Pop Quiz, Hotshot!

There’s a bomb on a bus.
Once the bus goes fifty miles an hour, the bomb is armed.
If it drops below fifty, it blows up.
What do you do?

Welcome to 50 MPH, a behind-the-scenes podcast that charts the development, production and legacy of director Jan de Bont’s Oscar-winning 1994 summer blockbuster Speed, starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper and Jeff Daniels. Featuring more than 120 new interviews with actors, executives, filmmakers, film scholars and film fans, this one-of-a-kind exploration painstakingly unravels the making of an action movie classic — one mile at a time.

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Phase one of the podcast (episodes 1-16) covers the development of the project both on the page and in the halls of two major Hollywood studios. Phase two (episodes 17-33) covers stories of principal photography as cast and crew recount a production the likes of which we’ll never see again. Finally, phase three (episodes 34-50) covers the release of the film, the packaging of it for a global audience that would turn it into a phenomenon and the legacy it maintains three decades on. Along the way, the journey takes several “detours” to contextualize the various elements of Speed with critics, journalists, authors, film historians and more.

And there was an expiration date on the proceedings: 50 MPH was a year-long race to the finish line on June 10, 2024 — the 30th anniversary of Speed ! How’s that for a ticking clock?

But while it was a contained endeavor, 50 MPH will always be here, waiting to attract new listeners. So, please, tell a friend and spread the word.

And don’t forget to fasten your seatbelts!

50 MPH is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Pandora and wherever else you get your podcasts.

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