Blackhat (film)

* Thomas Tull
* Michael Mann
* Jon Jashni
* Chris Hemsworth
* Tang Wei
* Viola Davis
* Ritchie Coster
* Holt McCallany
* Yorick van Wageningen
* Wang Leehom
* Joe Walker
* Stephen E. Rivkin
* Jeremiah O'Driscoll
* Mako Kamitsuna
* Harry Gregson-Williams
* Atticus Ross
* Leo Ross
* Legendary Pictures
* Forward Pass
* January 8, 2015 (2015-01-08) (Los Angeles)
* January 16, 2015 (2015-01-16) (United States)

***Blackhat*** is a 2015 American action thriller film produced and directed by Michael Mann and starring Chris Hemsworth, Tang Wei, Viola Davis, Holt McCallany, and Wang Leehom. The film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on January 8, 2015, and was released in theaters on January 16. *Blackhat* was a box-office bomb, earning only $19.7 million at the box office against a budget of $70 million. The film received generally mixed reviews, with criticisms focused on casting and pace, though the film appeared on some critics' year-end lists.

## Plot

A nuclear plant in Chai Wan, Hong Kong, goes into meltdown when a hacker causes the coolant pumps to overheat and explode. Soon after, the Mercantile Trade Exchange in Chicago gets hacked, causing soy futures to rise. The Chinese government and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determine that the hack was performed using a remote access tool (RAT). Captain Chen Dawai of the People's Liberation Army cyber warfare unit is tasked with finding the hacker, and enlists the aid of his sister Lien, a networking engineer. He meets with FBI Special Agent Carol Barrett in Los Angeles and reveals the code in the RAT was written by himself and Nicholas Hathaway, his college roommate, during their time at MIT. Dawai requests that Hathaway, who is in prison for hacking banks, be offered a temporary release in exchange for his services. Hathaway, knowing how necessary he is to the investigation, demands new terms: his prison sentence commuted if his assistance leads to the hacker's identification and capture. He is required to wear an ankle bracelet monitor and be accompanied by deputy U.S. marshal Mark Jessup.

Hathaway manipulates the update system on Jessup’s phone GPS that tracks his location, allowing him to follow his own lead and arrange a meeting with the hacker's partner at a restaurant. While they wait, he tells Lien about his past, but the partner does not arrive. Hathaway discovers a camera watching them and, following it to the connected computer, messages the hacker that he is now on his trail.

Clues uncovered by Dawai and Barrett lead the team to Hong Kong, where they work with Police Inspector Alex Trang. The team traces the stock trade money to a paramilitary operative named Elias Kassar. Hathaway, Jessup, Chen, and Trang, along with a Special Duties Unit team, raid Kassar's hideout, and a shootout ensues in a drainage tunnel, resulting in the deaths of Trang and several officers as Kassar and his men escape.

The nuclear plant has stabilized enough to have a data drive be recovered from the control room, but it is corrupted by radiation. The National Security Agency's Black Widow software has the power to repair the data, but they refuse to allow the Chinese access. Reluctantly sanctioned by Barret, Hathaway hacks into the NSA and uses Black Widow, discovering that the hacker's server is based in Jakarta. Lien finds out the hacker has been buying high-resolution satellite photos of a site near Seri Manjung, Malaysia.

For his illegal hack, the NSA and FBI demand Hathaway’s return to prison. Dawai's superiors advise him to turn Hathaway over to the U.S. government, but he instead alerts Hathaway to their plans. Meanwhile, one of Kassar's men secretly plants a tracking device on Dawai's car. As Hathaway and Lien, who have become romantically involved, argue about his fleeing alone, Dawai is blown up by a rocket launched by Kassar; Barret and Jessup, arriving on the scene, manage to shoot several of Kassar's men before they are both killed. Lien and Hathaway escape on a subway train, and she uses her connections to charter a plane to Malaysia.

Hathaway deduces that the hacker's attack at the nuclear plant was merely a test for a later plan: to sabotage a large dam and destroy several major tin mines in Malaysia, allowing the hacker to make a profit buying tin options. In Jakarta, he hacks into a bank's computer to drain the hacker's bank accounts, forcing the hacker, Sadak, to contact him. Sadak and Hathaway agree to meet and discuss a partnership; Hathaway anticipates a double-cross and arms himself with makeshift weapons and body armor which he conceals under his clothes.

Though Hathaway insists Sadak and Kassar come alone, they bring their henchmen. Lien spots them and alerts Hathaway, who orders them to a new location in a park during a large religious procession. Hathaway trails them, but is caught at gunpoint by Kassar. As he is being frisked, Hathaway blindsides and stabs Kassar to death with a sharpened screwdriver. Sadak's men catch up and a firefight ensues; Hathaway is shot several times, but manages to kill the reinforcements. Sadak stabs Hathaway with a knife before Hathaway kills him. He reunites with Lien, who treats his wounds, before they leave Indonesia with Sadak's money.

## Cast

* Chris Hemsworth as Nicholas Hathaway, a convicted computer hacker
* Tang Wei as Chen Lien
* Leehom Wang as P.L.A. Captain Chen Dawai, Chen Lien's brother
* Viola Davis as FBI Special Agent Carol Barrett
* Ritchie Coster as Elias Kassar
* Holt McCallany as Deputy United States Marshal Jessup
* Yorick van Wageningen as Sadak, 'The Blackhat'
* Andy On as Hong Kong Police Inspector Alex Trang
* Manny Montana as Alonzo Reyes
* William Mapother as Rich Donahue, a National Security Agency operative
* Archie Kao as Shum
* Shi Liang as Lieutenant Colonel Zhao
* Cheung Siu Fai as Chow
* Adrian Pang as Keith Yan
* Jason Butler Harner as Frank
* John Ortiz as Henry Pollack

## Production

File:Chris Hemsworth SDCC 2014 (cropped).jpg
In an interview done at the LMU Film school, Michael Mann said he was inspired to make *Blackhat* after reading about the events surrounding Stuxnet, which was a computer worm that targeted and reportedly ruined almost one fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges. In keeping with his high standard for authenticity, Mann brought in several technical advisors and consultants like former hackers Kevin Poulsen (senior editor for *Wired News*) and Christopher McKinley, to make the film as authentic as possible. McKinlay was famous for hacking the online dating site OkCupid in order to make his profile the most attractive to women. Director Mann also met with Mike Rogers, who was Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence until 2015. Parisa Tabriz, who manages Google's information security engineering team, said that "It's the most accurate information security film I've seen."

The film was tentatively titled *Cyber*, however the final title was revealed on July 26, 2014 during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con International, and it was being estimated that it might qualify for the Oscars. The first official trailer for the film was released on September 25, 2014.

Filming began on May 17, 2013, in Los Angeles, California; Hong Kong; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and at Lapangan Banteng in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The film would be Mann's first feature to be shot entirely using digital cameras. Although *Collateral,* *Miami Vice* and *Public Enemies* were predominantly digital features, Mann employed 35mm film sparingly.

Director Mann donated HK$300,000 (US$38,500) to The Community Chest of Hong Kong in the name of Hang Seng Bank, to thank the bank for allowing him to film *Blackhat* for five evenings in the bank's lobby area.

In November 2013, Universal set the North American release date for January 16, 2015.

## Soundtrack

The film score was composed by Harry Gregson-Williams with Atticus Ross. Upon viewing the film, however, Gregson-Williams posted a message on Facebook stating that his score went almost unused in the final edit, which included synthesized music not prepared by Ross or himself. He went on to say that, "I therefore reluctantly join the long list of composers who have had their scores either sliced and diced mercilessly or ignored completely by Michael Mann." He stated that although he is credited for the score, the final film "contains almost none of my compositions". He later deleted the status update containing this information.

Mann later explained that he often prefers to use more than one composer "to rotate among different emotional perspectives", stating, "If a composer wants to have his music stand alone, he should be a recording artist and let his work contest itself in that arena."

Some of Ryan Amon's music that was originally used for *Elysium* was reused in the film. Mike Dean also contributed additional music.

## Release

*Blackhat* opened on January 16, 2015, against the wide release of *American Sniper*, an "unexpected juggernaut", which set records for the largest January opening weekend in history. *Blackhat* was a box-office bomb, opening at number 11 and earning only $1.7 million on its opening day. It made just $4.4 million for the weekend against its $70 million budget. This made the movie one of the worst debuts ever for a movie playing in over 2,500 locations. After only two weeks, Universal decided to withdraw the film from all but 236 theaters. It had been in 2,568 theaters, making it the sixth-biggest drop in history for a third-week film.

An in-depth analysis by industry trade publication *Deadline* of why *Blackhat* did not perform primarily examined the marketing strategy as “the major challenge they were unable to overcome”  with independent tracking services supporting this conclusion: “total awareness for *Blackhat* was in the 40-50% range on January 4 and grew to 50-60% on January 15 (versus *American Sniper*’s 80-90%).”  Additionally, “the film wasn’t helped by a marketing campaign that failed to convey a sophisticated plot and a romance… *Blackhat* instead chased a young audience with action footage that did not seem fresh.”

Internationally, the film grossed $2.33 million in 19 territories in its opening weekend. It played below expectations in markets including Denmark, Greece, Poland, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam. Deadline credited Lee Hom Wang and Tang Wei’s inclusion with increased success in other nations including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. In its third weekend, the film grossed $1.8 million with openings of $595,000 and $446,000 in Russia and Spain, respectively. In its fourth weekend, the film grossed $1.2 million for a total of $8.4 million, with its top opener in Germany at $526,000.

Due to the less-than-stellar numbers at the American and Asian box offices, Universal Pictures International opted not to release *Blackhat* theatrically in Australia. The film was also scrapped for a theatrical release in Belgium.

In the aftermath, Legendary took a $90 million write-down on the film.

On February 20, 2015, *Blackhat* debuted in the UK.

### Home media

*Blackhat* was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 12, 2015, in North America. The Blu-ray edition includes both a DVD copy of the film and a voucher for an UltraViolet/iTunes digital copy, as well as three featurettes: "The Cyber Threat", "On Location Around the World", and "Creating Reality". The DVD edition contains only one featurette: "Creating Reality".

In Australia, the film was originally slated to be released theatrically on February 25, 2015, but due to its poor performance at the US box office, it was instead released straight to home video on May 14, 2015. In the UK, the film was also released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 22, 2015.Template:Cn

### Director's cut

Michael Mann premiered a re-edited 136-minute director's cut of the film at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 20, 2016. The re-edited version played once, as part of a retrospective series of Mann's films. The primary change in this cut was the movement of the film's nuclear reactor attack sequence from the opening to the middle of the film. Mann originally intended to place the reactor sequence in the middle, but moved it to the beginning of the theatrical cut just before its release. It premiered on FX on May 9, 2017. It was available exclusively on DirecTV., but it has since been removed from the service. It is one of the two Mann movies with the most interest in a director’s cut release, the other one being The Keep.

## Reception

### Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 32% based on 190 reviews, with an average rating of 4.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Thematically timely, but dramatically inert, *Blackhat* strands Chris Hemsworth in a muddled misfire from director Michael Mann." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". According to CinemaScore, audiences gave the film a grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale.

For many critics, a significant issue of the film is the casting of Chris Hemsworth as a hacker. Christy Lemire in the *Chicago Sun-Times* stated in her review, "Anyone who makes his or her way in the world sitting in front of a computer screen all day is not going to look as hunky as Hemsworth." Hemsworth himself was unsatisfied with his performance, saying, "I didn’t enjoy what I did in the film...It just felt flat, and it was also an attempt to do what I thought people might have wanted to see. But I don’t think I’m good in that space."

Manohla Dargis of *The New York Times* gave the film a largely positive review, stating, "Michael Mann’s thriller *Blackhat*, a story about the intersection of bodies and machines, is a spectacular work of unhinged moviemaking." Kenneth Turan of the *Los Angeles Times* also gave it a positive review, writing, “It lures us in with the promise of up-to-the-minute villainy, but the satisfactions of ‘Blackhat’ are surprisingly old school.” *The Hollywood Reporter*’s Sheri Linden noted, “The essential problem of cyber-thrillers is one that even so gifted a director hasn’t quite solved, particularly in the film’s first half: Characters looking at computer screens and explaining the significance of what they see doesn’t make for the most riveting viewing.” Matt Zoller Seitz, the Editor-in-Chief of *RogerEbert.com*, gave *Blackhat* three and a half out of four stars, stating in his review, "‘Blackhat’ is mainly about what happens when the real world is annexed by the virtual: what it does to geography and relationships; how it signal-jams our species' sense of time as a series of self-contained moments, and substitutes an existence that can feel like an endless, intrusive buzz."

### Year-end lists

Although *Blackhat* received generally mixed reviews, many critics found merit in its filmmaking to include it in their "best-of" lists for 2015. In *Sight & Sound* magazine's poll for the best films of 2015, six critics voted for it as one of the five best films of the year.

* 2nd - Andrew Wright - *Parallax View*
* 3rd - Michael Nordine - *Village Voice*
* 4th - Ben Sachs - *Chicago Reader*
* 6th - Bruce Reid - *Parallax View*
* 7th - Scout Tafoya - *RogerEbert.com*
* 8th - Danny Bowes - *RogerEbert.com*
* 8th - Staff consensus - *Slant*
* 10th - Brian Doan - *RogerEbert.com*
* 11th - Matt Zoller Seitz - *RogerEbert.com*

## Themes and interpretation

*Blackhat*, like several of Mann's crime thrillers, is a notable pop-cultural work on the theme of mass surveillance. According to critic Nick Pinkerton, Mann's concern with surveillance follows in the footsteps of earlier films by Fritz Lang and Henry Hathaway. The emerging relationship between power and network technology in the mid–20th century was a major theme in those directors' respective works, particularly Lang's *The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse* (1960) and Hathaway's *The House on 92nd Street* (1945) and *Call Northside 777* (1948). Pinkerton suggested that *Blackhat*'s protagonist was named "Hathaway" in an intentional allusion to the latter director.

In an early scene, several books seen on Hathaway's prison-cell bookshelf serve as an "ideological gate key" to the film, according to critic Niles Schwartz. These include books of philosophy and critical theory like Michel Foucault's *Discipline and Punish*, Jean-François Lyotard's *The Postmodern Condition*, Jacques Derrida's *The Animal That Therefore I Am*, and Jean Baudrillard's *America*; a biography of nuclear physicists Ernest Lawrence and J. Robert Oppenheimer; and Brian Greene's *The Elegant Universe*, an introduction to string theory. Mahola Darghis at the *New York Times* said *Blackhat* demonstrated Mann's "hybrid approach" to filmmaking, "at the crossroads of the classical Hollywood cinema and the European art film", as an action film containing highbrow philosophical references more typical of arthouse cinema from directors like Jean-Luc Godard.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Burlingame, Jon (January 21, 2015). 'Blackhat' Composer on His Complaints That Film Used Little of His Work.
2. ↑ *BLACKHAT* (15). *British Board of Film Classification* (January 19, 2015).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Blackhat (2015) - Box Office Mojo. *boxofficemojo.com*.
4. ↑ The Hollywood Masters - Michael Mann - Blackhat. YouTube (September 29, 2014).
5. ↑ What Blackhat Gets Right: A Chat With Former Hacker Kevin Poulsen (January 16, 2015).
6. ↑ How a Math Genius Hacked OkCupid to Find True Love. *Wired* (January 21, 2014).
7. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Hackers on Blackhat: Hollywood finally gets internet right". *www.bbc.com*. January 16, 2015.
8. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Fleming, Mike, Jr. (July 26, 2014). "Comic-Con: Michael Mann's Cyberthriller Movie Titled 'Blackhat', May Qualify For Oscar Run". *Deadline Hollywood*. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
9. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Anderton, Ethan (September 25, 2014). "Chris Hemsworth Hunts Cybercriminals in First Trailer for 'Blackhat'". *firstshowing.net*. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
10. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>中環在線：感激恒生 米高曼捐30萬畀公益金. *Apple Daily* (in Chinese). August 20, 2013.
11. ↑ Universal Dates 'The Mummy' Reboot For April 2016, Pushes 'Warcraft' Out Of 2015 Holiday Slot (November 27, 2013).
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 WIRED January 2015: Q&A With Director Michael Mann. *WIRED January 2015*.
13. ↑ Jen Yamato. 'Blackhat' Composer Backs Down After Slamming Michael Mann Over Score - Deadline.
14. ↑ Blackhat composer accuses director Michael Mann of 'slicing and dicing' his score. *International Business Times UK*.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 'Blackhat' Composer Backs Down After Slamming Michael Mann Over Score.
16. ↑ Quora Contributor (2015-02-09). Michael Mann: How do directors pick composers to score their movies?.
17. ↑ Sienna Miller On 'American Sniper', Fame, 'Cabaret' & Ben Brantley: Conversations With Jeremy Gerard.
18. ↑ Chris Hemsworth's New Hacker Movie 'Blackhat' Bombs At The Box Office.
19. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (2015-01-20). 'Blackhat' Box Office Bomb: What Happened To The Michael Mann Film?.
20. ↑ Weekend Report (cont.): Solid Starts for 'Ringer,' 'Paddington,' While 'Blackhat' Bombs (2015-01-18).
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Legendary's Michael Mann Pic 'Blackhat': What The Hell Happened?.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 'Sniper' Hits Eastwood Highs; 'Taken', 'Son' Top International Box Office: Final.
23. ↑ Legendary's Michael Mann Pic 'Blackhat': What The Hell Happened?.
24. ↑ 'Penguins', 'Sniper' Aim Higher In Actuals: International Box Office Update.
25. ↑ 'Jupiter' Ascends A Touch; 'Exodus' Crosses $200M: Intl Box Office Actuals.
26. ↑ Network writers (2015-01-20). Blackhat loses out to American Sniper in the US box office.
27. ↑ Blackhat niet in Belgische zalen. Vertigo.
28. ↑ Marc Graser (2015-02-04). Legendary Stumbles With Big Writedowns on 'Seventh Son,' 'Blackhat' (EXCLUSIVE). *Variety*.
29. ↑ Blackhat DVD Release Date May 12, 2015.
30. ↑ Blackhat: Michael Mann: Movies & TV.
31. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Franklin, Garth (January 20, 2015). ""Blackhat" Ditches Australian Release Plans". *Dark Horizons*. Dark Futures Pty. Limited. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Watch Blackhat: Director's Cut Online.
33. ↑ BAM - Blackhat. *BAM.org*.
34. ↑ BAM - Heat & Vice: The Films of Michael Mann. *BAM.org*.
35. ↑ Kenji Fujishima (February 11, 2016). Breaking Down Michael Mann's Sharper Director's Cut Of 'B - The Playlist. *The Playlist*.
36. ↑ Michael Mann Talks Blackhat, His Director's Cuts, Ali, and More. *Collider* (January 16, 2015).
37. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (May 8, 2017). Director's Cut Of Michael Mann's 'Blackhat' To Make World Broadcast Premiere This Week, Filmmaker Teases Changes To 'Heat'.
38. ↑ #ReleaseTheMannCut.
39. ↑ *Blackhat*. *Rotten Tomatoes*. Fandango.
40. ↑ *Blackhat*. *Metacritic*. CBS Interactive.
41. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (20 January 2015). Legendary's Michael Mann Pic 'Blackhat': What The Hell Happened?. "mostly older (82% over 25) and 59% male. But it was not universally beloved: moviegoers gave Blackhat a C- CinemaScore."
42. ↑ Nashawaty, Chris (27 January 2015). Blackhat. Entertainment Weekly Inc..
43. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Puig, Claudia (January 15, 2015). "'Blackhat' aims for topical but ends up with a hack job". *USA Today*. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
44. ↑ Blackhat: A Lumbering, Pandering Cyberthriller. The Atlantic Monthly Group (16 January 2015).
45. ↑ Lemire, Christy (17 January 2015). Blackhat. GoDaddy.com, LLC.
46. ↑ Seetodeh, Ramin (May 28, 2019). How Chris Hemsworth Found His Way as a Movie Star With Thor and 'The Avengers'.
47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Dargis, Manohla. "'Blackhat,' a Cyberthriller Starring Chris Hemsworth". *The New York Times*. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
48. ↑ High-tech 'Blackhat' remains rooted in old-school filmmaking. *latimes.com* (January 16, 2015).
49. ↑ 'Blackhat': Film Review. *hollywoodreporter.com*.
50. ↑ Blackhat Movie Review & Film Summary (2015). Ebert Digital LLC (14 January 2015).
51. ↑ Dietz, Jason (6 December 2015). Best of 2015: Film Critic Top Ten Lists. CBS Interactive Inc..
52. ↑ Blackhat (2015) | The best films of 2015 - all the votes. British Film Institute.
53. ↑ The Individual Top Tens of 2015. Ebert Digital LLC (18 December 2015).
54. ↑ WINNERS OF TEEN CHOICE 2015 ANNOUNCED. *Teen Choice Awards*. FOX (August 16, 2015).
55. ↑ Template:Cite journal
56. ↑ Schwartz, Niles (2018). *Off the Map: Freedom, Control, and the Future in Michael Mann's Public Enemies*. Reel Spirituality Monograph Series. **2**. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-1-5326-3658-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=20JgDwAAQBAJ.

## External links

* Official website.
* *Blackhat* at IMDb
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