50 Fun Facts About Crash Movie

Who directed Crash (2004)?

It was his first time directing a major feature, straight after writing Million Dollar Baby.

What real event inspired the film?

It happened outside a Blockbuster on Wilshire Boulevard as he drove home from the premiere of The Silence of the Lambs.

In which city is Crash set?

LA Weekly called it one of the finest portrayals of contemporary LA life.

Who plays Jean Cabot, the district attorney's wife?

Some critics called it the best performance of her career to that point.

Who plays her husband, DA Rick Cabot?

His casting came last and was pivotal in getting the film green-lit.

Who plays Detective Graham Waters and also co-produced the film?

He was the first actor cast, which helped attract the rest of the ensemble.

Which actor plays Sergeant John Ryan, the cop who molests Christine at a traffic stop?

He was the film's only acting nominee at the Oscars, for Best Supporting Actor.

Who plays Christine Thayer?

She won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for the role.

Which rapper plays the carjacker Anthony?

He shared the ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award with the cast.

What figurine does Peter place on the dashboard of the stolen car?

Reaching for the same statuette later gets him shot.

What does Detective Waters discover at the crime scene in the opening?

The film then jumps back 48 hours to explain how it got there.

What is locksmith Daniel Ruiz suspected of being by Jean Cabot?

She demands the locks be changed again after he leaves.

Who plays Daniel, the locksmith?

It was one of his two breakthrough Haggis-written Best Picture winners, along with Million Dollar Baby.

What does Lieutenant Dixon demand in exchange for Officer Hansen's transfer?

Dixon says a racism complaint would hurt his own career.

How does Ryan encounter Christine for a second time?

Recognising him, she frantically resists his help at first.

What does DA worker Flanagan promise Waters if he goes along with the Conklin case?

Waters reluctantly tells a press conference the homicide was racially motivated.

Why does Hansen shoot the hitchhiker he picks up?

Peter was reaching for his statuette; Hansen dumps the body and burns his car.

The corpse from the opening scene turns out to be whom?

Waters's mother disowns him over the death.

What does Anthony find inside the white van he steals?

The chop shop offers $500 a head; he frees them in Chinatown instead.

How much does the chop shop owner offer Anthony per immigrant?

Anthony refuses and drives them to Chinatown.

Who plays Farhad, the Persian shopkeeper?

He went on to play Yinsen in Iron Man.

Which actress made her breakthrough as Farhad's daughter Dorri?

She later appeared in the Saw franchise and then became a real estate agent.

Which actor was originally attached to Terrence Howard's role before dropping out?

Howard plays Cameron Thayer, the TV director humiliated at the traffic stop.

Which actor was attached to play Officer Tom Hansen but left after production delays?

John Cusack was likewise attached to John Ryan; Ledger's exit cut the budget by $1 million.

Which film did the actor playing Waters consider leaving Crash to make?

He ended up doing both and got a Best Actor nomination for Hotel Rwanda the same year.

How did Haggis make up for the reduced budget?

The principal cast also took pay cuts and deferred salaries.

What halted production for a week?

He defied medical advice to bring in a replacement director.

How long was the shoot?

It ran from December 8, 2003 to January 31, 2004.

Haggis first tried to sell the script to whom?

Producer Bob Yari then offered $7.5 million on condition he assemble an all-star cast.

Which studio bought the film after its Toronto premiere, for $3.5 million?

It went on to gross $98.4 million worldwide on a $6.5 million budget.

Who composed the score?

The commercial CD was edited into suites; the complete score came out on iTunes in film order.

Which heavily favoured film did Crash beat for Best Picture?

Presenter Jack Nicholson was caught mouthing 'whoa' at the result.

How many Oscars did Crash win?

Best Picture, Original Screenplay and Film Editing, from six nominations.

Who hosted the 2006 Oscars where Crash won?

It was his first time; the ceremony was pushed back a week to avoid the Winter Olympics.

Crash was the first Best Picture winner since which film to win only three Oscars?

It was also the first since Chariots of Fire to win neither Best Director nor any acting award.

Crash was the lowest-grossing domestic Best Picture winner since which film?

It made $53.4 million in the US, more than seven times its budget.

Which cultural critic named Crash 'the worst film of the decade' in 2009?

Ebert, by contrast, ranked it the best film of 2005.

Which magazine put Crash first on its list of worst Best Picture winners?

Slumdog Millionaire and Chicago took the next two spots.

Haggis said he wrote Crash to 'bust' whom?

He felt his fellow liberals were kidding themselves that America was post-racial.

Which network aired the 2008 Crash television series starring Dennis Hopper?

It was the network's first original scripted drama.

Crash was the first Best Picture winner released in the US in which format?

It arrived on June 27, 2006.

Paul Haggis was driving home from the premiere of which film when he was carjacked in 1991?

The carjacking happened outside a Blockbuster Video on Wilshire Boulevard and set him thinking about race and class in America.

Haggis co-wrote the first draft of Crash in 2001 after being fired from which TV series?

His writing partner on the script was Robert Moresco, who also produced the film with him.

Producer Bob Yari offered Haggis how much to make the script into a film?

The offer was conditional on assembling an ensemble of major stars; the final budget ended up around $6.5 million.

Which actor was originally attached to play Sergeant Ryan before dropping out?

Heath Ledger's departure from the Tom Hansen role was said to have cut the film's international value and trimmed the budget by $1 million.

Whose casting as the district attorney was pivotal in getting Crash green-lit?

Don Cheadle was the first actor cast and joined as a producer, which helped draw other names.

How much longer is the director's cut of Crash than the theatrical version?

It extends Daniel's talk with his daughter under her bed and adds a locker-room scene for Officer Hansen.

Which presenter was caught mouthing 'whoa' after announcing Crash as Best Picture?

Critic Kenneth Turan suggested the upset over Brokeback Mountain owed something to homophobia among Academy voters.

Where did Crash rank in Empire's 2008 poll of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time?

In 2010 the Independent Film & Television Alliance also named it one of the 30 most significant independent films of the previous 30 years.

Roughly how much did Crash gross worldwide?

That was about fifteen times its $6.5 million budget, though its domestic take was the lowest for a Best Picture winner since The Last Emperor.