View source for Rollerball (2002 film)

{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Rollerball
| image          = Rollerball 2002.jpg
| alt            =
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[John McTiernan]]
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* John McTiernan
* [[Charles Roven]]
* [[Beau St. Clair]]
}}
| screenplay     = {{Plainlist|
* [[Larry Ferguson (screenwriter)|Larry Ferguson]]
* [[John Pogue]]
}}
| based on       = {{Plainlist|
* {{Based on|"Roller Ball Murder"|[[William Harrison (author)|William Harrison]]}}
* {{Based on|1975 screenplay ''[[Rollerball (1975 film)|Rollerball]]''|William Harrison}}
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Chris Klein (actor)|Chris Klein]]
* [[Jean Reno]]
* [[LL Cool J]]
* [[Rebecca Romijn|Rebecca Romijn-Stamos]]
* [[Naveen Andrews]]
}}
| music          = [[Éric Serra]]
| cinematography = Steve Mason
| editing        = {{Plainlist|
* Robert K. Lambert
* [[John Wright (film editor)|John Wright]]
}}
| production companies = {{Plainlist|
* [[Atlas Entertainment]]
* [[Redbus Film Distribution|Helkon Media KG]]
* Mosaic Media Group
* Toho-Towa
* Yorktown Productions
}}
| distributor    = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]<br>{{small| (USA & Canada)}}<br>[[Columbia Pictures]]<br>{{small| (International)}}
| released       = {{Film date|2002|02|08}}
| runtime        = 98 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 98:05--><ref>{{cite web | url=http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/rollerball-2002-1 | title=''ROLLERBALL'' (15) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=February 14, 2002 | accessdate=June 20, 2015}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $70 million<ref name="mojo"/>
| gross          = $25.9 million<ref name="mojo"/>
}}
'''''Rollerball''''' is a 2002 remake of the [[Rollerball (1975 film)|1975 science-fiction film of the same name]]. It stars [[Chris Klein (actor)|Chris Klein]], [[Jean Reno]], [[LL Cool J]], [[Rebecca Romijn]], and [[Naveen Andrews]]. It was directed by [[John McTiernan]] and has a much greater focus on action, with more muted social and political overtones than the original. Unlike the previous film, it takes place in the present rather than in a future [[dystopia]]n society.

==Plot==
{{More plot|date=March 2015}}
In 2005, the new sport of Rollerball becomes hugely popular in [[Central Asia]], [[Russia]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Mongolia]], and [[Turkey]].

Marcus Ridley ([[LL Cool J]]) invites [[National Hockey League|NHL]] hopeful Jonathan Cross ([[Chris Klein (actor)|Chris Klein]]) to join him playing for the Zhambel Horsemen in [[Kazakhstan]]. The highly paid Marcus and Jonathan are teamed with low-paid locals, who are often severely injured in the game, which is an extraordinarily violent extension of roller derby involving motorcycles, a metal ball, and many trappings similar to the [[professional wrestling]] phenomenon of [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE).

In the beginning, Jonathan, the team's star player and the poster child of promoter Alexi Petrovich ([[Jean Reno]]), is enamored by the high-octane sport, the popularity, sports cars and with his female teammate Aurora ([[Rebecca Romijn]]). But Jonathan and Ridley eventually discover that the cynical Alexi and his opportunistic assistant, Sanjay ([[Naveen Andrews]]), have a vested interest in keeping the game as popular as possible, through planned gory "accidents" and ensuring that Jonathan and Ridley cannot quit the team and remain high-profile stars.

After an accident almost causes Aurora to be killed, Jonathan and Ridley decide that they need to flee the country to save their lives. The two are followed by Alexi and several body guards, who attack the two before they can reach the Russian border, resulting in Ridley's death.

Following the escape attempt, Alexi tries to stage a public execution of Jonathan by removing all the rules from the upcoming Rollerball match. However, Jonathan, with the help of his teammates, start a revolution, causing the fans to see the sport for what it really is, and ultimately to kill Alexi.

==Cast==
* [[Chris Klein (actor)|Chris Klein]] as Jonathan Cross
* [[Jean Reno]] as Alexi Petrovich
* [[LL Cool J]] as Marcus Ridley
* [[Rebecca Romijn]] as Aurora "the Black Widow"
* [[Naveen Andrews]] as Sanjay
* [[Mike Dopud]] as Michael "the Assassin"
* [[Kata Dobó]] as Katya Dobolakova
* [[Lucia Rijker]] as Lucia Ryjker
* [[Oleg Taktarov]] as Oleg Denekin
* [[Paul Heyman]] as Sports Announcer
* [[Janet Wright]] as Coach Olga

The film features [[cameo appearance]]s by [[Pink (singer)|Pink]], [[Slipknot (band)|Slipknot]], [[Carroll Shelby]], [[Paul Heyman]], and [[Shane McMahon]].

==Production==
Although the first draft of the script was considered by many to be very good and even superior to the original film, director [[John McTiernan]] didn't like it because it focused more on social commentary, while he thought that the audience would like to see more of the Rollerball scenes. This was why he had the original script completely re-written several times and made sure that it focused more on WWE-like showmanship, including crazy costumes and stunts.

The movie was filmed in about 15 weeks, between July 24 and November 2000. McTiernan's first cut, which was over two hours long, was test screened in Las Vegas around April or May 2001, and got a very negative response from test audiences. The release date was then pushed back from May to 13 July 2001 by MGM in order to test the movie again, hoping that they would find the right audience for it.
 
[[Harry Knowles]] from ''[[Ain't it Cool News]]'' was invited by McTiernan for a test screening of the film in Long Island sometime after the first test screening, and in his review of McTiernan's original cut, Knowles said that the movie was bad but at least it was an unapologetic hard-R film with lots of nudity and some really brutal violence in Rollerball scenes, but even as a workprint it was obvious how badly the action scenes were edited, and the story was bad. "The 'Rollerball' edit I saw was one of the worst films I'd seen in my life. There was jeering in the theater," Knowles said. Knowles was also one of the people who read the original first draft of the script (one that McTiernan rejected) and he said that it was an amazing script which solved all the problems of the original film.

Following the negative test screenings, MGM ordered massive re-shoots and re-edits to be done on the film in the middle of 2001. Shortly after the test screenings, MGM appointed a new head of marketing and distribution, Robert Levin, who convinced McTiernan to let go of the summer release date. This would give the studio more time to devise a better marketing strategy and allow McTiernan to do re-shoots and to re-edit the film for a PG-13 rating, in an attempt by the studio to get a wider audience to see the film. The release date was then pushed back again from August all the way to February 2002, due to all the post production work causing delays. McTiernan shot two weeks of additional footage in late 2001 to clarify certain scenes, especially the film's ending, and also cut down the violence and all the nudity.<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/06/entertainment/et-natale6/2</ref><ref>http://www.aintitcool.com/node/9240</ref><ref>http://www.aintitcool.com/node/11436
</ref>

On orders from the studio, around 30 minutes were cut out of the original rough cut of the film and the entire ending was re-shot and changed. Some of the cuts were made because MGM thought that movie was "too Asian".<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/06/entertainment/et-natale6
</ref><ref>http://www.aintitcool.com/node/9743
</ref>
In the original ending, Petrovich gets killed by Sanjay and Jonathan and Aurora fly back to the US, during which Jonathan says that he will continue playing the Rollerball game in the US, and how he is now part owner of the game.

Some of the scenes that were cut for the PG-13 rating, but were never put back even in later DVD and Blu-ray so called R rated versions of the film, include lots more blood in all the Rollerball scenes and parts like skulls getting smashed, bones getting broken, teeth flying out, a scene where Aurora is topless and walks towards Jonathan in the locker room originally didn't had a shadow over her (this was added in post production to cover her up for the PG-13 rating), their sex scene was also longer, and so was their conversation while they are laying down in a sauna. Some of the other similar edits that were done on more graphic scenes in the film include digitally replacing blood spurts with sweat.

Some of the action scenes were also longer in the original cut and/or edited differently or re-shot, such as the opening scene in San Francisco which was partially re-shot after the original version of it was considered to be too confusing due to the editing.

The infamous night vision sequence was actually a re-shot version of the scene. After realizing that they shot the original version of the scene to look too dark, filmmakers had to return and re-shoot the entire sequence, delaying the movie's release for six months. But due to the budget issues this scene couldn't be finished properly so it was decided to add green visual tint to the scene to make it look like it was night vision, even though it makes no sense for why would this scene would have that look.

The original score by [[Brian Transeau]] was also removed, purportedly because it sounded "too Arabic", and was replaced with a new score by [[Éric Serra]]. Also, some of the other music was changed or removed from the first cut of the film.<ref>http://www.conancompletist.com/eatersofthedead/interviews/jason.htm</ref>

This was not the first time that McTiernan was involved in a troubled production. One of his previous films, ''[[The 13th Warrior]]'', also had problems with bad test screenings of his director's cut, which led to writer [[Michael Crichton]] taking over the directing of the re-shoots and re-edits of the film.

==Reception==
''Rollerball'' was heavily panned by critics. ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]'''s Trevor Johnson described it as "a checklist shaped by a 15-year-old mallrat: thrashing metal track, skateboards, motorbikes, cracked heads and Rebecca Romijn with her top off", and ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' reviewer [[Roger Ebert]] called it "an incoherent mess, a jumble of footage in search of plot, meaning, rhythm and sense". The film's lead, Chris Klein, was also a subject of criticism and ridicule, being referred to as a bland hero.

[[Rotten Tomatoes]] ranked the film 28th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s, with a rating of 3%.

The film was a box-office flop, earning a worldwide total of $25.9 million compared to a production budget of $70 million.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rollerball.htm |title=Box Office Mojo |publisher=Box Office Mojo |date= |accessdate=2011-08-24}}</ref> In 2014, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time.<ref>Eller, Claudia, "[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-box-office-flops-pictures,0,7165703.photogallery#axzz2tJcnZf9r The costliest box office flops of all time], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' (January 15, 2014)</ref> Rebecca Romijn was nominated for a [[Golden Raspberry Awards|Golden Raspberry Award]] as [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress|Worst Supporting Actress]], where she lost to [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] for her cameo in ''[[Die Another Day]]''.

The creator of ''Rollerball'', science fiction author [[William Harrison (author)|William Harrison]] said: "I've never watched the 2002 incarnation of ''Rollerball'', and have no interest in it."

==Controversy==
{{see also|John McTiernan#Criminal charges, felony conviction, and incarceration}}

In 2013, director [[John McTiernan]] was sent to federal prison for making a false statement to an FBI investigator in February 2006 about his hiring the private investigator [[Anthony Pellicano]] to illegally wiretap [[Charles Roven]], the producer of the film, around August 2000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/die-hard-director-john-mctiernan-412690|author=Block, Alex Ben|title='Die Hard' Director John McTiernan Headed to Prison After Supreme Court Denies Appeal|date=January 15, 2013|accessdate=January 15, 2013|publisher=''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]''}}</ref><ref name=OneYear>[http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118025109.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 "Judge Sentences McTiernan to One Year in Prison"], Variety.com, October 4, 2010.</ref>  McTiernan (who was released in 2014) had been in a disagreement with Roven about what type of film ''Rollerball'' should be, and had hired Pellicano to investigate Roven's intentions and actions.<ref name=Steinberg>{{cite news|last=Steinberg |first=Brian |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117972627.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |title=John McTiernan sentenced to prison: {{'}}''Die Hard''{{'}} director lied to FBI about Pellicano |publisher=Variety |date=September 24, 2007 |accessdate=June 4, 2013}}</ref>

== Soundtrack ==
The score was released, but the soundtrack was not.
{{div col|2}}
# "[[Boom (P.O.D. song)|Boom]]" – [[P.O.D.]]
# "Told You So" – [[Drowning Pool]]
# "Ride" – [[Beautiful Creatures (band)|Beautiful Creatures]]
# "Millionaire" – Rappagariya
# "I Am Hated" – [[Slipknot (band)|Slipknot]]
# "Body Go" – [[Hardknox]]
# "[[Feel So Numb]]" – [[Rob Zombie]]
# "[[Keep Away (song)|Keep Away]]" – [[Godsmack]] 
# "[[Insane in the Brain]]" – [[Sen Dog]]
# "[[Demanufacture (album)|Flashpoint]]" – [[Fear Factory]]
# "[[When I Come Around]]" – [[Green Day]]
# "[[Crawling in the Dark]]" – [[Hoobastank]]
# "Time to Play" – [[Pillar (band)|Pillar]]
# "[[Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)]]" – [[Rob Zombie]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0246894|Rollerball}}
* {{mojo title|rollerball|Rollerball}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|rollerball|Rollerball}}
* {{metacritic film|rollerball|Rollerball}}

{{John McTiernan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rollerball}}
[[Category:2002 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s action films]]
[[Category:2000s science fiction films]]
[[Category:American film remakes]]
[[Category:American science fiction action films]]
[[Category:Death games in fiction]]
[[Category:Film scores by Éric Serra]]
[[Category:Films about competitions]]
[[Category:Films adapted from science fiction short stories]]
[[Category:Films directed by John McTiernan]]
[[Category:Films set in 2005]]
[[Category:Films set in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Films shot in Wyoming]]
[[Category:LL Cool J]]
[[Category:Roller derby films]]
[[Category:Roller skating films]]
[[Category:Science fiction action films]]
[[Category:Screenplays by Larry Ferguson]]
[[Category:Atlas Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]