Tagline: Never pick up strangers.
The Hitcher movie storyline. The young couple hit the road in a 1970 Oldsmobile 442, en route to spring break. But their pleasure trip soon turns into a waking nightmare. The initial encounters with Ryder are increasingly off-putting for Grace and Jim, and they bravely fight back when he ambushes them. But they are truly blindsided when he implicates them in a horrific slaying and continues to shadow them. The open road becomes a suspenseful, battleground of blood and metal as, in trying to elude not only Ryder but also New Mexico State Police Lieutenant Esteridge’s (Neal McDonough) officers, Grace and Jim must fight for their lives and face their fears head-on.
From filmmaker Michael Bay’s production company (producers of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror) comes The Hitcher, an update of the 1986 film of the same name. Dave Meyers makes his feature directorial debut on the new thriller, which tracks the terrifying trajectory of Grace Andrews (Sophia Bush) and Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton), a collegiate couple who are tormented by the mysterious hitchhiker John Ryder, a.k.a. The Hitcher (Sean Bean).
The Hitcher is a 2007 American horror-thriller film starring Sean Bean, Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton. It is a remake of the 1986 film of the same name starring Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and C. Thomas Howell. The Hitcher was directed by Dave Meyers and produced by Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes. This is the second feature film collaboration between Sean Bean and Michael Bay after the 2005 film The Island. The film was released on January 19, 2007 in the US and on June 1, 2007 in the UK.
The film debuted at #4 at the US the box office with $7,818,239 made in the opening week. After three weeks, the film placed #11 at the box office and subsequently made $16,366,370.[citation needed] Five weeks after its nationwide release, The Hitcher had been pulled from most screens and was completely removed from cinemas after six weeks. The Hitcher began its international release on March 1, 2007. As of June 30, 2009, the film has had a lifetime gross of $25.4 million.
About the Production
Actor Sean Bean, who stars as The Hitcher – homicidal hitchhiker John Ryder – in The Hitcher, admits, “I’ve never been a hitchhiker, and I’ve never picked any up – and I don’t think I ever will, now…”
Zachary Knighton, cast as college student Jim Halsey, adds, “This is a thriller that shows real people in an extraordinary yet believable and accessible situation. To me, that’s the biggest fear; something that could actually happen.”
“There’s nothing in our movie that couldn’t happen to somebody,” confirms Sophia Bush, who plays opposite Bean and Knighton as college student Grace Andrews. “That’s what’s terrifying about it.”
Updating the earlier film of the same name, The Hitcher is the fourth production from Platinum Dunes, the company formed five years ago by filmmaker Michael Bay with producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller.
Given the success of the company’s first three movies – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning – Fuller notes, “This genre is a great avenue to give first-time directors opportunities in. Our intent with Platinum Dunes was and is to let them be able to realize their vision of a film.”
The Hitcher director Dave Meyers is, notes Fuller, “the first director who we’ve made a deal with before we had a final script. The reason being, we’d been talking to him for some time; we’d seen his reel and, from meeting with him, sensed that this story was important to him.
“Other directors will come in and talk about how they’re going to shoot certain scenes, and with which color palette. With Dave, we had a director who was more concerned about the story of this movie than he was anything else.”
Form adds, “We all talked about the movie we wanted to make. We try and ground our movies in reality, and not make them flashy with distracting shots or weird effects. Dave’s take on this movie felt real.”
Even so, as the director elaborates, “We’ve got scares, thrills, cars, blood, vistas, and a love story. The Hitcher is actually a date-movie thriller, which audiences usually don’t get.”
Meyers is a top director of music videos and commercials who makes his feature film directorial debut on The Hitcher. He reflects, “I believe that people go to the movies to see memorable characters. Based on that, this project had what I was looking for; not only in terms of The Hitcher – who is to the road what the shark in Jaws is to the water – but also in terms of these two young people who you can care about. In most thrillers, they’re just one-dimensional kids who get killed off. In this movie, Grace and Jim are on a journey, not only in terms of their road trip but also in terms of their relationship. So there was a good character thriller here for actors, which made it something I was interested in directing.”
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
The Hitcher (2007)
Directed by: Dave Myers
Starring: Sean Bean, Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton, Kyle Davis, Neal McDonough, Yara Martinez, Lauren Cohn. Travis Schuldt, Michael J. Fisher, Brad Robinson, Kyle Davis
Screenplay by: Eric Bernt, Jake Wade Wall
Production Design by: David Lazan
Cinematography by: James Hawkinson
Film Editing by: Jim May
Costume Design by: Leeann Radeka
Set Decoration by; Randy Huke
Art Direction by: Rob Simons
Music by: Steve Jablonsky
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, terror and language.
Distributed by: Rogue Pictures
Release Date: January 19, 2007
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