Fifty/Fifty (1992 film)

Fifty/Fifty
Directed by	Charles Martin Smith
Written by	Dennis Shryack Michael Butler
Starring	Peter Weller Robert Hays
Distributed by	Cannon Group
Release dates	March 26, 1993 (1993-03-26)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Fifty/Fifty is a 1992 American action adventure comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith and stars Peter Weller and Robert Hays as two army men who meet each other on an island and attend a mission to, but the odds are stacked against them and try fight their way out.

Plot

Two buddies run into each other on a remote South Seas island where revolution is a daily happening. Recruited by the CIA to overthrow a power-mad dictator, their mission is to raise an army. But the choices are few and the odds are high - until a beautiful freedom fighter shows them the way. Battling the odds and themselves, these two mercenaries become something they never thought they would - heroes.

Cast

• Peter Weller as Jake Wyer
• Robert Hays as Sam French
• Charles Martin Smith as Martin Sprue
• Ramona Rahman as Suleta
• Lim Kay Tong as Akhantar
• Dom Magwili as General Bosavi

Production

The film was originally written in the 1980s. Initially, it drew the attention of Sylvester Stallone, who considered co-starring in it with Eddie Murphy and later Kurt Russell. Cannon purchased the script in the 1990s. They saw it as a vehicle for Chuck Norris and Michael Dudikoff before the eventual two leads cast by director Charles Martin Smith.^[1]

The film began shooting in October 1990 and a majority of the film was shot in Malaysia.^[2]

Release

The film was given a limited theatrical release in the United States by Cannon Pictures beginning in March 1993. The film was later released on VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video.^[3]

Originally the movie was meant to be a project for Chuck Norris during his time contracted to Cannon Films. He declined the lead role of Jake Wyer because he had made several action films in the jungle and wasn't keen on spending months in another one to shoot this film. When Stallone and Kurt Russell were in talks for the film, Stallone was to play Wyer, the Weller role, and Russell would have played Frenchy, ultimately played by Robert Hays.

At one point, Sylvester Stallone and Eddie Murphy were attached to star in this project together. The movie was released on VHS in 1992 in several European countries and Australia prior to its US theatrical debut in 1993.

In a recent interview (March 1st 2014), Kurt Russell recalled a story where he went to Stallone's house to discuss working on a film together. The script they were thinking of making was Fifty/Fifty. Ultimately Russell and Stallone decided to make Tango and Cash (then called The Set-Up).^[4]

References

External links

• Fifty/Fifty at the Internet Movie Database