| Butterfly on a Wheel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mike Barker |
| Written by | William Morrissey |
| Produced by | William Vince William Morrissey Pierce Brosnan |
| Starring | Pierce Brosnan Maria Bello Gerard Butler |
| Cinematography | Ashley Rowe |
| Edited by | Guy Bensley Bill Sheppard |
| Music by | Robert Duncan |
Production companies | Irish DreamTime Infinity Features |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment (US) Icon Entertainment (non-US) Freestyle Releasing[2] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes[3] |
| Countries | Canada United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million[4] |
Butterfly on a Wheel (US: Shattered, Europe: Desperate Hours) is a 2007 thriller film[3] directed by Mike Barker, co-produced and written by William Morrissey. A British-Canadian joint production, it stars Pierce Brosnan, Gerard Butler, and Maria Bello. The film's title is an allusion to a line of Alexander Pope's poem "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot": "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" The line is usually interpreted as questioning why someone would put great effort into achieving something minor or unimportant, or who would punish a minor offender with a disproportional punishment.[5]
- ^ Fleming, Michael (13 May 2007). "Bello replaces Weisz in 'Mummy'". Variety. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "Shattered". Freestyle Releasing. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ a b "Butterfly On A Wheel". British Board of Film Classification.
- ^ Beiks, Ilona (6 April 2006). "Infinity rolls Wheel with Brosnan". Playback. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
- ^ Thompson, Anne (16 February 2007). "Lionsgate nets U.S. rights to Icon's 'Butterfly'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.