Stormbreaker

Stormbreaker (titled Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker in the United States) is a 2006 action spy film directed by Geoffrey Sax. The screenplay by Anthony Horowitz is based on his 2000 novel Stormbreaker, the first novel in the Alex Rider series. The film stars Alex Pettyfer as Alex Rider, and also stars Mickey Rourke, Bill Nighy, Sophie Okonedo, Alicia Silverstone, Sarah Bolger, Stephen Fry and Ewan McGregor. Stormbreaker was an international co-production between companies and financiers from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany.

The film's plot follows a teenage boy who is recruited by MI6 after his uncle, a secret agent, is killed in action. He is sent on a mission in Cornwall to gather intelligence behind Stormbreaker, an advanced computer system being provided to schools across Britain, and its creator, billionaire Darrius Sayle.

Intended to be the first entry in a film franchise, Stormbreaker grossed between $20.7 and $23.9 million worldwide upon its theatrical release, failing to recoup its $40 million budget and making the film a box office bomb. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film was largely criticized for its lack of originality and believability. As a result of these factors, plans to produce further Alex Rider films were dropped.

Storyline

Plot

Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) is a British teenager, whom MI6 recruits into its ranks, for his skills as a linguist, scuba diver, sharpshooter and martial artist are perfect for a career in espionage; his first assignment is to investigate billionaire Darrius Sayle (Mickey Rourke), who may have a nefarious motive for his recent donation of megacomputers to all of England's schools.

Genres

• Action
• Children's film
• Spy
• Adventure
• Thriller

Motion Picture Rating

• Atp (Argentina)
• M (Australia)
• 10 (Brazil)
• B (Bulgaria)
• PG (Canada)
• G (Canada) (Quebec)
• TE (Chile)
• U (Czechia)
• 11 (Denmark)
• K-11 (Finland)
• Tous publics (France)
• 12 (Germany)
• IIA (Hong Kong)
• U (India)
• PG (Ireland)
• 12 (Ireland) (DVD rating)
• T (Italy)
• G (Japan)
• U (Malaysia)
• MG6 (Netherlands)
• M (New Zealand)
• G (Nigeria)
• 11 (Norway)
• PG-13 (Philippines)
• M/12 (Portugal)
• G (Saudi Arabia)
• PG (Singapore)
• PG (South Africa)
• 12 (South Korea)
• 7 (Spain)
• 11 (Sweden)
• G (Taiwan)
• G (Thailand)
• G (Turkey)
• PG (UK)
• PG (USA)
• P (Vietnam)

Images

UK DVD cover (2006)

Cast and Crew

Director

• Geoffrey Sax

Writing Credits

• Anthony Horowitz (novel) &
• Anthony Horowitz (screenplay)

Cast

• Sarah Bolger - Sabina Pleasure
• Robbie Coltrane - Prime Minister
• Stephen Fry - Smithers
• Damian Lewis - Yassen Gregorovich
• Ewan McGregor - Ian Rider
• Bill Nighy - Alan Blunt
• Sophie Okonedo - Mrs. Jones
• Alex Pettyfer - Alex Rider
• Missi Pyle - Nadia Vole
• Mickey Rourke - Darrius Sayle
• Andy Serkis - Mr. Grin
• Alicia Silverstone - Jack Starbright
• Ashley Walters - Wolf
• Alex Barrett - Gary
• Richard Huw - Teacher
• Richard James - Vicar
• Jimmy Carr - John Crawford
• Julian Bucknall - MI6 Man
• Martin Herdman - Slater
• Morgan Walters - Harry
• David Royle - Special Forces Sergeant
• Jamie Kenna - Fox
• Kolade Agboke - Eagle
• Dave Legeno - Bear
• Bo Poraj - Soldier #1
• Del Synnott - Soldier #2
• William Tapley - Army Major
• Scott Chisholm - Boy in Hamleys
• Vivien Creegor - News Reporter
• Simon McCoy - News Reader
• Michael Webber - Sayle Scientist
• Andrew Brooke - Clumsy Guard
• Ian U'Chong - Sayle Security Guard
• Laurella Fox-Pitt - Riding Instructress
• Bruce Woodford - PE Teacher

Other Cast

• Robert Dearle - Harry Double (uncredited)
• James Fiddy - Sayle Security Guard (uncredited)
• Tina Simmons - Science Museum Guest (uncredited)
• Kat Smiley - Photographer at Museum (uncredited)

Producers

• Steve Christian (produced by)
• Hilary Dugdale (executive producer)
• Nigel Green (executive producer)
• Andreas Grosch (producer)
• Anthony Horowitz (executive producer)
• Jessica Parker (associate producer)
• Marc Samuelson (producer)
• Peter Samuelson (producer)
• Andreas Schmid (executive producer)
• Kevan Van Thompson (line producer)

Details

Countries

• UK
• USA

Language

• English

Release Dates

• July 21, 2006 (UK)
• July 21, 2006 (Ireland)
• July 28, 2006 (Iceland)
• August 9, 2006 (Philippines)
• August 10, 2006 (Israel)
• August 17, 2006 (Russia)
• August 31, 2006 (Hong Kong)
• September 1, 2006 (Latvia)
• September 8, 2006 (Italy)
• September 21, 2006 (Australia)
• October 12, 2006 (Greece)
• October 12, 2006 (Netherlands)
• October 13, 2006 (Denmark)
• October 13, 2006 (Estonia)
• October 13, 2006 (Finland)
• October 13, 2006 (Sweden)
• October 13, 2006 (Taiwan)
• October 13, 2006 (USA)
• October 19, 2006 (Portugal)
• October 25, 2006 (Belgium)
• October 25, 2006 (France)
• November 10, 2006 (Poland)
• December 19, 2006 (Cambodia) (DVD premiere)
• December 30, 2006 (Kuwait)
• January 5, 2007 (Mexico)
• January 19, 2007 (Brazil)
• March 2, 2007 (Panama)
• March 30, 2007 (South Africa) (DVD premiere)
• April 13, 2007 (China)
• June 29, 2007 (Spain)
• September 6, 2007 (Argentina)
• September 13, 2007 (Argentina)
• October 27, 2007 (Japan)
• November 15, 2007 (Hungary) (TV premiere)
• January 10, 2008 (Germany) (DVD premiere)
• August 29, 2008 (Venezuela)

Home Media Release Dates

• November 13, 2006 (UK) (DVD)

Also Known As

• Stormbreaker (UK)
• Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (USA)

Production

Stormbreaker was intended by the novel's author, Anthony Horowitz, to be the first entry in a film franchise based on his Alex Rider series. Horowitz, already an established and prolific screenwriter in British television, wrote the screenplay and worked very closely throughout the film's production with director Geoffrey Sax and producers Marc and Peter Samuelson. The Weinstein Company acquired the North American rights to the film, which was filmed in Summer 2005 with six weeks on the Isle of Man and a further six weeks in London. Some of the scenes of the school were filmed in The Grey Coat Hospital and Ballakermeen High School, Douglas, Isle of Man.

In 2005, Alex Pettyfer was cast as Alex Rider. He was picked out of 500 hopefuls who auditioned for the role. Pettyfer was originally offered a role in the then-upcoming film Eragon but turned it down, noting that he preferred Stormbreaker because it would be filmed nearer home while Eragon would film in the Czech Republic.

In June 2006, the producers signed a deal with Nintendo that made the Nintendo DS a prominent feature in the film, much like the Power Glove in The Wizard. This is an upgrade from the Game Boy Color that Alex used in the novel version. A tie-in game, Alex Rider: Stormbreaker was also released on the said DS and its predecessor, the Game Boy Advance. In addition to the Nintendo marketing in the film, Alex's cell phone is a Nokia 7710 and uses a sodium pentothal pen to get to London, not a gun.

In August 2006, the film was retitled Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker for North American release. A new poster and trailer were released along with the announcement. It was also revealed that the US premiere would take place on the Intrepid aircraft carrier at the Hudson River, New York City.

The name of the villain also changed from Herod Sayle to Darrius Sayle, with his nationality switched from Lebanese (Egyptian in the US version of the novel) to American. This was because Mickey Rourke was already in talks to take on the role, so Horowitz adapted the character to suit him.

Reception

Box office

Stormbreaker was distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors in the United Kingdom, where the film made $2,313,496 on its opening weekend, well below its expected target of blockbuster status. The film's grosses gradually declined each week for the remainder of its run, totalling of $12,872,046, making up more than half of what would become the film's final worldwide gross. In the United States, the film was distributed by The Weinstein Company in 221 theatres and grossed $215,177, with an average of $973 per screen and ranking No. 27 during its opening weekend. The film earned $677,646 in the United States and $23,260,224 internationally for a total of $23,937,870 on an estimated budget of $40 million. The Numbers reported a worldwide gross of $20.7 million. In Germany, the film was given a direct-to-video release.

In a 2007 interview for Reuters, Horowitz blamed Stormbreaker's financial failings on The Weinstein Company's handling of the film's distribution on the American market, particularly their decision to not give it a wide release. According to the writer, "Harvey Weinstein decided not to distribute it. It is one of the most bizarre and annoying things that the film didn't get given its shot in America. To this day I don't know why."

Critical response

The film has a 5.1 rating on IMDb and a 34% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Company Credits

Production Companies

• Samuelson Productions
• Isle of Man Film
• The Weinstein Company
• VIP 4 Medienfonds
• Moving Picture Company (MPC)
• Rising Star Entertainment

Distributors

• Central Partnership (2006) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Cinestar (2006) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Entertainment Film Distributors (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• Impacto Cine (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2006) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Pandasia Entertainment (2006) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2006) (Finland) (theatrical)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2006) (Taiwan) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2006) (Thailand) (all media)
• Panorama Distributions (2006) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Panorama Distributions (2011) (Hong Kong) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• The Weinstein Company (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Baseblack
• Cinesite
• Double Negative (DNEG) (visual effects)
• Moving Picture Company (MPC)
• Special Effects UK

Technical Specs

Runtime

• 93 mins

Color

• Color

Aspect Ratio

• 2.35:1
• 1.78:1 (Small Widescreen prints)

Trivia

• Because Alex Pettyfer was only 15 years old at the time of the film, he did not yet have a driver's licence, so the scripted car chase was changed to a horse chase
• Anthony Horowitz, author of the book, recommended Alex Pettyfer to play Alex Rider after seeing his impressive performance in the lead role in the British TV drama Tom Brown's Schooldays (2005).
• The water tank holding the Portuguese Man-of-war Jellyfish was filled with 19,000 gallons of water. The jellyfish itself was a puppet.
• The biggest most expensive British independent film ever made up to that point.
• Mickey Rourke accepted the role of Darrius Sayle because he wanted to hang out in the United Kingdom.
• As the lead character of Alex Rider engages in mountain climbing, scuba diving, martial arts and many other extreme sports, the role is said to be one of the most physically demanding ever undertaken by a child actor.
• As one of the biggest British independent films ever made and featuring many London locations the production gained unprecedented access to some of the capital's most famous landmarks.
• Fifteen-year-old Alex Pettyfer was chosen from five hundred other boys for the coveted lead role of Alex Rider.
• The school scenes were filmed at The Grey Coat Hospital school in Westminster, London, which is actually a girls school.
• The bridge was closed for an entire day so they could film Alex Rider's bike chase of the white van.
• The building opposite Alex and Sabina's school is actually the Channel 4 headquarters.
• Jimmy Carr worked two days.
• The early edition of the script was published into a book.
• The books allude to the possibility of Alex' adventures being made into a film series. Due to Stormbreaker's disappointing box office, results, the planned sequels were cancelled. The franchise later rebooted as the TV miniseries Alex Rider (2020).
• Anthony Horowitz tries to make the Alex Rider books as close to realistic as possible. He interviews experts and visits places used in his books to give them more credibility.
• The Alex Rider books are available as a graphic novel series.
• Anthony Horowitz is a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and film noir detective stories so his books will often homage them.
• In the books, Sabina Pleasure, the love of Alex' life, doesn't appear until volume 3: Skeleton Key.
• Anthony Horowitz does extensive research for his novels and in other countries to make them more authentic, even his Young Adult novels like Stormbreaker.
• Hailed as a reading hero, Anthony Horowitz has won many major awards, like the Bookseller Association/Nielson Author of the Year Award, the Children's Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards, and the Red House Children's Book Award.
• The British newspaper the Daily Express called the Alex Rider series "Harry Potter with attitude".
• When Anthony Horowitz wrote the novel in 2000, he created a phenomenon in children's books, spurring a trend of junior spy books and inspiring thousands of previously reluctant readers. The character of Alex Rider is clearly a young James Bond and the books allude to it sometimes, but Horowitz doesn't enjoy the comparison.
• Anthony Horowitz has his sons Nicholas Horowitz and Cassian Horowitz read the manuscripts for his novels to give him brutally honest advice.
• As well as Alex Rider, Anthony Horowitz is famous for the Power of 5 series, the Diamond Brothers Mysteries and a number of short stories. The Power of 5 series is a No 1 bestselling series enjoyed by millions of readers worldwide, like Alex Rider.
• The Resistance to Interrogation scene was written especially for the movie.
• Anthony Horowitz named the company that distributes Alex Rider Stormbreaker Productions, after the first book in the series.
• The Alex Rider series is heavily dependent on James Bond. Robbie Coltrane (Prime Minister) appeared in the Bond movies GoldenEye (1995) and The World is Not Enough (1999) as Valentin Zukovsky.
• In the book, Herod Sayle is from Lebanon. The US edition changed his nationality to Egypt. The movie reimagines Darrius Sayle as American trailer trash from California.
• Because Alex Rider's plot formulas closely mimic those of James Bond, Anthony Horowitz was chosen by the Ian Fleming estate to write Bond novels beginning in 2015.
• The Alex Rider series is often compared to Harry Potter. Robbie Coltrane (Prime Minister) played Rubeus Hagrid throughout the Potter series. Bill Nighy (Alan Blunt) played Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010). Stephen Fry (Smithers) is one of the narrators of the Harry Potter audio books. Both series have a character named Gregorovich, but this is only a coincidence, as the so-named characters both came from books released in the year 2000.
• In the same year as Stormbreaker's release, the Bond series, on which Alex Rider is heavily based, released the complete continuity reboot Casino Royale (2006).
• Alicia Silverstone plays Jack Starbright, a stock character in the vein of Batman's Alfred Pennyworth. Silverstone played Alfred's niece in Batman & Robin (1997).
• The Daily Mirror said the Alex Rider series is cooler than the Harry Potter series.
• The Alex Rider series has its own website, www.AlexRider.com.
• The British newspaper The Independent claims the Alex Rider series reinvented the spy genre.
• In the books, Gregorovich's first name is Yasha, not Yassen. Yassen is Russian for ash tree.
• This is Alex Pettyfer's 2nd major film role after he first debuted as 13 year old Tom Brown in Tom Brown's Schooldays. There he co-starred with Stephen Fry who played the headmaster of Rugby School Dr Arnold. 2 years later aged 15 Alex again stars alongside Stephen Fry who this time plays Smithers a Q type figure in MI6.
• Alex Pettyfer first acted aged 13 in Tom Browns Schooldays. He was a tall and relatively mature 13 year old in that role. 2 years later aged 15 he was cast as 14 year old Alex Ryder in Stormbreaker where he definitely looked quite mature for a 15 year old. Whilst lackluster box office receipts led the Alex Rider writer Anthony Horowitz to decide against a sequel, being unable to re-cast Alex Pettyfer in a sequel because he had "become too mature for the role" was also a factor. Fast forward to 2020 and Amazon creates two 6 episode series from later Alex Ryder books this time starring Otto Farrant as the now 16 year old Alex. Farramt was a young looking 22 when he played Alex Ryder and repeated the role a year later in the 2nd series screened in 2021.
• Italian censorship visa # 100155 delivered on 8 September 2006.
• Alex Rider is the most famous creation of novelist Anthony Horowitz.
• Anthony Horowitz is one of the most popular contemporary children's authors.

Connections

References

• Dr. No (1962) - Alex Rider and his world are based on James Bond movies in general. More specifically, the factory scene with the radiation suits is reminiscent of Dr. No's base.
• From Russia with Love (1963) - Smithers is based on Q.
• Goldfinger (1964) - At Sayle Tower, Alex fights an Oddjob lookalike who throws a bowler hat.
• Moonraker (1979) - A millionaire is working for the British government, purportedly to aid their country, but is secretly planning to bomb it and kill millions.
• Octopussy (1983) - Alex Rider's jellyfish scene is probably based on James Bond's octopus scene.
• GoldenEye (1995) - A supervillain selects England as the target of his terrorist plan because he had a bad childhood there. Robbie Coltrane is in both films.
• Batman & Robin (1997) - Alicia Silverstone plays an Alfred-like stock character after playing Alfred's niece 9 years earlier.
• The Bourne Identity (2002) - Both films feature a car chase in a Mini car with Paul Oakenfold's "Ready Steady Go" as the soundtrack. TBI features an old Mini, SB a new one.
• Die Another Day (2002) - A millionaire is working for the British government, purportedly to aid their country, but is secretly planning to bomb it and kill millions.