Hey folks, Harry here with the latest from the city of rolling dice and tumbling balls of chance with a scoop from a nuevo spy-boy named Dexter Riley... heh... and he's got a ton of info on both RUSH HOUR 2 and OCEAN'S 11 so read on and check em out....
Greetings!
First, let me say that I enjoy your site. It's on my "to see" list every time I am on the 'net.
I am currently living here in Las Vegas, and as a result, get to hear a little about movies that come here to shoot. Most info is gleaned from the columnists in the local papers.
I'm sorry that I don't have anything to report from ShoWest. I would have loved to been an AICN spy and fed back the details. Unfortunately, I didn't have the proper credentials. Maybe next year, someone can tell me how to obtain the correct ones in advance.
Now, on to why I'm writing.
Some filming for Rush Hour 2 just finished within the last week or two. As some may know, Chris Tucker supposedly goes to China for some case. I guess it's a role-reversal of Rush Hour. While there, he, and I'm going out on a limb here, most likely, Jackie Chan, go to a casino called the Red Dragon. The Red Dragon is nothing more than the now-shuttered Desert Inn, here in Vegas. The photos show what the casino looks like. I'm sure you'll notice the burn marks near three windows. This is a result from some stunt sequences. I don't know who or what was involved but I know
I didn't see it because the shooting for the sequence was to be shot after midnight, during a weekday. Being that I have a regular job, I couldn't make it.
I think the powers-that-be were taking down some of the items while snapping these pics. Being that they are done shooting, they probably don't need it. But changes may have to be made for ...
Ocean's 11. According to the one of the columnists mentioned above, the Desert Inn is to be destroyed (most likely imploded) for the shooting of Ocean's 11. Apparently, Robbie Knievel was supposed to jump over the thing while it was being blown up for a Fox special, but I guess those plans fell through. Whether the casino is to be destroyed or not has not been confirmed.
Also, a while back, you had a report from someone that stated a boxing match between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson was to be staged for the film. When I read it, I didn't believe it because one, I hadn't read anything about it and two, I seriously doubted that Lennox Lewis would have wanted to be in a staged fight with Mike Tyson.
Apparently the fight was to be held between the two men but as it stands now, plans have changed. Mike Tyson will no longer be Lewis' opponent. It will be a Russian boxer, whose name escapes me at the moment. Supposedly when this fight is shot, they're going to need 9,000 extras!
Hope this was informative. I'll keep you abreast of any more info I find out about. Keep up the good work.
In the classic AICN tradition that all spies have nicknames, you may call me ... Dexter Riley.
