Tagline: Smart. Daring. Defiant and dangerous. As well as beautiful.
Based on the true story of Domino Harvey, daughter of film actor Laurence Harvey. Tired and unsuited to the pretentiousness of her high-society LA life, Domino leaves the glitterarti behind and sets off to become a bounty hunter. She quickly falls under the wing of veteran hunter Ed Mosley and his crew and becomes an unlikely natural in the art of bounty hunting. But things really heat up when a masked gang pilfer the contents of an armored car, and before long the mob, a crazed TV producer, the FBI and a terminally ill child have all got caught up in the crazy situation.
From director Tony Scott and inspired by a real-life story, Keira Knightley stars as Domino Harvey, who rejected her privileged Beverly Hills lifestyle as the daughter of a famous actor (Lawrence Harvey) and a Ford agency model to become a bounty hunter in pursuit of society’s nastiest criminals.
Domino is a 2005 action film directed by Tony Scott and written by Richard Kelly. An international co-production between France, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the film is inspired by Domino Harvey, the English daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey who became a Los Angeles bounty hunter.
Its plot flashes back as Domino (Keira Knightley), fashion model-turned bounty hunter, narrates how a $10,000,000 robbery came about 36 hours before. Supporting roles include Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez, Delroy Lindo and Mo’Nique. The film is dedicated to Domino Harvey, who died at only 35 years of age from an overdose of fentanyl on June 27, 2005, a few months before the film was released.
Filming began in Los Angeles, California, on October 4, 2004. Filming locations included the Ambassador Hotel, the Hotel Alexandria, and The Wilshire Grand Hotel. Scenes were also shot at the Santa Monica Department of Motor Vehicles. Filming moved to Nevada in early December 2004. Scenes were filmed at the Valley of Fire State Park, as well as Hoover Dam and Needles, California.
During the final week of production, scenes were filmed over six days at the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Interior shots included the resort’s Top of the World restaurant, which was closed at the time for renovations. The Stratosphere was not in the original script. Executive producer Barry Waldman met with the casino’s owners in summer 2004 to discuss featuring it in the movie, which the owners agreed to after small changes were made to the script. Tony Scott said an eight-minute BMW commercial he shot at the resort was “a testing ground” for Domino.
The film was released on October 14, 2005 in 2223 theaters across America and grossed $4,670,120 on its opening weekend. The film stayed in release for four weeks and ended up with a gross of $10,169,202. In other territories, the film grossed $12,775,300 which, added to the domestic gross, gave the film a total worldwide gross of $22,944,502. This was a box office flop compared to the film’s estimated $50,000,000 budget.
Domino’s Story
Smart. Daring. Defiant and dangerous. As well as beautiful. This is Domino Harvey and this is her real life story… well, sort of.
The daughter of respected actor and matinee idol Lawrence Harvey, and model turned socialite Sophie Wynn, Domino Harvey (Portrayed by Keira Knightley) was born into a life of wealth and privilege — a lifestyle that did not interest her. Even from her earliest years, Domino rebelled against convention and the jet set. At the tender age of eight her beloved father passed away and her mother looked to the stability of boarding school in a misguided attempt to tame her wild child.
But nothing could repress Domino’s fiery nature — not friendships, not school, not her mother’s high society. Even the extraordinary excesses paraded before her during a brief stint at modeling paled in comparison to her own escapades. Not until she stumbled upon a job seminar recruiting aspiring bounty hunters was her thirst for excitement at long last quenched. To Sophie’s (Jacqueline Bisset) horror, Domino not only fell in love with the job but also with her fellow adventurers, who over the years would become her family. And so our tale of adventure, action and suspense, tinged with dark comedy, begins…
Domino finds her true calling and joins a colorful band of reprobates that includes her wolfish yet formidable ex-con boss, Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke); Choco (Edgar Ramirez), a ruggedly sexy Latino who secretly worships Domino; and Alf (Rizwan Abbasi), an Afghani ex-pat obsessed with explosives. An unlikely foursome to be sure, but their synchronized style consistently results in the capture of felonious bail jumpers. Before long they become L.A.’s most successful, not to mention infamous, bounty hunters. And where better to show off one’s talent than on television?
When producer Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken) and his faithful assistant, Kimmie (Mena Suvari), come knocking, the bounty hunters agree to become the stars of a new reality television show, “The Bounty Squad”, hosted by Beverly Hills 90210’s Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green (as themselves). Unbeknownst to cast and crew alike, Domino, Ed, Choco and Alf are about to embark on their biggest case ever.
In a bizarre turn, the bounty hunters find themselves tracking the most dangerous fugitives of their careers thanks to the antics of their employer, bail bondsman Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo). Faced with a financial crisis concerning his extended family — including his girlfriend, Lateesha (Mo’Nique), their daughter and granddaughter, as well as Lateesha’s twin cousins Lashandra (Macy Gray) and Lashindra (Shondrella Avery) — Claremont hatches a reckless plan to extricate himself from economic ruin. When his plan goes awry, Domino and her team blast their way out of a complex FBI investigation, led by criminal psychologist Taryn Miles (Lucy Liu), that involves the mob, a couple of errant college students and some ‘greazee’ white trash thieves.
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Domino (2005)
Directed by: Tony Scott
Starring: Keira Knightley, Christopher Walken, Jacqueline Bisset, Mena Suvari, Lucy Liu, Edgar Ramírez, Mickey Rourke, Macy Gray, Brian Austin Green, Mo’Nique, Dabney Coleman
Screenplay by: Richard Kelly
Production Design by: Chris Seagers
Cinematography by: Dan Mindel
Film Editing by: William Goldenberg, Christian Wagner
Costume Design by: B. Åkerlund
Set Decoration by: Nancy Nye
Art Direction by: Drew Boughton, Keith Neely
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content / nudity, drug use.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: October 14, 2005
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