FILM · 2021 · USA
No Sudden Move
12 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (12)
- #001
Many media outlets speculated about Brendan Fraser's role in the film, and many worried about his health. The real reason for Fraser's dramatic weight gain was that he had bulked up for the lead role in the upcoming film The Whale (2022), directed by Darren Aronofsky.
- #002
The noticeably distorted shots throughout the film result from Steven Soderbergh mounting wider Kowa anamorphic lenses, which already have significant barrel distortion, on a large Vista Vision-sized digital sensor at 1.5 times the format they were originally designed for, because he wanted to replicate the flawed lens characteristics and look of the early anamorphic lenses of the era in which the film is set. The film actually has an unusual aspect ratio of 2.16:1 because it was originally planned to be framed in the more conventional 2.40:1 anamorphic ratio, but the barrel distortion in some of these shots became so distracting that he reframed the entire film in a taller frame to make it less noticeable.
- #003
Sebastian Stan, John Cena, Nicolas Cage and George Clooney were initially cast, but had to leave due to scheduling conflicts after the film's shoot was pushed from spring 2020 to fall 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it was not announced which roles each would play, Steven Soderbergh said in interviews that Clooney was originally cast for the role that David Harbour would play.
- #004
The Roma Cafe restaurant shown in the film is alleged to be a mob spot, and still is. In the 1980s the FBI carried out one of its largest outdoor phone taps outside the restaurant.
- #005
In an interview with Dave Itzkoff in the New York Times in July 2021, David Harbour described the extensive COVID-19 protections in place for cast and crew during the fall 2020 shoot of No Sudden Move: "We were in Detroit for two and a half, three months, quarantined in a hotel. But luckily it was Soderbergh. He did 'Contagion.' So all the C. D. C. guys he worked with were on set. We were talking about vaccines. I would go to Soderbergh and be like, 'When is this going to end?' And he'd be like, 'Oh, vaccines will be found early next year.' I asked, 'Which one?' 'Pfizer's going really well, two shots,' he said. It was incredible. You're making this movie and learning what's actually happening at the C.D.C."
- #006
Josh Brolin was initially cast but was dropped due to scheduling conflicts with his TV series. Jon Hamm then came on board.
- #007
Brendan Fraser and Don Cheadle were last together in the film Crash (2004).
- #008
Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro had previously worked together on the film Traffic (2000).
- #009
The film's cast includes four Oscar winners: Brendan Fraser, Benicio Del Toro, Matt Damon and Kieran Culkin; and one Oscar nominee: Don Cheadle.
- #010
It reunites Matt Damon and Don Cheadle after they previously worked together on the Ocean's trilogy.
- #011
It is the first Ray Liotta/Don Cheadle collaboration since the TV film The Rat Pack (1998).
- #012
It reunites Matt Damon and Noah Jupe for the third time, after Suburbicon (2017) and Ford v Ferrari (2019).
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