<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $87,812,371 </Td> </Tr> <P> State of Play is a 2009 British - French - American political thriller film . It is an adaptation of the six - part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003 . The plot of the six - hour serial was condensed to fit a two - hour film format, with the location changed to Washington, D.C. The film was directed by Kevin Macdonald from a screenplay written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Peter Morgan and Billy Ray . </P> <P> The film tells of a journalist's (Russell Crowe) probe into the suspicious death of a congressman's (Ben Affleck) mistress . The supporting cast includes Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn and Jeff Daniels . Macdonald said that State of Play is influenced by the films of the 1970s and explores the topical subject of privatization of American Homeland Security and to a minor extent journalistic independence, along with the relationship between politicians and the press . It was released in North America on April 17, 2009 . The film received generally positive reviews . </P> <P> One night, a thief fleeing through Georgetown in Washington, D.C., is shot by a man carrying a briefcase . A pizza delivery man who witnesses the incident is also shot by the killer and is left in a coma . The following morning, a young woman is killed by a Washington Metro train in what seems to be suicide . Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is distraught to hear that the woman was Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer), a lead researcher on his staff . Collins, who has military experience, is leading an investigation into PointCorp, a private defense contractor with controversial operations involving mercenaries . Collins tells his former college roommate and old friend Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), an investigative reporter, that he had been having an affair with Sonia and that she had sent him a cheerful video message on the morning of her death, which he says is inconsistent and unusual behavior for someone about to commit suicide . </P>

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