Stormbreaker is a 2006 spy film based on Stormbreaker, the first novel in the Alex Rider series. It stars newcomer Alex Pettyfer as the teenage spy alongside noted actors Mickey Rourke and Ewan McGregor. The film was renamed to Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker for the United States release.
Author Anthony Horowitz, already an established and prolific scriptwriter in British television, wrote the screenplay and worked very closely throughout the film's production with director Geoffrey Sax and producers Marc and Peter Samuelson. The Weinstein Company acquired the North American rights to the film, which was filmed in Summer 2005 with six weeks on the Isle of Man and a further six weeks in London. . The film had a budget of £25 million ($40 million).
In 2005, young actor Alex Pettyfer was cast as Rider. He was picked out of five hundred hopefuls who auditioned for the role. Pettyfer was originally offered a role in the then-upcoming film Eragon but turned it down, noting that he preferred Stormbreaker because it would be filmed nearer home while Eragon would film in the Czech Republic, and Pettyfer is afraid of flying.
In June 2006, the producers of the movie signed a deal with Nintendo that made the Nintendo DS a prominent feature in the film, much like the Power Glove in The Wizard. This is an upgrade from the Game Boy Color that Alex used in the novel version. In addition to the Nintendo marketing in the film, Alex's mobile phone is a Nokia 7710 and he uses a sodium pentathol pen to get to London not a gun.
In August, 2006, the film was renamed to Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker for the United States release. A new poster (shown left) and trailer were released along with the announcement. It was also revealed that the US premiere would take place on the Intrepid aircraft carrier at the Hudson River, New York.
The name of the principal villain also changed from Herod Sayle to Darrius Sayle, with his nationality switched from Lebanese (Egyptian in the US version of the novel) to American. This was because Mickey Rourke was already in talks to take on the role, so Horowitz adapted the character to suit him.
