6 Underground (film)

Four years after witnessing the horrors of a brutal regime in the Central Asian nation of Turgistan, an unnamed American billionaire and philanthropist, who made his fortunes from inventing neodymium magnets, fakes his own death to form an anonymous vigilante squad to take down criminals and terrorists that governments will not touch. Now known as "One", he recruits five other people to abandon their pasts and join his cause as "ghosts": Two, a spy; Three, a hitman; Four, a parkour runner and thief; Five, a doctor; and Six, a driver.

On their first mission in the Italian city of Florence, the team kills the lawyer of Turgistan's four generals before they drive across the city in a green Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio while chased by the Mafia and the police. Six is killed just as they manage to get away. Days later, One recruits Blaine, a former Delta Force sniper suffering from survivor's guilt over his inability to save his team due to orders in Afghanistan, and renames him "Seven". One plans a mission to stage a coup d'état to topple the government of Turgistan dictator Rovach Alimov and install his imprisoned brother Murat as the country's new leader during the Day of the Dead. It is revealed that Two had reluctantly captured Murat and handed him back to Rovach before becoming a Ghost.

The team assassinates Rovach's generals in Las Vegas and successfully extracts Murat from Hong Kong, but Four is nearly killed until Seven intervenes despite protests from One. Following an argument between One and Seven about One's willingness to leave people behind, the Ghosts break their code of anonymity and reveal each other's names. In Turgistan, One sets his plan in motion by hacking the state-run television station during Rovach's address to give Murat a voice to the people. Murat's impromptu speech inspires the citizens to revolt while strategic explosions in the city force Rovach to evacuate to his private yacht and Murat occupies the palace. The Ghosts storm through the yacht and One activates a magnetic pulse to incapacitate the guards. When the yacht is immobilized in the middle of the ocean, One decides to save Four from a henchman instead of capturing Rovach. Rovach flees by helicopter, only to discover it to be commandeered by Murat and the Ghosts, who drop him near the border to feed him to the refugees that fled his regime.

In the aftermath of the revolution, Murat becomes Turgistan's new president and the ghosts part ways until they are once again needed. Two and Three begin a relationship, as well as Four and Five, and One travels to New York City and sees his son, whom he will pass his fortunes to should he die in the next mission.

• Ryan Reynolds as One[3]
• Mélanie Laurent as Camille / Two
• Corey Hawkins as Blaine / Seven
• Adria Arjona as Amelia / Five
• Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Javier / Three
• Ben Hardy as Billy / Four
• Lior Raz as Rovach Alimov
• Peyman Maadi as Murat Alimov
• Yuri Kolokolnikov as Baasha Zia
• Kim Kold as Daqeeq
• Dave Franco as Six
• Tauras Čižas as Horseman
• Algirdas Dainavičius as Rooftop General
• James Murray as Caleb
• Ron Funches as Blaine's Cousin / The Funeral Speaker

Filming in Florence in September 2018

On March 7, 2018, it was reported that Michael Bay would direct the action thriller film, 6 Underground, based on the script by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, which would be produced by Skydance Media's David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger along with Bay.[4] In May 2018, it was reported that Netflix would distribute the film, for what they intend to be a new action franchise with Ryan Reynolds starring in the lead role.[1]

In July 2018, Dave Franco, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Corey Hawkins, Ben Hardy and Lior Raz joined the cast.[5][6][7] In August 2018, Mélanie Laurent and Peyman Maadi joined the cast of the film.[8] Principal production commenced on July 30, 2018.

Over the subsequent months, shooting would be completed in several cities of Italy, in Los Angeles, Budapest,[9] and in the United Arab Emirates: in Al Ain, Liwa Oasis, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Al Jazirah Al Hamra (standing in for Nigeria and Afghanistan)[10] and, particularly in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In the UAE, 24 locations were used, some standing in for Las Vegas, Afghanistan, California, Hong Kong and the fictional Turgistan.[11] The UAE military worked with the crew, providing soldiers as extras as well as aircraft that appear in the film. Production designer Jeffrey Beecroft made this comment: "I’ve shot a lot of military stuff with Michael, but I never had the ability to have six Apache [helicopters], 10 Black Hawks and soldiers".[12][13][14]

In Italy, some filming was also done at Cinecittà Studios in Rome and on the Kismet (yacht), rented from owner Shahid Khan. The lengthy car chase, set in the historic center of Florence, consisted of sequences filmed in Florence itself,[15] between August 22 and September 22, 2018, [16] but also in Siena, Rome and Taranto. Michael Bay was able to obtain permits to close streets to film the speeding cars.[17] In an interview, Bay expressed some surprise that Florence had allowed filming of the car chase in its historic area. "There’s a lot of priceless stuff in this movie, like where we have cars flying between an obelisk. Why they allowed me to have flying cars by an obelisk that’s 800 years old, I don’t know. But we didn’t hurt anything," he recalled.[18]

After watching their videos on YouTube, Bay brought on British parkour team Storror to choreograph and perform the parkour sequences in the film.[19] They perform the stunts between skyscrapers and cranes, with some scenes on the Florence Cathedral.[20]

Principal photography wrapped on December 5, 2018.[21]

The film's production reportedly cost $150 million.[22]

Lorne Balfe composed the film's score, as he previously worked with Michael Bay in 13 Hours.[23] Milan Records released the film soundtrack on December 13, 2019.

The film premiered at The Shed in New York City on December 10, 2019,[24] and was released digitally to Netflix and in limited theaters on December 13, 2019.[25] On January 21, 2020, Netflix announced that the film had been viewed by over 83 million viewers on its service within its first month of release.[26]

• 6 Underground on Netflix
• 6 Underground on IMDb