8 Mile
Country: USA, Germany Year: 2002 Language: English Runtime: 1h 50m
Alternative Title(s): Untitled Detroit Project
Writer: Scott Silver
Cast: Eminem (Jimmy 'B-Rabbit' Smith), Kim Basinger (Stephanie Smith), Mekhi Phifer (David 'Future' Porter), Brittany Murphy (Alex), Evan Jones (Cheddar Bob), Omar Benson Miller (Sol George), De'Angelo Wilson (DJ Iz), Eugene Byrd (Wink), Taryn Manning (Janeane), Larry Hudson (Bouncer), Proof (Lil' Tic), Mike Bell (Shorty Mike), DJ Head (Battle DJ), Michael Shannon (Greg Buehl), Chloe Greenfield (Lily Smith), Mary Hannigan (Mrs. Helgeland), Anthony Mackie (Papa Doc), Strike (Lyckety-Splyt), Nashawn 'Ox' Breedlove (Lotto), Na'Keya Snoddy (Papa Doc's Girl), Malik Barnhardt (Moochie), Day Golfin (Day), Allen Adams (Omar), Hom (Parking Lot Rapper #1), Obie Trice (Parking Lot Rapper #2), Njeri Earth (Parking Lot Rapper #3), Jennifer Kitchen (Willing Girl), Kyla Womack (Alex's Friend), Melissa Zaglanikzny (Christine), Rockey Black (Rocky), Craig Chandler (Paul), Paul Bates (Manny), Miz-Korona (Female Lunch Truck Rapper), Xzibit (Male Lunch Truck Rapper), Abdul Salaam El Razzac (Joe Lee Patton), Steven Monroe (Plant Worker), John Smith Jr. (Lobby Security Guard), Venicia Foreman (WJLB Receptionist), Waverly W. Alford II (Big O), Bushman (WJLB Disc Jockey), Adam Brook (Roy Darucher), Kyle Clarington (Club goer (uncredited)), Dave Daniels (Chin Tiki Club Goer (uncredited)), Karin Dicker (Sarah Jane - Age 8 (archive footage) (uncredited)), Brandon T. Jackson (Chin Tiki Club Goer (uncredited)), Jason Jarchow (Bartender (uncredited)), Kei Leong (Shelter Nightclub Goer (uncredited)), Juanita Moore (Annie Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)), Sara Stokes (Girl in Crowd (uncredited)), Steve Van Hee (Chin Tiki Club Goer (uncredited))
Genre: Drama, Music
Summary: A rap version of "Saturday Night Fever." B-Rabbit, a wannabe rapper from the wrong side of Detroit's 8 Mile, has problems: he dumps his girlfriend when she tells him she's pregnant; to save money to make a demo tape, he moves into his alcoholic mom's trailer; his job's a dead end, and he's just choked at the local head-to-head rap contest. Things improve when he meets Alex - an aspiring model headed for New York - and a fast-talking pal promises to set up the demo. Then new setbacks: Alex isn't faithful, mom rejects him, rifts surface with his friends, and he's mugged by rivals. Everything hinges on the next rap showdown at the club. Can B-Rabbit pull truth out of his cap?
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The DVD made $40 million on its first day of release, at that time a record for any R-rated film.
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The film's release date was pushed back from its summer spot of 8 July 2002, to 8 November 2002.
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The films poster shows Rabbit (Eminem) writing on his hand, if you look closely enough, you can see they are the opening lyrics of Eminem's "Lose Yourself", the song that won the film an Oscar.
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The group 3 1/3 is a reference to Detroit's area code: 313. The suburbs on the other side of 8 mile, in 1995, had the area code 810, hence certain people being called "eight tens" in the film.
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Detroit landmark, the Penobscot Building, was used for exteriors for the WJLB scenes, although interior scenes were filmed in the Book Building in Detroit.
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The cans in which prints of the movie were transported to theaters were labeled "Mars Project".
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The first film to have a rap/hip-hop song win an Academy Award.
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Scenes that take place at the "Shelter," an actual club in Detroit located in the basement of St. Andrews Hall, were actually filmed in an empty warehouse because the actual "Shelter" looked too dressed up for shooting.
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Future is based almost entirely on Eminem's best friend Proof (everything from hosting the battles to the story of how he got his name). Proof also plays Lil' Tic, the rapper Rabbit faces in the first battle (where he chokes). Proof manages to sneak his name as an acronym when he raps, "I'll (P)unish (R)abbit (O)r (O)bsolete (F)uture."
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Quentin Tarantino, 'Alan Parker', Danny Boyle and Stephen Daldry were all considered to direct.
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In the last battle against Papa Doc, Rabbit says, "...he's shook 'cause ain't such thing as halfway crooks." This is a reference to the instrumental playing in the background which is taken from the rap duo Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones Pt. II", in which the chorus is "There ain't no such thing as half-way crooks, scared to death, they scared to look, they shook..."
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Cameo: [Sara Stokes] a member of the hip-hop group Da Band from MTV's "Making the Band 2" (2002) can be seen in the final rap battle scenes as a crowd extra.
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In the Rap Battle sequence, after Jimmy wins the first round, we hear Future call for "Ox and Strike" to come to the stage for the next round of battling. Ox and Strike are the real life rap aliases of the two rappers Jimmy faces before winning the contest. They play Lotto and Lyckety-Splyt respectively.
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The rap contests are set in a club called The Shelter. When Eminem lived in Detroit, he first started performing at this very same club.
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Curtis Hanson asked Eminem to dye his hair back to his natural colour so that the audience would relate him to as Jimmy Rabbit, instead of his Eminem persona.
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Eminem lost 24 pounds for the role.
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In the final battle, B Rabbit says that Papa Doc went to Cranbrook, this is a reference to an exclusive private school outside Detroit, whose features include its own on-site science museum and planetarium.
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As the rap battle scenes took days to film, and the 300 extras were starting to get bored, Curtis Hanson initiated an improv freestyle rap battle among them, where the three best rappers would be filmed going head to head with Eminem. 134 volunteers signed up, each getting 15 seconds in front of the judiciary panel to make an impression. This was then whittled down to 20. Ultimately the jury couldn't decide on just three and chose four instead, all of whom had a one-shot one-take-only scene with the film's star, who had to mime his responses to save his voice for the scripted scenes which remained to be shot. However, Eminem couldn't resist the challenge by staying silent (especially as the crowd was taunting him), and took on his opponents in his inimitable style.
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The film playing on the television when Eminem returns to the trailer is Imitation of Life (1959).
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Eminem's character boards a public bus actually on 8 Mile. He walks from a real trailer park which is situated a block off of 8 Mile, to the real 8 Mile road and boards a bus. The route the bus takes is improper though.
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During filming, Eminem could be spotted in between takes writing in a notebook as that was his only chance to compose the film's soundtrack.
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Gary Sinise was the original choice to play Greg.
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Quentin Tarantino was asked to the movie but had to reluctantly decline as he was in the middle of production for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004).
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One of the extras, Ali Miyzaan, was shot outside a Detroit theater on the film's opening night.
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The sheet of paper that Jimmy writes on on the bus is the real sheet that Eminem wrote "Lose Yourself" on. The sheet of paper sold for $10,000 on an eBay auction.
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The title is a reference to an actual road in Michigan that separates Detroit proper from seven northern suburbs. Eminem grew up near 8 Mile Road and also filmed parts of his "The Way I Am" video on 8 Mile.
Release Date: Sunday, September 8, 2002
Budget: $41,000,000 Gross: $116,724,075 Profit: $75,724,075
Rating: 6.7 Votes: 46,337
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