"SALT" Opens on July 28 in the Philippines

Angelina Jolie stars in Salt, a contemporary action thriller from Columbia Pictures.
As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt (Jolie) swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her
loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes
on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude
capture. Salt's efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: "Who Is Salt?"

Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media a di Bonaventura
Pictures production, A film by Phillip Noyce, Salt. The film stars Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski, and Andre Braugher. Directed by Phillip Noyce. Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Sunil Perkash. Written by Kurt Wimmer. Executive Producers are Ric Kidney, Mark Vahradian, and Ryan Kavanaugh. Director of Photography is Robert Elswit, ASC. Production Designer is
Scott Chambliss. Editors are Stuart Baird, A.C.E. and John Gilroy, A.C.E. Costume Designer is Sarah Edwards. Music by James Newton Howard.

ABOUT THE FILM
The contemporary spy thriller Salt, starring Angelina Jolie, began life with an offhand comment Jolie made a few years ago. “I was meeting with (Sony Pictures Co-
Chairman) Amy Pascal a few years ago when it came up in conversation that she was
getting ready to make one of the new James Bond films,” Jolie remembers. “I playfully said, ‘I want to be Bond!’ That was our little joke, and then she found this project.” Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer had originally conceived the role of Salt to be played by a male actor. His original spec script was developed with producer Sunil Perkash, who then brought it to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Amy Pascal at Sony, who in turn brought on director Phillip Noyce.

Like all motion picture projects, the screenplay then went through several drafts, but the major change to the script occurred when the filmmakers envisioned Jolie, an Academy Award®-winning actress and one of the few women in the world who can carry an action picture, in the title role. Very quickly, “Edwin Salt” became “Evelyn Salt.” “We had a really smart script we all collectively loved with an intriguing and complex character, so the idea of Angelina doing this suddenly felt like a no brainer,” says Perkash. “She's an incredible actress who would bring such depth and realism to a very enigmatic character. Having that realism in an otherwise fantastical story was very important, and we were beyond thrilled when she responded to the role.”

“When we changed the gender of the main character, we began to question the dynamic of every scene,” explains producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. “We didn’t simply question whether a woman would make all the same choices, but also how the other characters would act or react differently, given that it’s a woman. It was a huge change that rippled through the entire script.”

In the film, Evelyn Salt, a CIA operative, is accused of being a sleeper spy for Russia. With her entire world crashing down, Salt must stop at nothing to prove her innocence – but her efforts to evade capture only throw her motives in doubt. di Bonaventura says that the notion of sleeper spies is not fantasy. “There’s no
question that they exist,” he says. “The CIA believes that they exist. There’s something really mysterious and sexy about the notion that somebody could lie in wait – for decades, if necessary.”

“The real fun of this movie is that it’s an action thriller and a mystery centering around the identity of this character – ‘who is Salt?,’” says Perkash. “Salt has a lot of elements in it,” di Bonaventura explains. “It’s a thriller, it’s an action movie, it’s a spy movie, it’s a dramatic love story, and it has some kick-ass action.”

In the movie, Evelyn Salt must go on the run to prove her innocence when a defector alleges that she’s a mole, triggering Day X – the day when Russian sleeper spies awaken and begin the war against the United States. “Day X is still a controversial topic inside the CIA,” says Jolie. “Some think it’s absolute nonsense and others believe that not only is it real, but sleeper agents have already been activated for certain cases. When we first approached the idea, we thought it was a bit of a fantasy, but as we found out more information, we discovered it was more real than we could have guessed. Truth really is stranger than fiction.”

"SALT" Opens on July 28 in the Philippines