In Michael Bay’s new high octane flick Ambulance, decorated veteran Will Sharp seeks the help of his adoptive brother Danny to pay for his wife’s hospital bills. Danny, a long-time criminal, invites him on a bank heist, and they soon find themselves in a hijacked ambulance.
Whether you’ve already seen the movie or are just planning to catch it in the theaters, here are some offscreen facts about Ambulance that you will surely find interesting!
1. It is based on a Danish thriller from 2005.
‘Ambulance’ is based on a 2005 action thriller film from Denmark by Laurits Munch-Petersen and Lars Andreas Pedersen. In the original Danish film, two brothers hijack an ambulance during a robbery getaway to pay their dying mother’s hospital bills. In the 2022 film, a war veteran needs money for the surgery of his wife, and turns to his adoptive brother to join him on a bank heist, which leads them to steal an ambulance to escape.
2. It is Michael Bay’s first feature film as a director during the pandemic.
Prior to Ambulance, his last movie as director is 6 Underground, the Ryan Reynolds starrer which debuted on Netflix in 2019. Michael Bay hunted for a project that would allow his team to shoot in LA amidst COVID-19 protocols, and found it in ‘Ambulance.’ Filming was done from January to March of 2021. It was also in 2021 that A Quiet Place Part II, a film he produced, was released (with delays due to the pandemic).
3. The movie is filled with explosions, in true Michael Bay fashion.
If you’re a Michael Bay fan, then this high-octane flick is right up your alley. Ambulance is filled with explosive car chase scenes, even a helicopter chase sequence. The director took to Instagram to share with his followers a behind-the-scenes look at one of these scenes — it looks so real you forget that it’s all carefully calculated movie magic!
4. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal occasionally took over the camera to direct some scenes.
Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal plays Danny Sharp in ‘Ambulance,’ a criminal looking for a big score, and found it when his brother Will was desperate to find money to pay for his wife’s surgery. According to his co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, playing Danny’s adoptive brother Will, Gyllenhaal would take the camera from the director during filming to shoot scenes himself. In an Esquire interview, Abdul-Mateen says, “there were times when he would take the camera from Mike. And then you look around and Jake is shooting the scene. I had never seen anything like that before. I’m curious about those things, but I would never ask the director if I could shoot a scene.”
5. Actress Eiza Gonzáles worked with a registered nurse for her role as a paramedic named Cam driving the ambulance that the brothers hijack.
Eiza González (Baby Driver, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw) worked closely with RN and paramedic consultant Dannie Wurtz, who trained her on the precision and detail of attending to a critical patient in a moving ambulance. “It was so cool to see a woman that has made her way through this wild business and saved so many lives,” González says. “She has kept that spark going and that love for what she does. That brought a lot to Cam and really helped me to shape her as a character.”
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Ambulance is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.
