SAHARA production notes FINAL

places in the world and meet different people and get entangled in the politics. For them,
it’s true adventure.”
“You really get the sense from ‘Sahara’ that this adventure is how these guys live,”
Eisner continues. “Their past journeys before this movie begins have shaped the
relationship between Dirk and Al. Past adventures become part of their shared code-
language, like when they refer to the ‘Panama.’ You get the sense that they’ve been on a
million adventures before and they’ll be on another million after this movie ends.”
ABOUT THE CAST
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY (Dirk Pitt/executive producer) first attracted
attention in Richard Linklater’s coming of age comedy, “Dazed and Confused.” He was
cast in a number of roles in films, including “Boys on the Side” and “Lone Star,” landing
the lead role in “A Time to Kill,” with Kevin Spacey, Samuel L Jackson, Sandra Bullock
and Donald Sutherland. Based on the John Grisham novel, the film was directed by Joel
Schumacher.
Steven Spielberg cast him in “Amistad” with Anthony Hopkins and Morgan
Freeman and that led to Robert Zemeckis casting him in “Contact” opposite Jodie Foster.
He teamed with Woody Harrelson, Jenna Elfman and Ellen DeGeneres in Ron Howard’s
“Edtv.” The controversial drama about the wartime capture of the enigma codes, “U-
571,” with Bill Paxton was in marked contrast to the romantic comedy, “The Wedding
Planner” with Jennifer Lopez.
McConaughey’s range of roles was well tested in 2002 with three diverse films. He
played an attorney facing a moral dilemma in “Thirteen Conversations About One
Thing,” which was followed by a horror thriller, “Frailty,” written and directed by Bill
Paxton. He then showed off his sci-fi action chops in “Reign of Fire” as he and co-star
Christian Bale try to save the world from fire breathing dragons.
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