Tagline: They’re on a mission without permission.
They are specialists in their fields: a rock climber, a computer genius, a mechanical whiz.
Their task: To rob one of the world’s most impenetrable banks.
Their plan: Foolproof.
Their methods: Ingenious
And they’re only twelve years old.
Meet Maddy, Gus, and Austin: Three kids on a mission’without permission.
This is the story of a twelve-year-old named Maddy. Maddy and her adventurous father have always shared a love for mountain climbing. Their hobby, however, has a disastrous effect when a devastating accident on Mount Everest injures his spine, paralyzing him forever–unless he gets a very expensive operation.
Determined to procure the money to pay for his surgery, Maddy decides to recruit two of her friends, a computer genius and a mechanical whiz kid, to help her pull off a risky heist. They plan to break into the local super-high-tech bank, which holds a vault suspended 100 feet off the floor, and get to its safe. To complicate matters even further, Maddy’s mother works as the security chief at that very bank. Regardless of what obstacles she faces, Maddy is determined to get to the funds her father needs, by using the amazing climbing skills he taught her.
Catch That Kid is a 2004 American adventure comedy film directed by Bart Freundlich and starring Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Max Thieriot, Jennifer Beals, and Sam Robards. It is a remake of the Danish blockbuster Klatretøsen (2002). The movie’s working titles were Mission Without Permission (also the film’s UK title as well as part of one of the taglines), Catch That Girl, and Catch That Kid!
Catch That Kid opened at #6 in the weekend of February 6, 2004 raking in $5.8 million in its first opening weekend. The film spent two weeks at the U.S. box office top ten. The film made $16.7 million in the United States and $226,963 in other countries for a worldwide total of $16.9 million, against a budget of $12 million.
Catch That Kid is an adventure film filled with action and fun, about a 12-year old girl who, with the help of two friends, robs the state-of-the-art bank, in order to acquire the cash needed for a costly operation to save her ailing father. During the heist, the kids overcome high-tech security systems, guard dogs, and a nasty security chief to get to a bank vault suspended 100-feet above ground.
With all its high-tech action and adventure, Catch That Kid is grounded in some realistic situations and challenges. “If you look at other films, they’ll utilize really fantastic, adventurous, almost James Bondian gadgets and toys, and although that temptation was there initially, we felt very strongly that it just wasn’t right for this movie,” says director Bart Freundlich. “Of course kids couldn’t break into a high security bank, but many of the things they pull off, from the stunts to the climbing and the go-cart racing are fun and very real, like things that kids could really do.”
“We think it’s cool that three kids are putting one over on adults,” says screenwriter Michael Brandt. “Kids driving go-carts and trying to help out the main girl’s dad’What kid wouldn’t love to have an adventure like this?'”
Producer Andrew Lazar feels audiences will really go for a ride. “In the end, Catch That Kid is about wish fulfillment,” he says. “People like to go to movies and be taken away and pretend like they’re somebody that they’re not. In this movie, kids get to see themselves, rather than George Clooney and Brad Pitt, as the guys who can rob a bank. You’re watching kids do it; kids who are smart enough to outsmart grownups.”
Catch That Kid stars Kristen Stewart, along with newcomers Max Thieriot and Corbin Bleu as her young accomplices. The film also stars Jennifer Beals, Sam Robards, John Carroll Lynch and James Le Gros.
The film is directed by Bart Freundlich, from a screenplay by Michael Brandt & Derek Haas, based on the film “Klatretøsen,” written by Nicolaj Arcel, Hans Fabian Wullenweber and Erlend Loe. Catch That Kid is produced by Andrew Lazar and executive produced by Damien Saccani, James Dodson, and Mikkel Bondesen.
About the Production
The former Bank of America building on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles became the fictional Harderbach Financial Bank, which houses a foolproof bank vault that hovers 100 feet above the surface of the safe room. The monolithic building, a cornerstone of L.A.’s old Financial District, has polished marble walls and floors, ornate vaulted ceilings, and its original brass teller cages.
“We knew that the bank had to be visually impressive,” says production designer Tom Meyer. “We didn’t want this to be your typical bank branch; this had to be as ornate and impressive as Grand Central Station. So we scouted the biggest lobby we could find, with shafts of light streaming through. In this environment, Maddy would feel as small as a kid could feel in an adult environment and just be overwhelmed. I wanted to get that unreal proportion, with grand hallways with large arches and bustling activity.”
Freundlich worked with director of photography Julio Macat to give the bank heist scenes a polished, saturated and modern look. “For the heist scenes we wanted to convey the look of a big slick movie ‘ high tech all the way, with luster,” says Macat.
Upon completion of two weeks of location filming, the production moved to an industrial business complex in Santa Clarita, California, north of Los Angeles. The filmmakers converted two large warehouses into soundstages that housed the film’s interior sets, such as bank offices, safe room, security room and the hospital where Tom Phillips awaits surgery.
Outside the stages, Meyer and his team transformed a large, vacant parking lot into the Phillips Karting Center, a go-cart track that serves as the kids’ hang-out and inspiration for the bank heist.
After scouting several go-cart tracks in Southern California, the filmmakers decided to build their own. Six thousand hours of work, a thousand bales of hay, a couple thousand tires, and lots of paint, flags, and containers later, the filmmakers had their track.
“We started with a black asphalt parking lot and then figured out a way to help accentuate the action, go-cart speeds and dynamics,” says Meyer. “We wanted the go-cart scenes to feel like a video game where you’re actually inside the car and get a sense of tremendous speed.”
For the heist getaway scenes, Meyer designed go-carts that were slick, stealthy and quiet. “We cut out holes in the bottom where we put in neon lights so the go-carts seem to float as they race down the street,” he says. “We also put a huge rear jack fin on the back of Gus’s nitro-injected go-cart to accommodate some of the stunts and a new engine and muffler configuration.”
Stunt coordinator Gary Paul and his team trained the actors for the go-cart sequences. Though the actors performed some of the driving sequences, Paul brought in an experienced team of professional go-cart racers for the faster, more dangerous sequences.
Three elaborate camera rigs were used for the go-cart racing scenes: motorcycle side cars, a go-cart mounted with a special camera to reduce vibration, and a four-wheel quad-runner.
For the film’s climax, second unit director Mic Rogers, along with Gary Paul’s stunt drivers, choreographed a complex and action-packed chase sequence through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The scene, which was filmed over several nights, incorporated about 20 stunt professionals, including the actor’s stunt doubles, a dozen stunt drivers and a helicopter pilot.
In the Catch That Kid, Santa Clarita production facility, on a hill right above the go-track, is a large water tower where Maddy practices her climbing skills. For Kristen Stewart, the climbing and other physical rigors that came with the role were a fun challenge. Prior to filming, she spent two weeks training with Lisa Coleman, a co-founder and instructor at Yo! Basecamp, a Northern California rock climbing facility. Discovered by stunt coordinator Gary Paul, the 90-pound professional rock climber also doubled for Stewart for some of the more dangerous climbing sequences.
“Lisa’s not a stunt person, she’s an actual climber,” Stewart says. “It was really cool because she took me down to a rock studio to help me with the climbing scenes and to make them look more realistic. Trust me, it’s a lot harder than you think. You have to have major strength.”
Maddy’s years of climbing experience come in handy when she attempts to scale the walls of a high-tech bank safe room to reach a vault suspended high in the air above. Meyer’s safe room set in Santa Clarita was actually 40 feet tall but through the use of CGI set extensions, it will appear 120 feet tall, with the vault hovering 100 feet above ground.
Meyer’s biggest challenge was creating the bank’s complex safe room and vault. He wanted to incorporate elements from the old world and blend them into the new. “As you’re proceeding through the old bank you start to see elements that get a little more futuristic, become a little more out of the ordinary, and a little more unbelievable,” he says. “The ultimate challenge is to get through the entire building, past all the security monitors, through the mazes, the locked doors and the corridors that finally lead you to the safe. And just when you think it can’t get any bigger, it gets bigger. Just when you think it can’t get any scarier and complicated, it does.”
Catch That Kid (2004)
Directed by: Bart Freundlich
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Max Thieriot, Jennifer Beals, Sam Robards, Corbin Bleu, Sam Robards, John Carroll Lynch, James Le Gros, Meagen Fay, Audrey Wasilewski
Screenplay by: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas
Production Design by: Tom Meyer
Cinematography by: Julio Macat
Film Editing by: Stuart Levy
Costume Design by: Salvador Pérez Jr.
Set Decoration by: Melissa M. Levander
Art Direction by: Denise Hudson
Music by: George S. Clinton
MPAA Rating: PG for some language, thematic elements, and rude humor.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: February 6, 2004
Visits: 67
