FILM · 2014 · USA
3 Days to Kill
17 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
17 Interesting Facts About 3 Days to Kill
Interesting Facts (10)
- #001
When Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) tries to get an immigrant squatter family out of his little-used Paris apartment, the French police tell him he must wait until 13 April, when winter ends, and that he will be arrested if he tries to do it himself. France in fact has a law protecting squatters who have stayed in a dwelling for more than two days during the winter months; the owner cannot remove them without going to court.
- #002
The car Vivi Delay (Amber Heard) picks up Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) in is a Peugeot RCZ, which sells for around $36,000. According to Peugeot, actress Heard liked the car so much that she wanted to do her own stunts in it.
- #003
The $150,000 check Ethan (Kevin Costner) receives for his services is dated, curiously, 22 November 2013—the 50th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination, the crime Costner (as D. A. Jim Garrison) investigated in JFK (1991).
- #004
This American spy film was shot mainly in Paris, France, largely with a French production crew.
- #005
Ethan's handler is Vivi Delay. Vivi is a short form of Vivien or Vivian, a name derived from a Latin term meaning "alive," which gives it an ironically double meaning in the film's context. First, it relates to Ethan not really being alive: he seeks out his wife and daughter for a close relationship only after learning he is going to die; his life was "delayed." Second, the name applies to the experimental serum Vivi gives him as part of his compensation for this last mission—a serum that may actually keep him alive. Notably, early in the film he doubts he will live until Christmas; in the closing scene he celebrates Christmas with his wife and daughter, showing he has recovered.
- #006
The music playing in the club where Vivi watches a dance performance is Mirwais Ahmadzaï's "Spoutnik."
- #007
3 Days to Kill (2014) is set in Paris, France. The film's screenwriters, Adi Hasak and Luc Besson, had worked together on the script for From Paris with Love (2010) about four years earlier. 3 Days to Kill (2014) was their second screenwriting collaboration. Roughly forty production crew members worked on both pictures.
- #008
Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) is seen rescuing Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld) from a group of boys in a restroom and then carrying her out of the nightclub. In The Bodyguard (1992), Costner's character rescues Whitney Houston from fans at the stage and ultimately carries her out of the nightclub.
- #009
This is the fourth spy film directed by McG; the first three were Charlie's Angels (2000), This Means War (2012) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003).
- #010
The character Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) in this spy film shares the same surname as actor Jeremy Renner, who had recently appeared in the spy thriller The Bourne Legacy (2012).
Characters & Cast (2)
- #011
3 Days to Kill (2014) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) were actor Kevin Costner's first espionage films in a starring role since No Way Out (1987), roughly twenty-seven years earlier.
- #012
When the student talks with Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) after he picks Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld) up from school, the student makes a cowboy reference. Costner played the Western lawman Wyatt Earp in Wyatt Earp (1994), a cowboy in Open Range (2003), starred in the Western Dances with Wolves (1990) and also played a cowboy in Silverado (1985), one of his first leading roles.
Easter Eggs & References (3)
- #013
The film's story refers to a "dirty bomb," a radiological dispersal device (RDD), which the Wikipedia website defines as "a speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with radioactive material, serving primarily as an area denial device against civilians."
- #014
In this film Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) goes after an accountant. In Costner's earlier film The Untouchables (1987), Elliott Ness (played by Costner) also goes after an accountant.
- #015
The character Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) in this spy film shares the same first name as Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in the Mission: Impossible spy film series.
Deeper Meaning (1)
- #016
The highly invasive glioma brain cancer Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) has is called "glioblastoma" (GBM). The American Brain Tumor Association states: "Glioblastomas (GBM) are tumors that arise from astrocytes—the star-shaped cells that make up the 'glue-like' or supportive tissue of the brain. These tumors are usually highly malignant (cancerous) because the cells reproduce quickly and they are supported by a large network of blood vessels."
Life & Family (1)
- #017
In this film Kevin Costner tries to reconnect with his wife and daughter while riding a bicycle in Paris and battling a terminal illness. In American Flyers, Kevin tries to reconnect with his brother and faces a fatal brain aneurysm while cycling in the Rockies.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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