Development
Writer and director Paul Haggis was inspired to make the film after being carjacked by two African-American men at a Blockbuster Video on Wilshire Boulevard while driving home from the premiere of The Silence of the Lambs in February 1991.[4][5] Afterwards he began thinking more about the impact of race, ethnicity, and class in American society.[6][7] He later stated that he wrote Crash not simply to criticize racists but to "bust liberals" for the idea that the United States had become a post-racial society.[8] Haggis cowrote the first draft of Crash with Robert Moresco in 2001 after being fired from Family Law.[9][4]
Casting
Haggis initially tried to sell the script to television producers before it gained the attention of producers Cathy Schulman and Bob Yari.[9] Yari offered Haggis $7.5 million to produce the script as a film, on the condition he could assemble an ensemble cast of major stars.[9] Don Cheadle was the first actor to be cast and also came on board as a producer, which helped attract other big names to the production.[10][4] Forest Whitaker was originally attached to play Terrence Howard's role but dropped out.[9] The casting of Brendan Fraser as the district attorney, which came last, was pivotal in getting the film green-lit.[9]
Heath Ledger and John Cusack were also attached to the roles of Tom Hanson and John Ryan, respectively, but dropped out after production delays.[9] At one point, Don Cheadle also considered leaving the production to perform in Hotel Rwanda.[7] According to Yari, the departure of Ledger from the cast reduced the film's international value and the budget was brought down by $1 million.[9]
Filming
Filming began in Los Angeles for a 32-day shoot in December 2003.[9] Haggis made up for the reduced budget by taking out three mortgages on his house, cutting back on exterior shots, and reusing locations.[9] Principal cast members also agreed to pay cuts and deferred their salaries.[11] Production was delayed for a week when Haggis suffered from cardiac arrest while filming a scene, although he defied medical advice to hire a new director.[7][9][4]
In a 2020 interview with Vulture, Thandiwe Newton stated that Haggis ensured she was wearing special protective underwear for the police sexual assault scene, because he wanted it to look "real" from the camera's perspective for Matt Dillon "to go there".[12]
Music
The original score was released by Superb Records through Lionsgate Films in 2005.[13][14] All songs were written and composed by Mark Isham, except where noted.[13] The iTunes release is the complete score released through Yari Music Group, and has the cues isolated and in film order (unlike the commercial score CD which is edited, incomplete, in a different order, and in suite form).[15] A second volume of tracks, titled Crash: Music from and Inspired by the Film, was released featuring songs that appear in the film.[16][17]
