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How the screenplay first landed in producer Scott Rudin's hands wasn't so much an accident as it was a miracle: One day in 1995, a production assistant on the set of Rudin's remake of ''Sabrina'' had the temerity to approach his boss and pepper him with story pitches. Rudin punished such hubris by paying the PA (known today as ''Changing Lanes'' screenwriter Chap Taylor) to flesh out his idea for a drama about a fateful car crash. Of course, Rudin didn't leave everything to chance: He later hired veteran Hollywood scribe Michael Tolkin (''The Player,'' ''Deep Impact'') to rewrite Taylor's script.
''Michael did a lot of work on tone,'' Rudin, 43, explains. (Taylor's tone these days is extremely quiet; he did not respond to repeated interview requests.)
One thing Tolkin didn't change was the setting. ''New York City was what always interested me most about the idea,'' Rudin says. ''That New York functions with this many people and this much rage and doesn't implode -- that always amazes me.''
It may not implode, but it has suffered other disasters recently. And that obviously raises some sensitive questions for a film that's as much about New York City (Michell spent three months early last year shooting on its streets) as it is about the hard-edged inhabitants on the screen. After the Sept. 11 attacks, are enraged New Yorkers really what audiences want to see? ''I don't think that's going to be a problem,'' says Michell, sipping his tea. ''In fact, there's even a shot of the Twin Towers. At one point, on Sept. 13, I took it out of the movie. But then I thought more about it and put it back in. It dates the movie, I know, but I don't care. I wanted to keep the towers. I think it would be a shame to pretend they were never there.''
At least now his heart seems to be in the right place.
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