Killing unarmed noncombatants would violate acceptable rules of engagement and also likely result in a court-martial. Although the Taliban encircled the village and threatened his family and neighbors if he didnt turn over the American, Gulab refused. If you want to know the American war film adapted from a non-fiction book, check Facts about Lone Survivor. After reading the script, Emmett traveled to Los Angeles, where he met with Berg and Aubrey to discuss the film's production. The military launched a large combat search-and-rescue operation with warplanes and ground forces that attacked the Taliban fighters and brought home their missing man. [70][71][72], The film saw a significant drop in attendance during its second weekend of wide release; it had earned $6,665,470, which was a 135.4% increase from its opening Friday. [14][15], Lone Survivor had an estimated budget of $40 million. He struggled with survivors guilt, post-traumatic stress disorder and physical after-effects in the ensuing years. [27][28] In re-enacting the injuries and deaths of the fallen Navy SEAL servicemen, Berg relied on Luttrell's eyewitness accounts from the book, as well as autopsy reports of the deceased and after-action reports. Their humanity prevails. "[56] Lone Survivor was screened to the Dallas Cowboys,[57] Denver Broncos,[58] Carolina Panthers, and Cleveland Browns as well as the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team. In the film, an old man heads over a mountain to alert the military to Luttrells location. The screenplay has Gulab shot and Luttrell shot again, and Gulabs house is destroyed by an RPG. Left to make their own decision, the unit released the unarmed men, knowing it was very possible that the herders would inform the Taliban forces. [46][52] In the film, Shah is said to have killed twenty Marines in the week before Operation Red Wings. In the book, he joins Luttrell on the helicopter ride. In his review for The Star-Ledger, Stephen Whitty wrote, "This is the sort of bare-bones story that well served plenty of World War II movies once, and it would work here, if Berg had the sense to develop these men as characters, first. It is a modest, competent, effective movie, concerned above all with doing the job of explaining how the job was done. "[102] Film critic Steven Boone, writing for RogerEbert.com, compared the film's violence to that of Mel Gibson's 2004 film The Passion of the Christ: "What's in between amounts to The Passion of the Christ for U.S. servicemen: a bloody historic episode recounted mainly in images of hardy young men being ripped apart, at screeching volume. 15 Nov. 2009. They did, however, enter the room where Luttrell was being kept and physically beat him, before being pressured to leave by the village elder. Lone Survivor by Patrick Robinson | Hachette Book Group Imprints Lone Survivor The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 With Patrick Robinson By Marcus Luttrell $30.00 Format: Hardcover $30.00 ebook $11.99 Audiobook CD $25.00 Also available from: Amazon Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million Bookshop Target Walmart Alerted by Murphys call, two Chinook helicopters carrying Special Operations Forces rushed to the area of the firefight, but as one of the aircraft hovered to discharge its troops, a rocket-propelled grenade shot it out of the sky. [Berg] wanted the audience to be as close to our characters and as close to the action as possible to experience the extreme circumstances our war heroes had to go through emotionally and physically. [3] Marcus Luttrell appears in an uncredited role. In the film, Matthew Axelson (played by Ben Foster) claims that Shah killed 20 Marines in the week before Operation Red Wings. [3] According to The Economist, Beretta paid the production company $250,000 to use their guns in the film in place of the Sig Sauer p226 and Kimber 1911s weapons actually used by SEAL teams. They also practiced "shoot move cover" drills to enable them to react convincingly as Navy SEALs during filming.[24]. Murphy scales the cliff to gain a clear signal which finally alerts the QRF, though he is killed shortly after. [84] In the United Kingdom, the film was released on both home video formats on June 9, 2014.[85]. Leadership Lessons: Lone Survivor - Grand Forks Air Force Base Naval Special Warfare Command has estimated that Luttrell and his teammates killed around thirty-five insurgents during the battle. Potevo anche aspettarmelo, direte voi, diretto da Peter ' Battleship ' Berg e il protagonista Mark 'Micheal Bay' Wahlberg, epper ci sono cascato di nuovo, forse a causa della reazione prevedibilmente entusiasta della critica americana, che quando si tratta dei propri eroi al fronte va in visibilio. Lone Survivor and The Truth The Havok Journal WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 01: Mark Wahlberg attends Columbia Pictures' "Father Stu" Photo Call at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on April 01, 2022 in West Hollywood,. We realized that an actual briefing is very technical and rote, so intercutting these scenes helped keep the audience engaged. Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson is the authors of the book. Book details & editions About the author Christian Jensen 87 books29 followers Christian Jensen is a horror, thriller, and erotica writter living in central New Jersey. It was chosen by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2013 and received two Oscar nominations for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. After the battle, according to the book, Luttrell is found by a local man named Sarawa, who also tends to his wounds: In the film, a local man named Gulab rescues him: According to Luttrells 60 Minutes interview, Thats when an Afghan man appeared. Leadership Lessons: Lone Survivor. According to the screenplay, Gulab helps: According to the book, none of this happened. As the roar of the helicopter faded to silence, Luttrell and three other Navy SEALsLieutenant Michael Murphy and Petty Officers Danny Dietz and Matt Axelsonfound themselves alone in the pitch darkness of a desolate warzone. He loves to take an audience into a world and show them the details but then hit them with this emotional wallop. [37], Zarin Mohammad Rahimi, an Afghan refugee who fled to the United States to avoid the Taliban, and his sons, Muhammad Nawroz Rahimi and Nawaz Rahimi, were hired as technical advisors during production. [82], Lone Survivor was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 3, 2014, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in the United States. After the sun dawned on June 28, 2005, nearly four years into the war in Afghanistan, the mud-caked SEALs burrowed themselves behind rocks, logs and tree stumps on an outcrop overlooking Shahs suspected location. In reality, Luttrell explained that his legs were numb immediately after the ambush, and when feeling did return to them, the pain from the shrapnel in his legs made it too painful to walk; he had to crawl seven miles looking for water and sanctuary. [27]:1 Still photographs shown during the opening credits sequence were taken from Richard D. Schoenberg's war photography book The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday: Making Navy SEALs. The badly wounded Murphy knew their best chance at survival was to call in reinforcements. In homage to the men that were killed, Lone Survivor closely mirrors the true story of Operation Red Wings, a tragic 2005 mission gone wrong in Afghanistan. This story is about working together for something bigger than our ego, bigger than our individuality. I've had Marines wounded there. [3][27]:1 Principal photography concluded in November 2012, after 42 days of filming.[3][10][17]. Scott did not choreograph the stunts, nor did he have the performers use wires or dummies;[24][32] He instructed them to fall 15to 20 feet (4.66.1m) off cliffs and avoid looking at the ground until right before impact. "[28] The motion picture soundtrack album was released on December 17, 2013 by record label Metropolis Movie Music. Although I will have a first assembly when the production wraps, Peter will never sit though a complete viewing of that. [2][61][62] Entertainment One Films distributed the film in Canadian markets. June 26, 2023, 5:00 a.m. [44], While the film was based on actual events, it has been noted that it contained a number of historical inaccuracies. By the time the sun set on the disastrous day, 19 Americans were dead. 10 Facts about Lone Survivor | Less Known Facts Only two U.S. soldiers or Marines died in Kunar province in 2005 before Operation Red Wings. Mohammad Gulab, the Afghan villager who helped rescue Luttrell, also attended the premiere, marking his first time in New York City and in a movie theatre. Lone Survivor Series in Order by Jack Hunt - FictionDB Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. It was one big team effort that made us a close film family. Director Peter Berg Writers Peter Berg Marcus Luttrell Patrick Robinson The second aborts, leaving Luttrell and Axelson to fend for themselves. Believing that the villagers are Taliban sympathisers, the SEALs debate setting them free or killing them. [32], Production moved to Chilili, New Mexico for two weeks of filming. Pushed toward a ravine the SEALs are given little choice but to jump, but are thrown off balance when an RPG detonates in front of them. Murphy orders them to be set free. [14][16] In addition, as part of the negative pickup deal with Universal, the film's producersBerg, Aubrey, Spikings, Goldsman, Emmett, Wahlberg, Levinson, Norton Herrick, and Vitaly Grigoriantscontributed at least $1 million each to finance production costs. [3], Filming first took place at the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Santa Fe National Forest. [79] Lone Survivor completed its theatrical run in North America on April 10, 2014, after 107 days (15.3 weeks) of release. As the story told in Lone Survivor became more popular, the size of the enemy force that day seems to have increased with each telling. Luttrells after-action report: 20-30 fighters. [6] Spikings and Goldsman passed the book on to Berg's producing partner Sarah Aubrey. Briefly encouraged by the arrival of reinforcements, Luttrell and Axelson watch helplessly as one Chinook is shot down by an RPG. Navy, Ahmad Shah was an insurgent leader in Afghanistan, which is why the Marines in the Pech launched Operation Red Wings. Lt. Murphys Medal of Honor citation: 30-40 fighters. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control. "[99], One of the film's strongest detractors was Time Out magazine's Keith Uhlich, who called the film "war porn of the highest order". This is what we hoped to get across." His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler. . Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings, during which a four-man SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team was given the task of tracking down the Taliban leader Ahmad Shah. "Lone Survivor," the story of SEAL heroism in the mountains of Afghanistan, resurfaced in May 2016 after an article in which Mohammed Gulab, the man who saved lone SEAL survivor Marcus Luttrell, disputed some of the most important aspects of Luttrell's story.Lone Survivor was eventually made into a major motion picture, but that . We ended up doing our own things. [65][66] The film grossed an additional $326,685 on the following weekend. [35]:2 Prior to filming, Schleissler and Berg shot test footage with the digital cameras and brought it to digital colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld at post-production facility Company 3 for color grading. None of this happened. [26], To provide authenticity, Luttrell moved into Berg's home for one month while Berg was writing the script. [104] In addition to the following list of awards and nominations, the film was named one of the ten best films of 2013 by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, who also ranked it as the Best Action Film of 2013. The story behind the picture of this lone survivor - BBC News However, while the movie recreates many of the realities of war in painstaking detail, it also diverges significantly from the real-life Operation Red Wings. Lone Survivor accuracy: Fact vs. fiction in the Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg movie adaptation of Marcus Luttrell's memoir. [41] ILM was responsible only for creating a helicopter crash sequence in the film. By: Christopher Klein Updated: August 23, 2018 | Original: January 6, 2014 copy page link Laden with weapons and gear, Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell grasped the rope dangling from the rear of the. What makes this story so special is the bond and the camaraderie between the guys, but also the state of where we are in the world today. Lone Survivoropens with voiceover as a dying Marcus Luttrell is airlifted back to a military base. [77] By its sixth weekend, the film went from fifth place to ninth, earning $4,086,435. In total, the film has over 400 visual effects shots. Follow Chris on Twitter @historyauthor. [61] In North America, Lone Survivor is the 24th-highest-grossing film of 2013,[81] and the sixth-highest-grossing R-rated film of that year. In fact, Luttrell wrote in his book that only one of the goat herders was a teenage boy, not two. He died in Luttrells arms. The 29-year-old Luttrell, a sniper and team medic, concealed himself under a felled tree when he suddenly heard soft footsteps. ), The Number of Afghan Fighters Has Been Exaggerated. I died on that mountain, too, he said of his torment in a 2007 interview with NBC. "[96] Betsy Sharkey, writing for The Los Angeles Times, praised the overall look of the film: "The production and costume designers have paid a great deal of attention to the details, from the uniforms and tribal robes, to the bullet wounds and blood. As he sipped its cool waters, he suddenly found himself surrounded once again by a band of local men. Collider. (This claim is in both trailers.) [46] Shah was not actually a member of al Qaeda, nor did he know bin Laden. In Luttrell's own official after-action report filed with his superiors after his rescue, he estimated the size of the Taliban force to be around 2035. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. [17] To avoid further costs, Berg chose to work for a minimum salary allowed under Directors Guild of America rules, $17,000 a week. Lone Survivor: Introduction A concise biography of Marcus Luttrell plus historical and literary context for Lone Survivor. Rangers arrive mid battle and evacuate Luttrell, who also thanks Mohammed for his assistance. | Thompson on Hollywood", "Directors on Their Teams: Peter Berg on 'Lone Survivor', "Director Peter Berg Talks 'Lone Survivor', "Mark Wahlberg war film Lone Survivor doubles New Mexico for Afghanistan", "Will Peter Berg's 'Lone Survivor' Be the Next 'Zero Dark Thirty'? [3], To produce the many injuries received by the four-man SEAL team, the filmmakers recruited KNB Effects team Gregory Nicotero and Howard Berger. [20][21], Although Wahlberg, Kitsch, Hirsch and Foster had physically trained for their roles prior to filming, Luttrell organized a three-week training regimen at a bootcamp in New Mexico,[22][23] where the actors were trained by elite military personnel in weapons, military communications, and tactics. The Real-Life Story Behind "Lone Survivor" | HISTORY The United States Air Force provided two Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawks from Kirtland Air Force Base, both of which were flown by military personnel and used to depict a combat search and rescue. The lieutenant managed to complete his call and even keep up the fight, but he could not survive. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/news/the-real-life-story-behind-lone-survivor, The Real-Life Story Behind Lone Survivor. One fall shattered three of Luttrells vertebrae. One of the men, Mohammad Gulab, assured Luttrell they were not Taliban, and he and three others carried the wounded warrior back to their village of Sabray. The bluescreen work involved scenes depicting a CH-47 Chinook in a gimbal, and a 4-foot scale model of a Hindu Kush mountain cliff built by the art department team in Los Angeles. Top Stories . Lone Survivor/Own it Now on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HDLONE SURVIVOR, starring Mark Wahlberg, tells the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission. [45] At the end of the film, the Pashtun villagers fight off a Taliban attack in a firefight that never actually happened. Twenty feet down, his boots touched ground in the remote mountains of northeastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border. (This is when they settle down for tea. Parker spent six months editing the film at the Lantana Entertainment Media Campus in Santa Monica, California. Lone Survivor: Did Americans die in vain? - BBC News Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of book by Marcus Luttrell Looking up, he saw a turbaned man carrying an axe. and Terms of Use. An Account of Uncommon Darkness: 'Lone Survivor' on Its Fifth - VICE [24] In addition, senior military advisor Harry Humphries, a former Navy SEAL who had worked with Berg on Hancock and The Kingdom, served as an associate producer. According to Victory Point author Ed Darack, Ahmad Shah was not a member of al Qaeda and had never met Osama bin Laden prior to Operation Red Wings. It had also become the highest-grossing film among recent "post-9/11 war films", surpassing Brothers (2009), which ended its North American theatrical run with over $28.5 million. Why? Finally, Gulabs father traveled to a Marine outpost with a note from Luttrell. Lone Survivor(screenplay): At least 50 fighters. Dietz, who was in charge of communications, tried to radio headquarters for instructions but could not connect. Zarin Mohammad Rahimi appeared in a minor but pivotal role as an elderly shepherd. [But] there weren't 35 enemy fighters in all of the Korengal Valley [that day]." Universal secured the rights in August 2007, for more than $2 million. +. In an article on OnViolence.com, Michael and Eric Cummings detail many of the creative liberties the movie takes with its portrayal of the mission. Introducing: Lone Survivor Foundation - AMAC Foundation Ali Suliman, who previously collaborated with Berg on the 2007 film The Kingdom, plays Mohammad Gulab, an Afghan villager. Soaked by a cold rain, the quartet hiked for hours through the darkness as they struggled to keep their footings on the steep mountain ridges. Luttrell was then rescued by a group of Afghan Pashtun villagers who harbored him in their homes for several days, protecting him from the Taliban and ultimately helping him to safety. Shah Didnt Kill 20 Marines in the Week Before Operation Red Wings. As the Taliban fighters advanced, the SEALs scrambled, fell and jumped hundreds of feet down the mountain. [6][9][10], Major studios including Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount, DreamWorks, and Universal Pictures all put in bids for the film rights, with Universal eventually securing the rights in August 2007 for more than $2 million. Luttrell makes this very clear in the memoir: Later, Ahmad Shah and his men actually find Luttrell and Gulab on a flat field on the edge of the village. An avalanche of AK-47 fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars cascaded down the mountain. In reality, the Taliban fighters were outnumbered by the villagers and had no intentions of attacking the village. While researching the time period, Stofsky met with the fallen servicemen's families, as well as Navy SEAL teammates. Eight members of the SEALs and eight Army special operations soldiers who came by helicopter to rescue the original four were shot down, and all died. . I didn't work directly with them because they're in Austin, Texas and I'm in L.A. Summary Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor. After the Army Rangers rescue Luttrell, the Army Rangers radioed into base that I had been found, that I was stable and unlikely to die. They also stop and have tea with the locals, which you wouldnt do with a dying man. [42] Jablonsky said of the collaboration, "It was great. [46] The film's production notes add to this mistake, calling Shah "a high-level al Qaeda operative". Lone Survivor is getting too many stars and positive reviews for the story within the book and not the book itself. Most people get their information from movies and TV and don't read, so I want to make sure this movie is as realistic as possible. 10 February 2021. I've been in enough firefights to know that when shit hits the fan, it's hard to know how many people are shooting at you. (I didnt give that much of a shit, Luttrell writes. [7] In the Summary of Action related to the same MOH, the Navy cites an "enemy force of more than 50 anti-coalition militia". [56] A gala premiere screening of Lone Survivor was held during the AFI Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatre on November 12, 2013. "Often I'll get word to the 1st [assistant director] and he'll sneak in extra shots if the schedule permits. Bound by a tribal code of honor known as Pashtunwali, Gulab gave Luttrell food, water and shelter. You would have to be inhuman to not feel the responsibility when that kind of grief gets shared with you. Instead, Luttrell uses a radio air-dropped by the military: 60 Minutestells a similar story: He was finally rescued by U.S. forces who had been scouring the mountains.. Lone Survivor, the Film that Divided America? | War History Online "[35]:2, For the film's visual style, Schliessler was influenced by British-American photojournalist Tim Hetherington's war photography book Infidel, which details a single U.S. platoon assigned to an outpost in the Korengal Valley during the war in Afghanistan. [41] Image Engine's effects work consisted mainly of set extensions and location enhancements; scenes were supplemented with computer-generated mountains, buildings and backgrounds, as well as muzzle flashes for firearms. Much has been made of the accuracy of Lone Survivor, which has been widely praised for its realism and even named one of the most realistic war movies of all time. To provide much of its authenticity, writer-director Peter Berg worked closely with Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL played by Mark Wahlberg in the film, and the author of the memoir of the same name. In 2005 Afghanistan, Navy SEALs Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matthew The book was also showcased on NBC's The Today Show and CNN. War by Sebastian Junger is fantastic, and so is The Only Thing Worth Dying For by Eric Blehm. Parker then cut the film down to two hours when he realized there was a way to further trim the film. Their mission, Operation Red Wings, was to capture or kill a leading Taliban member thought to be allied with Osama bin Laden. Published Dec 19, 2013. Both the film and the book more or less ignore the role of Marines in conceiving, planning, and leading Operation Red Wings. [28], Principal photography was scheduled to start on September 15, 2012,[15] but did not commence until October of that year. Marcus [Luttrell] wrote a book that, as much as it's about 19 people being killed on a tragic day in Afghanistan, is about brotherhood, sacrifice and team commitment. About an hour later, the four SEALs were surrounded by a number of Taliban warriors. Luttrell was presumed to have been a 20th victim, but in spite of bullet wounds, a broken back and rocks and shrapnel protruding from his legs, the SEAL survived. The United States Army provided the production with two CH-47F Chinooks and two Boeing AH-64 Apaches from Fort Hood, Texas. ", "Review & Interview: Marcus Luttrell's "Service: A Navy SEAL at War", "Peter Berg's 'Lone Survivor' Boarded by Broadway and Film Financier Norton Herrick", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lone_Survivor_(book)&oldid=1145919863, This page was last edited on 21 March 2023, at 18:49. Lone Survivor(memoir): 140-200 fighters. Eric Ogden/Trunk Archive. According to Stofsky, what the fallen servicemen wore back then is no longer current issue, as the United States Armed Forces stopped manufacturing the uniforms in 2006. ", Hospitality as understood by the Pashtun culture is a central theme. [3] "The location we picked was on top of the ski area above 12,000 feet in Santa Fe, and the high altitude made it extremely physically demanding", Schleissler explained. Lone Survivor: Plot Summary Retired Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell and British author Patrick Robinson have given us a spellbinding account of a Navy Seal mission in the mountains of Afghanistan in which 3 of Marcus' team members lost their lives. Above: (L to R) Navy SEALs Matthew G. Axelson, Daniel R. Healy, James Suh, Marcus Luttrell, Eric S. Patton, and Michael P. Murphy in Afghanistan. The narrative takes place in Afghanistan, following Luttrell and a group of U.S. Navy SEALs. Images of the real Luttrell, Gulab and the fallen service members killed during the mission are shown during a four-minute montage, and an epilogue explains that the Pashtun villagers agreed to help Luttrell as part of a traditional code of honor known as the Pashtunwali. The Slate Group LLC. On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. In the film, Taraq comes to the village, grabs Luttrell, and drags him out to a log to behead him, raising a machete in the air. Marcus Luttrell's #1 New York Times bestseller, Lone Survivor, tells the story of his teammate's strength and their dedication to each other and to their . "[95] Leonard Maltin described the film as "visceral", while praising Berg, the main actors, and the stunt performers for successfully reenacting the events of Operation Red Wings. ET. He created a wonderful sound at the very end. "[3][8], The film rights to the book had become the subject of a bidding war among a host of established studios, including Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, and Universal Pictures. Due to the mountainous terrain the team are operating in, communications with J-Bad become difficult. The whole ordeal takes about six hours, Luttrell explains, and his life is never in danger. Eight days were spent on mountains ranging from 11,000to 12,000 feet (3,4003,700m). "[2], There has been some debate about the exact number of Taliban forces involved in the engagement. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes sampled 227 reviews and gave the film an approval rating of 75%, with an average score of 6.60/10. Already grievously wounded from battle, the disoriented Axelson is soon cornered by Taliban gunmen and killed. [3] The art department built the character Gulab's house, as well as interiors for Bagram Airfield's patrol base Camp Ouellette. The Nature of Joy. "[40] In creating sound effects for the environment of each scene, Stateman relied on foley design, rather than traditional sound effects. Here are the . As iCasualties.org shows, the U.S. did not lose 20 Marines in the week before Operation Red Wings. Christopher Klein is the author of four books, including When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Irelands Freedom and Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan. Presents a Ludicrous Number of Questions Brow Beat How Accurate Is. Luttrell is also discovered, though he survives an RPG attack and is able to hide from his pursuers overnight and escapes. [49][50][51], The number of casualties sustained by the Taliban fighters has also been disputed. Within moments, nearly 100 goats with bells around their necks came jingling over the mountainside with another herder and a teenage boy. [3] Universal held an open casting call in Los Angeles, aiding in the filmmakers' search for supporting actors, extras, photo doubles, and stand-ins.