Salt Director Grateful For Wasted Taxpayer Money

We’ve been covering the Salt Day X Exists game for several weeks now, so I found this news from NBC LA rather interesting. Director Phillip Noyce made what almost seemed like a political comment, claiming that wasted taxpayer money actually helped the film.

The action spy thriller follows Agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) as she flees from her own agency after she is framed (or is she?) for being a Russian spy. The film takes place in Washington D.C., but was actually shot in another capitol, Albany, NY. During a screening of the film on Monday night, Noyce talked about why the city worked so well for the films’ action sequences.

“Due to excessive pork barreling over the years, the capital of New York has built up the most elaborate freeway system you have ever seen,” Noyce said at a screening of the film on Monday night.

There was even “one overpass to nowhere which just stopped,” he added with a little surprise. While clearly a symbol of taxpayer waste, Noyce had to admit: “It was really convenient to one (movie) sequence,” he said. “It’s a tragedy (for taxpayers) but great for filming.”

This misguided highway infrastructure plays a role in at least one major action sequence, as you can see in the clip below. At least something good came out of those millions of dollars wasted. Columbia Pictures’ Salt opens nationwide in theaters on July 23rd.