‘Thank You for Smoking’ was Jason Reitman’s feature directorial debut. He was 27 years old. It was acquired at the Toronto Inter…

‘Thank You for Smoking’ was Jason Reitman’s feature directorial debut. He was 27 years old. It was acquired at the Toronto International Film Festival before it had even finished screening. Throughout the entire film, nobody actually smokes. Reitman made the deliberate decision not to show any cigarettes being lit. The only smoking visible on screen occurs in archival footage of old films playing in the background, including a shot of John Wayne lighting up in Sands of Iwo Jima. Before its Sundance screening, a rumor circulated online that an extended scene between Aaron Eckhart and Katie Holmes had been cut due to pressure from Holmes’ then-husband Tom Cruise. Reitman denied that any such scene had ever existed. He also noted that the rumor generated more press attention for the film than anything his publicist had done. Reitman later said: «Half the questions I’ve been getting are thoughtful questions about the morality of lobbying and how satire works. And half are about the Katie Holmes scene that doesn’t exist.» Film: Thank You for Smoking (2005)