Is 30 Minutes or Less Based on a Tragic True Story?
Ruben Fleischer’s upcoming film 30 Minutes or Less is one of the few comedies I’ve been looking forward to this summer. The story revolves around a pizza delivery man (Jesse Eisenberg) who is kidnapped by two criminals (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). They strap a bomb to his chest and tell him that they will detonate it if he doesn’t rob a bank within a few hours. Now, with the movie just days from hitting theatres, an interesting report has emerged. Could it be that 30 Minutes or Less is based on a true story… one that ended up costing a man his life? According to TMZ, a group of people in Pennsylvania are up in arms over the release of the film because their friend Brian Wells was killed under very similar circumstances. Did the filmmakers turn a real-life tragedy into a Hollywood comedy?
Back in 2003, Wells was arrested while robbing a bank and told officers that he had been abducted during a pizza delivery and that an explosive device had been locked around his neck. Once people realized that the bomb was real, they backed away… and then it exploded. It was later discovered that Wells may have been in on the plot, but that a real bomb was not supposed to be used.
According to a rep for Columbia Pictures, “Neither the filmmakers nor the stars of 30 Minutes or Less were aware of this crime prior to their involvement in the film.” However, writers Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan were apparently “vaguely familiar with what had occurred.” Although it’s nothing new for the family and friends of victims to speak out against the movie adaptation of a real-life tragedy, in this case, it does seem especially weird that it was turned into a comedy. Do you think the director and cast knew about the true story and does this change your opinion of 30 Minutes or Less?
Comments (6)
Cant believe they didnt know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wells_(bank_robber)
Posted by saddler on August 10th, 2011This is one time where I can understand why people would be upset. I couldn’t imagine if I knew someone that died like that only for it to be turned into a joke in a comedy. I still want to see the movie but it does seem like a little bit of an insult to the victims freinds and family.
Posted by indianamcclain on August 10th, 2011This story is actually really nuts, I remember getting really into it for a while. Wells hung out with his abductors because they used to buy prostitutes at his house. There was this woman involved who was later caught for killing her ex husband and putting him in a freezer.
I’m pretty sure they were all doing meth.
Posted by mark on August 10th, 2011This was BIG news back when it happened; I find it very hard to believe they didn’t know about this. Doesn’t change how much I’m looking forward to the movie, however.
Posted by theocean85 on August 10th, 2011Wired did a pretty good article on this a while back:
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/12/ff_collarbomb/all/1
I can see why people are a little upset about the film, and it is weird that this came out as a comedy. Story is fascinating though. Probably deserves some kind of dramatic adaptation.
Posted by Ovenball on August 11th, 2011I have no doubt that this movie was inspired by that real life tragedy. It was all over the news when it happened. You would have had to been in a coma or on Gilligan’s Island not to have heard.
On second thought, coma patients often hear what their visitors in the room are talking about and the castaways had that radio from which they always got news reports.
So they definitely knew about it.
Posted by RC on August 14th, 2011Leave a Reply