8 Mile (2002)
- Curtis Hanson originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- The incredible score for 8 Mile was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
- Before Eminem was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
8 Mile is a 2002 American drama directed by Curtis Hanson, set in the Detroit hip-hop scene of 1995. Eminem stars as Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr., a working-class white rapper living in a trailer park with his alcoholic mother, played by Kim Basinger, who works grueling factory shifts by day and battles in underground rap competitions at night, trying to summon the courage and skill to break out of his dead-end circumstances. The film's rap battle scenes, staged at a real Detroit venue, were the most authentic depictions of freestyle competition ever filmed, with Eminem demonstrating the verbal dexterity and emotional honesty that made him the most successful rapper in history.
Curtis Hanson, coming off L.A. Confidential, brought prestige filmmaking craft to a world Hollywood had rarely taken seriously. Eminem's "Lose Yourself," written for and inspired by the film, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song β the first hip-hop song to win the award β and became one of the bestselling singles of the decade. 8 Mile earned $242 million worldwide on a $41 million budget.
