ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS: 1. PRODUCTION INFORMATION Everyone has experienced the unsettling mystery of déjà vu – that flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you’ve known all your life or recognize a place even though you’ve never been there before. But what if these strange, spooky feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to an unfolding future?... 2. DÉJÀ VU : THE STORY BEGINS The spine-tingling sensation of déjà vu has mystified humankind for centuries. The feeling hits at the strangest moments – when we fall instantly and madly in love with a total stranger, when we arrive at a brand new place we know like the back of our hand.... 3. THE CAST OF DEJA VU From the beginning, Jerry Bruckheimer knew exactly who he wanted to cast in DÉJÀ VU’s lead role of ATF agent Doug Carlin – the tough-minded investigator who is forced to look in wildly unexpected directions for the answers to a heartbreaking crime.... 4. AN EXPLOSIVE CAREER: DENZEL WASHINGTON TRAINS AS AN ATF AGENT To keep the emphasis on realistic action at the core of DEJA VU, Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott brought in a number of consultants from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the agency that in real-life is charged with the investigation of all federal bombings – including such infamous events as the tragic explosion of the Alfred E. Murrah building in Oklahoma City and the 1993 car bombing of the World Trade Center.... 5. THE MYSTERY OF DÉJÀ VU: WHAT DO WE KNOW? While the action elements of DÉJÀ VU are all about realism, the unconventional underpinning of the thriller is an inquiry into just what the feeling of déjà vu really is – and what it might reveal about the workings of the universe... 6. THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE NEW ORLEANS: THE PRODUCTION OF DEJA VU Production of DÉJÀ VU was set to begin in Fall of 2005 amidst the watery beauty and inimitably soulful atmosphere of New Orleans. But in August of 2005, the unprecedented power of Hurricane Katrina struck, devastating the city and rocking the nation. While recovery efforts began, the film was put on indefinite hold.... 7. CHASES THROUGH TIME: CREATING DÉJÀ VU’S INVENTIVE ACTION SEQUENCES Beginning with the ferry explosion, the tension in DÉJÀ VU builds on both a psychological level and a physical level. As the story crescendos, so too does the action, with innovative chase scenes that not only travel the roads – but also travel through time.... 8. SECRETS OF SURVEILLANCE : CREATING THE TIME WINDOW LAB Doug Carlin’s search to understand what happened at the moment the ferry bomb exploded and what it has to do with his past and future ultimately takes him to one of DÉJÀ VU’s most intriguing locations: the secret time window lab in which Doug can view surveillance footage of past events.... 9. HIGH SPEED AND HIGH DEFINITION: THE VISUAL DESIGN OF DEJA VU The look of DÉJÀ VU is as innovative as its storyline. Says Jerry Bruckheimer, “Tony Scott’s films have a signature look with fast cuts and unusual camera angles. In DÉJÀ VU, he uses many unique visual techniques to enhance the storytelling.”....

DÉJÀ VU :
THE STORY BEGINS

The spine-tingling sensation of déjà vu has mystified humankind for centuries. The feeling hits at the strangest moments – when we fall instantly and madly in love with a total stranger, when we arrive at a brand new place we know like the back of our hand, whenever events occur that inexplicably feel like they have must have played out somehow, somewhere before in our lives. From philosophers to filmmakers, we have all wondered: Where does this feeling come from? Is it all in the mind or does it emerge from some deeper reality? Why does it happen? And most of all, what does it mean?

“It is these fascinating gray areas that lie at the heart of our film,” says the star of DÉJÀ VU, Denzel Washington.

A two-time Oscar® winner who is regularly offered the cream of the current screenplay crop, Washington was swept up when he encountered DÉJÀ VU’s uniquely time-shifting, backwards-moving structure and its provocative exploration of one of life’s most inexplicable experiences through the lens of a love story and a crime-solving thriller. “I think we all have had the feeling that we have been somewhere before – I’ve had it, too,” Washington admits. “I used to have this dream about a particular place in Brooklyn, and then one day I went there and I couldn’t help but feel like I had been there before. It’s one of those big mysteries in life that I think everyone wants to get to the bottom of.”

Indeed, everyone who first came into contact with DÉJÀ VU was instantly intrigued. It’s not often that a screenplay arrives in leading producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s office and is purchased within a matter of hours – but DÉJÀ VU, written by Bill Marsilii & Terry Rossio, was an exception to the rule. Bruckheimer, who has become a brand unto himself with a roster of films that span many of the most popular and influential films of the last two decades, felt right away that the script was something special. Screenwriter Rossio (along with another partner Ted Elliott) had already written the wildly entertaining and phenomenally successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” series for Bruckheimer, as well such runaway hits as “Aladdin,” “Shrek” and “Zorro,” among others. But with DÉJÀ VU he and newcomer Bill Marsilii had ventured into fresh territory – taking a sleek modern thriller and poignant romance out onto the edges of modern physics’ understanding of time.

Recalls Bruckheimer, ”The concept of DÉJÀ VU was completely original, a real page-turner, and different from any other love story I had ever read. We were fortunate enough to be the first ones to get a peek at it, so we bought the screenplay within forty-eight hours of receiving it.”

Rossio and Elliot first formed their unusual writing partnership in the most modern of ways: in cyberspace. Around ten years ago, Rossio was in an America On Line chat-room talking to different aspiring writers about their careers, when he came across Marsilii, and was immediately impressed by his insights and smarts about movies. The two seemed to have an instant creative rapport.

But Terry lived in Los Angeles and Bill in New York, so they began exchanging ideas and script concepts by e-mail over the course of several years. One of those ideas was for an unconventional, intricately woven thriller/love-story that would take place unmoored from the usual rules of time. Starting with a deadly, heartbreaking tragedy, a federal agent would have to follow his sense of déjà vu and, using top-secret technology, trace his steps all the way back to the moment in time when he might have a shot at altering the catastrophe -- and with it, his own chance for a once in a lifetime love affair.

The idea seemed to have enormous potential but was also unusually complex, pushing the thriller into realms where it usually doesn’t go. Soon Rossio and Marsilii were simultaneously developing the nuances of a romance-in-reverse, while also exploring next-generation surveillance technology and conversing with leading experts on the cutting-edge of String Theory and parallel universes.

Over time, Terry and Bill had each written different scenes that were fragments of DÉJÀ VU, but had never attempted to put it all together into one continuous narrative. Then, Rossio heard Jerry Bruckheimer Films was looking for a new large-scale film project and he had a feeling this story of romance, crime and time travel would resonate with the producer. He and Marsilii cleaned up what they had, and sent a first draft of DÉJÀ VU to Bruckheimer. They never looked back.

The result was wholly unlike the usual run-of-the-mill Hollywood thriller – and Bruckheimer loved that. Says Bruckheimer, “We felt that DÉJÀ VU had enormous drama to it because of what takes place around the love story. The idea that you can bring somebody back to life again is a wonderful concept. This story is risky, it’s entertaining and it’s romantic. And by bringing in Tony Scott to direct, we knew it would be filled with exciting action.” Bruckheimer knew that Scott would bring his distinctive panache with visceral thrills to the film – but also something more.

“Tony, Denzel, and I had all worked together on ‘Crimson Tide,’” says Bruckheimer, “but Tony and I hadn’t really done a love story together since ‘Top Gun.’ DÉJÀ VU presented those same elements of action and drama, but with the underpinnings of a beautiful romance tinged with incredible mystery. This was just the project to reunite us.”

Scott brought with him to DÉJÀ VU a well-deserved reputation for being not only one of the most accomplished, but also one of the hardest-working, directors in Hollywood. Famously, his vision is so specific and well-crafted that he wakes up every morning at 3 AM in order to draw his own storyboards for the day, mapping out every inch of every action scene before anyone else is even awake. Yet, typically sporting his signature pink baseball cap, khaki shorts and Cuban cigar, Scott is also renowned for making the non-stop pace of an action-thriller feel effortless to the cast and crew. Most of all, Scott is highly regarded for his unique ability to generate visual excitement and dramatic fireworks on the screen.

Sums up Bruckheimer, “Tony brings the amazing scope of his artistry to every visual aspect of a movie. That is why you hire Tony Scott. He is a great storyteller who is extremely dedicated to his craft. We both had the same goal for this film: to take you away for two hours so you can forget about everything else and just get lost in the magic on the screen….and when those lights go down you are in another world, the world of DÉJÀ VU.”