One of the reasons why Eddie Murphy choose to star in Metro is because he wanted to play a dramatic role in a more serious action picture than his previous films were. Even before he accepted the role in Metro, around early 1995 he was originally going to star in another action thriller titled Sandblast. The script for the film was written by screenwriter Steven Maeda in 1993 and he sold it to Joel Silver, famous producer of many action hits, and Warner Bros. for $750,000.
Described as both Die Hard and Cliffhanger in a desert sandstorm, the plot of Sandblast would have been very similar to the plot of John Woo's Broken Arrow (1996). It was to take place in the Iraq desert after the Gulf War, and Murphy would play the lead role of an ex-landmine expert and army specialist who has to help a group of US commandos stop a team of traitorous Green Berets from tracking down lost nuclear warheads which are somewhere in the desert wasteland, and while dealing with a huge sandstorm at the same time.
Once Murphy quit the project due to scheduling conflicts and then went on to star in Metro, Wesley Snipes was hired to play the main role and there were plans to hire Jean Claude Van Damme to play the main villain, but since Snipes' latest films weren't a success and Van Damme didn't want to play the villain, Warner Bros. cancelled the project in 1996 and it was never made.
Described as both Die Hard and Cliffhanger in a desert sandstorm, the plot of Sandblast would have been very similar to the plot of John Woo's Broken Arrow (1996). It was to take place in the Iraq desert after the Gulf War, and Murphy would play the lead role of an ex-landmine expert and army specialist who has to help a group of US commandos stop a team of traitorous Green Berets from tracking down lost nuclear warheads which are somewhere in the desert wasteland, and while dealing with a huge sandstorm at the same time.
Once Murphy quit the project due to scheduling conflicts and then went on to star in Metro, Wesley Snipes was hired to play the main role and there were plans to hire Jean Claude Van Damme to play the main villain, but since Snipes' latest films weren't a success and Van Damme didn't want to play the villain, Warner Bros. cancelled the project in 1996 and it was never made.
The final scene was filmed at Mare Island Naval Base in Vallejo, California, one year after the base closed down.
The last R-rated movie that Eddie Murphy would star in for Disney during his contract. His first was the 1992 comedy, The Distinguished Gentleman.
The second of a five picture deal for Eddie Murphy with Disney that started in 1992. The other films include The Distinguished Gentleman (1992), Metro (1997), Mulan (1998), Holy Man (1998) and The Haunted Mansion (2003).
This was originally meant to star Harrison Ford.
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