Shoot 'Em Up (2007)

Shoot 'Em Up is a 2007 American action film written and directed by Michael Davis and produced by Montford/Murphy. It stars Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci and Stephen McHattie. In the film, Smith (Owen), a drifter and former black-ops soldier, rescues a newborn from being killed by assassin Hertz (Giamatti) and his henchmen. Smith enlists the help of prostitute Donna Quintano (Bellucci) to keep the baby safe as he unravels the conspiracy.

According to Davis, the film's idea came after he saw a gun-battle scene from Hard Boiled in which Chow Yun-fat rescues newborn babies from gangsters. Desiring to make an action film centering on guns, Davis expanded the idea into a script in 2000, accompanied by an animated footage with 17,000 drawings for the action scenes. After a deal with New Line Cinema, filming began in Toronto. The music was composed by Paul Haslinger, while cinematography and editing were handled by Peter Pau and Peter Amundson respectively.

Shoot 'Em Up, before its September 2007 release, was previewed at that year's San Diego Comic-Con and received a positive response. Despite a mediocre commercial performance (recouping less than its budget), critical reception was mixed-to-favorable.