Middle Men is a 2009 film that chronicled the early days of the adult entertainment biz on the Internet through the story of Jack Harris. Luke Wilson stars as Harris, with a supporting cast that includes James Caan, Terry Crews, Kelsey Grammer, and Kevin Pollak, among others.
Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht play Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby, respectively, guys with big ideas as well as substance abuse issues. They come up with the idea of the first ever paid adult video website. Jack Harris is a businessman who's been hired to turn their lucrative idea into a legitimate business, and ends up on a wild ride of sex, substance abuse, gangsters, and lots of money.
10 Audrey Dawns Is Based On Various Adult Actresses
There is a lot of speculation among fans as to who the inspiration was for Audrey Dawns. The obvious choice is a former adult actress with the stage name Anette Dawn (aka Anett Bosci), who would be about the right age for the era. Others have noted resemblances to adult actresses Jesse Jane and Seka.
Actress Laura Ramsey, who played her in the movie, said in an interview that she researched the part with real cam-girls. “They're totally down-to-earth girls, wearing sweatpants, just telling me what they do for a living,” she said.
9 Jack Harris Is Definitely Based On Christopher Mallick
Christopher Mallick produced the movie and co-wrote it with director George Gallo, and it’s based on his real life experiences. In the movie, Wayne and Buck begin by shooting their own adult content.
It’s Jack who shows them that they can make the real money by being the “middle men”– the third party who processes payments for adult websites in a way that lets people stay anonymous. In real life, Mallick founded both Payweb and ePassporte, companies that did the same thing.
8 It Originally Came Together As A TV Series
The idea for the movie had been brewing in Mallick’s mind for years, and as he reached the proposal stage, what he had in mind originally was a TV series. He planned to approach HBO with the idea, and that’s when he hired writer Andy Weiss, known at that point for his work on the MTV hidden camera prank show Punk’d.
Andy was intrigued by the concept, and at the time was working with writer George Gallo, already well known for penning Midnight Run and Bad Boys. It was Weiss who brought Gallo into the project.
7 Mallick Says The Crazy Vibe & Buckets Of Cash Were Fictionalized, But Realistic
In an interview, Mallick talked about living through the early days of internet commerce.
“Though this story is highly fictionalized, it reveals a section of how my life was shaped when the Internet began as a new means of commerce. This movie touches upon an industry that grew faster than anyone would’ve ever imagined. It was literally the 'Wild West’ electronically– there were no rules; we were making up the rules as we went. There was more money than anyone ever imagined.”
6 There Are A Few Anachronistic Errors In The Movie
There are a few errors in the movie, which is set in 1997/1998. In one scene, for example, a computer screen shows Windows XP, which was released in 2001. In a car chase scene, Buck and Wayne are driving a 2010 Cadillac.
Similarly, when they walk into the bar to meet Russian mobsters, there is a 2008 Ferrari parked outside. A scene at the AVN adult film awards is supposed to take place in 2004, yet numerous posters in the scene clearly indicate that it's 2003.
5 That Terrorist Link Is Taken From Real Life
The movie’s tone shifts from comedy to tense thriller to gritty crime flick, even including a terrorism angle. That aspect of the story– where one of the 9/11 bombers was traced via their adult film consumption and a credit card– is accurate.
While the details might vary, writer Andy Weiss confirmed the facts in an interview. “People will think, 'Is that really true, that they tracked the 9/11 terrorists through [adult] sites, and that they needed this guy's help to do such?' The answer is yes, truth, we can back it up.”
4 Beering & Dolby Were Composite Characters
In the movie, the story boils down to two substance-abusing visionaries who have great ideas but a management style that prioritizes partying over the details. In real life, there were many such party-fueled entrepreneurs in the adult entertainment biz, as it turns out.
In a previously-mentioned interview, Mallick explained. “This is about real people, but they are not based on anyone specifically; they’re composites of various people I’ve encountered throughout my life as well as some wholly created characters George Gallo (Director/Co-Writer) and Andy Weiss (Co-Executive Producer/Co-Writer) conceived.”
3 A Scene Was Cut From The Movie To Keep Its Rating
It goes without saying that a movie that sets out to be a realistic portrayal of the adult film industry is going to have its work cut out for it in terms of securing a rating that'll allow it a wide theatrical release. A fairly long scene that takes place at a sex party was cut from the movie because it would have pushed it to an NC-17 rating– considered a major block to mainstream success for a movie.
Millions of people still managed to view the scene, though, after it was leaked to a major adult website. Later, it was put back into the home-video DVD version.
2 Mallick’s Company Has Sued Paramount Over The Movie’s Lackluster Box Office
Middle Men earned just under $750K on a budget of $20 million, and was only in release for 21 weeks on 252 theaters. After Paramount released the movie to Netflix, Mallick’s company, Middle Pictures, sued them in 2016, saying they’d made “little effort” to promote it.
The suit claims that the distribution was part of Paramount’s “broader strategy to freely acquire valuable content that it could later use to create packaged libraries for sale to video-on-demand and streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.”
1 Lawsuits Allege That Mallick Took Money Under False Pretenses To Fund The Movie
Mallick's company, ePassporte, went under in 2010 when Visa decided to stop doing business with them. Accusations flew on the internet.
One account holder accused Mallick and ePassport of withholding funds that led to his mother's death via not being able to buy medications. He won a $12 million judgment, in which he accused Mallick of getting a loan from him under false pretenses– money that he then used to finance Middle Men. Officially, the movie was self-produced by Mallick ot the tune of $20 million.