Man on Fire is a 2004 American vigilante action thriller film directed and produced by Tony Scott, with a screenplay by Brian Helgeland and co-produced by Arnon Milchan.

This adaptation shifts the setting from Naples, Italy, to Mexico City, diverging from the earlier 1987 film version of Quinnell's novel, which was also produced by Milchan.

The film follows a despondent, alcoholic former CIA officer-turned-bodyguard, who embarks on a violent revenge spree after a nine-year-old under his charge is kidnapped in Mexico City.

[6] In 2003, former Force Recon Marine and CIA SAD/SOG officer John Creasy travels to Mexico to visit his old friend Paul Rayburn, who convinces him to take a bodyguard position with Samuel Ramos, a wealthy automaker.

The kidnappers, led by the unseen "Voice", demand a $10 million ransom, which Samuel complies with, aided by Police Lieutenant Victor Fuentes.

Creasy's rampage intensifies as he confronts Fuentes, learning that Samuel's lawyer, Jordan Kalfus, orchestrated the kidnapping to claim insurance money.

[7][8] Other actors in the film include Rosa María Hernández as Maria Rosas Sanchez; The Voice's wife, Charles Paraventi as Jersey Boy, one of The Voice's accomplices; Mario Zaragoza as Jorge Gonzalez; a corrupt policeman and member of the "La Hermandad" syndicate, Carmen Salinas as the guardian, Gerardo Taracena as Colon, Eduardo Yáñez as Fox, and Itatí Cantoral as Evelyn.

[13][16] However, Tony Scott ultimately cast Denzel Washington in the role after they had previously collaborated on the action thriller film Crimson Tide (1995).

Marcelo Ebrard, who was the Chief of Police for Mexico City at the time, served as a consultant to the producers, with the hope that the film would raise awareness about the ongoing issue of kidnappings in the region.

The film's widest release expanded to 2,986 theaters, ultimately earning $77,911,774 in North America and $52,381,940 internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $130,293,714 against a production budget of $60–70 million.

The consensus notes that "Man on Fire's solid action and top-shelf cast are undone by a relentlessly grim story that gets harder to take the longer it goes on.

Davies argued that "most critics missed" that Creasy does not take "sadistic pleasure" in his actions; instead, he kills to extract information and pursue those involved in Pita Ramos's kidnapping, aiming to avoid harming innocent parties.

[29] He noted that he typically dislikes film adaptations but felt the writers "did a good job with Man on Fire," and he loved the chemistry between Creasy and Pita.

[29] The cut "Smiling" from the soundtrack of Man on Fire, composed and conducted by Harry Gregson-Williams, was adopted as the theme for several television commercials for Omega watches from 2012 to 2013.

[31] In 2005, a Hindi remake of Man on Fire, titled Ek Ajnabee, was directed by Apoorva Lakhia and starred Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role, renamed Suryaveer "Surya" Singh.