The 51st State
| The 51st State | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Ronny Yu |
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| Written by | Stel Pavlou |
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| Music by |
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| Cinematography | Poon Hang-Sang |
| Edited by | David Wu |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $27 million |
| Box office | $14.4 million |
The 51st State (also known as Formula 51) is a 2001 Britishaction comedy film directed by Ronny Yu, written by Stel Pavlou, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Tomlinson, Sean Pertwee, Rhys Ifans, and Meat Loaf. The film follows the story of an American master chemist (Jackson) who heads to Britain to sell his formula for a powerful new drug. All does not go as planned and the chemist soon becomes entangled in a web of deceit.
The film premiered in the United Kingdom on 7 December 2001. It was released internationally under the name Formula 51 in October 2002, where it grossed $14.4 million, just over half of the budget.
In 1971, a policeman catches Elmo McElroy, a recent college graduate with a degree in pharmacology, smoking marijuana. Because of his arrest and conviction, he is unable to find work as a pharmacologist. In the present day, a drug lord called "the Lizard" calls a meeting of his organisation, hoping to sell a brand new substance invented by Elmo. The meeting goes badly when Elmo, in a bid to escape from the Lizard's control, blows up the building, killing everyone but the Lizard. Vengeful, the Lizard contacts Dakota, a contract killer, who previously killed the only witness in a case against the Lizard. Dakota initially refuses the hit, but accepts when the Lizard offers to clear her gambling debts and give her a $250,000 bonus.
Elmo leaves for Liverpool, England, where he meets Felix DeSouza, a local "fixer" who has been sent by Leopold Durant, head of a local criminal organisation, in exchange for two football tickets to a sold-out game. At the meeting, Elmo pitches POS 51, a synthetic drug that can be produced with minimal facilities and is 51 times as potent as other drugs. A second opinion from Pudsey, Durant's chemist, confirms Elmo's claims, and Durant gives him over a million dollars in bonds. Since it is $18 million short of the agreed payment, Elmo threatens to leave.
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