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The Fisher King held the #1 spot for four
consecutive weeks during its theatrical run, and was Columbia
Tri-Star's second-highest profitable film in 1991 (behind
Spielberg's Hook). |
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The Fisher King was the first film
Terry
Gilliam didn't write or co-write, and the first film he didn't completely
pre-visualize with storyboards. |
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In Anne's video store, one can see posters for
Terry
Gilliam's two previous films, the wondrous The Adventures of
Baron Munchausen and the classic Brazil. |
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The castle with the grail is actually Hunter
College, and is not directly across from Central Park as shown in
the film. |
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Terry
Gilliam had to be convinced to shoot the
Grand Central Waltz sequence, which is seen by many as the most
remarkable scene in the film. His reluctance stemmed from
the fact that he wanted to stay true to the script, and didn't
want to film such a Gilliamesque sequence. |
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About a thousand extras were brought in to film the
Grand Central Waltz sequence, yet they did not know how to dance
the waltz! |
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A man in the Grand Central terminal started yelling
and cursing at the film crew after reportedly missing his train to
Connecticut. |
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During the development phase, Billy Crystal was
going to star alongside Robin Williams in the film. Crystal
actually recommended Robin, but of course Crystal's role
eventually went to the vastly under appreciated (and far superior
for this role) Jeff
Bridges. Other actors considered for the part were Daniel
Day Lewis, Kevin Kline, Bill Murray and Bruce Willis. |
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Having bought the script, Disney were attached to the film at one point, and
felt the story was too dark. They wanted the Jack Lucas
character to retrieve the Holy Grail wearing roller blades while
surrounded by laser beams. James Cameron was to direct the
film, which would be more of a caper movie. (Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief that
this did not come to fruition!) |
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Singer/songwriter Tom Waits makes a cameo as a
beggar in a wheelchair at Grand Central. |
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Director Terry
Gilliam wished he had dedicated The
Fisher King to Stanley Donen (Charade, Funny Face,
On the Town) because of the strong influence Donen had on
him as a filmmaker. |
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Gilliam: "When I went to do Fisher
King in the States, my problem was trying to get people
working on the film to open up and realize they're part of the
process. The Americans are so fascistic in their approach to
film-making--the director snaps his fingers and people run because
they're terrified--that it took weeks for them to understand I
wasn't God, that I wanted their input and wanted them to question
me. The more successful I get, the more the onus of having
to get it right wants to settle on my shoulders alone, but I just
hate that, I freeze up. I want everyone to share the
responsibility, the guilt, and I'll shoulder the blame, because
that's my job in the end." |
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While filming a scene with the Red Knight, a woman
(possibly fed up with all the commotion, noise, and the fact it
was ten o'clock at night) threw a bucket of water from her
apartment window, narrowly missing the stuntman on the horse. |
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