Shoot 'Em Up (film)

Shoot 'Em Up
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Davis
Written by	Michael Davis
Produced by	Susan Montford Don Murphy Rick Benattar[1]
Starring	Clive Owen Paul Giamatti Monica Bellucci Stephen McHattie
Cinematography	Peter Pau
Edited by	Peter Amundson[1]
Music by	Paul Haslinger
Production company	Montford/Murphy[1]
Distributed by	New Line Cinema[1]
Release date	September 7, 2007 (2007-09-07) (United States)
Running time	86 minutes[2]
Country	United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$39 million[3]
Box office	$26.8 million[3]

Shoot 'Em Up is a 2007 American action film written and directed by Michael Davis. It stars Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci, and Stephen McHattie. In the film, Smith (Owen), a drifter, rescues a newborn from being killed by assassin Hertz (Giamatti) and his henchmen. Smith enlists the help of prostitute Donna Quintano (Bellucci) to keep the baby safe as he unravels the conspiracy.

According to Davis, the film's idea came after he saw a gun-battle scene from Hard Boiled in which Chow Yun-fat rescues newborn babies from gangsters. Desiring to make an action film centering on guns, Davis expanded the idea into a script in 2000, accompanied by an animated footage with 17,000 drawings for the action scenes. After a deal with New Line Cinema, filming began in Toronto. The film was photographed by Peter Pau.

Shoot 'Em Up, before its September 2007 release, was previewed at that year's San Diego Comic-Con and received a positive response. Despite a mediocre commercial performance (recouping less than its budget), critical reception was mixed-to-favorable.