▁original ity , ▁pace ▁and ▁a ▁big ▁idea . ▁The ▁waiting ▁has ▁been ▁worth while . ▁We ▁wanted ▁to ▁make ▁sure ▁we ▁had ▁the ▁right ▁combination ▁of ▁leading ▁actors ▁and ▁the ▁right ▁technical ▁skills ▁because ▁those ▁will ▁be ▁the ▁real ▁making ▁- ▁or ▁un making - ▁of ▁the ▁movie ." ▁ ▁E ight ▁weeks ▁before ▁shooting , ▁Hann ant ▁says ▁Hem dale ▁presented ▁him ▁with ▁a ▁rewrite ▁of ▁the ▁script ▁by ▁an ▁American ▁writer . ▁Hann ant ▁tried ▁to ▁incorpor ate ▁changes ▁but ▁says ▁he ▁did ▁not ▁have ▁enough ▁money . ▁John ▁B ax ter ▁quit ▁the ▁project ▁and ▁the ▁shoot ▁was ▁cut ▁from ▁ 1 3 ▁weeks ▁to ▁nine . ▁Hann ant ▁left ▁the ▁film ▁during ▁post ▁production ▁(" one ▁step ▁ahead ▁of ▁being ▁fired ," ▁according ▁to ▁B ax ter ) ▁and ▁some ▁extra ▁scenes ▁were ▁shot ▁by ▁the ▁editor . ▁ ▁Tom ▁Bur lin son ▁was ▁cast ▁in ▁the ▁lead . ▁" If ▁we ' re ▁successful ," ▁said ▁Bur lin son , ▁" if ▁it ▁comes ▁off , ▁we ' ll ▁show ▁the ▁world ▁we ▁can ▁make ▁this ▁sort ▁of ▁film ... ▁ ▁I ▁play ▁a ▁t ough ▁old ▁so - and - so ▁which ▁is ▁different ▁for ▁me ... ▁Ball ard ▁is ▁almost ▁an ▁anti - h ero ▁and ▁not ▁like ▁any ▁of ▁those ▁young ▁men ▁I ▁used ▁to ▁play . ▁He ▁doesn ' t ▁take ▁any ▁n ons ense ▁and ▁he ' s ▁a ▁bit ▁of ▁a ▁head - th um per ." ▁ ▁Fil ming ▁took