartnett and Chandran are getting thrown around 30,000 feet in the air, Katee Sackhoff is holding down the fort on the ground. Sackhoff stars as Katherine Brunt, a government head who coordinates Lucas’s airborne mission.
“I think it’s my compeтιтive nature to be honest,” Sackhoff said when asked about why she is drawn to exposition-heavy dialogue. “Also, I basically got my stripes in science fiction, where exposition is king. I was not good at it when I first started out in this industry, when I was 18 years old. Giving life to exposition is such a challenge, but if I can move people during it, I know I’ve done my job. So, I like the challenge of it.”
Fight or Flight is in theaters now.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
