Random Behind-The-Scenes Stories From 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' (14 items)

• 

  (#14) Terry Gilliam Wrote The Script In A Few Days

  Producers first approached Terry Gilliam to direct Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas around 1989, but his involvement with The Fisher King made him too busy. He also didn't find the script, penned by Alex Cox and Tod Davies, appealing. When offered another chance to direct years later, Gilliam decided to rewrite the script himself.

  Working with Tony Grisoni, Gilliam took eight days to write the script but then scrapped it. The pair then took another two days to rewrite it again. The script remained a work in progress throughout parts of the production.

  Because two different writing teams worked on the script, the Writers Guild originally said the screenplay credit should go to Cox and Davies. To fight this, Gilliam had to prove the draft he wrote with Grisoni contained more of the final film's content than the original script. The Writers Guild reversed their decision, allowing all four contributors to receive credit.
• 

  (#9) It Was Incredibly Difficult To Film Hunter S. Thompson's Cameo

  Hunter S. Thompson stayed at his home in Colorado during the 11 weeks of filming, though he ventured to Los Angeles to film a cameo. He appears in a club flashback and shares a glance with Johnny Depp.

  According to a Rolling Stone reporter following him that day, Thompson kicked chairs around in Depp's trailer, wailed like a child when he couldn't find his cigarettes, and drew a mustache on his face using permanent marker when he got bored. "It took the woman 20 minutes to get it off," Thompson said.

  When he was finally called to the set, the author threw grapes at director Terry Gilliam until the crew filmed three takes.
• 

  (#2) The Filmmakers Used Different Techniques For Different Substances

  According to director Terry Gilliam, the film recreates the effects of taking various psychoactive substances, "with all the uppers and downers in it. Both the most manic wonderful stuff and the really depressing stuff." To achieve this visual experience, the filmmakers used jump cuts, recorded scenes at odd angles, shot in slow-motion, and employed a wide-angle lens to make scenes uncomfortably disorientating.

  To get the viewer into the characters' heads, director of photography Nicola Pecorini used a different film technique for each substance depicted in the film. Mescaline can create an altered sense of time and make colors seem more intense, so Pecorini shot those scenes with soft lighting and a similar color palette, causing colors to blend into one another. Acid scenes make use of the wide-angle lens, distorting the surroundings and creating a sense of expansion. Sections involving adrenochrome use closeups to imitate claustrophobia and disordered thoughts.
• 

  (#5) Hunter S. Thompson Shaved Johnny Depp's Head

  In order to fully transform into Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp shaved the top of his head. He did it just before traveling to Colorado to visit the real Thompson one last time before filming started. However, the writer didn't love the cut, and asked Depp to keep his hat on in public.

  Eventually, Thompson decided to tweak the style himself, and with permission, he cropped Depp's hair to perfection. "He was very gentle. No cuts. No weirdness. He wore a mining light, so he could see. He's prepared for f*cking everything," Depp remembered.
• 

  (#13) Oliver Stone And Martin Scorsese Failed To Turn The Book Into A Film

  Rolling Stone published the first part of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on November 11, 1971 - one year before Thompson turned the piece into a book. Interest from Hollywood soon followed. Jack Nicholson looked into starring, and both Oliver Stone and Martin Scorsese attempted (and failed) to produce the film. One producer allegedly considered John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd for the main roles.

  Director Clive Arrowsmith shared some potential film ideas with Thompson, including how to re-create the moment when reporters become reptiles. Arrowsmith suggested, "It'll be easy - we'll just get live alligators, we'll give them some quaaludes, and we'll nail their f*cking paws to the bar."

  In the interim, Where the Buffalo Roam - an adaptation of several Thompson stories - came out. However, the movie was a critical and box office failure, "because [the subject matter] became uncool," as Thompson put it. For a while, it seemed like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas might never be made.
• 

  (#8) Johnny Depp Won A Russian Acting Award For His Performance

  Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas flopped at the box office, and critics didn't like it. USA Today said it was "simply unwatchable," and Roger Ebert called it "a horrible mess of a movie." A reviewer at The Washington Post wrote, "Watching it is like being forced to listen to bad heavy metal music turned up to 11 while fat guys in Bermuda shorts compete in a puking contest in the john."

  Director Terry Gilliam knew people had varied responses to his films and wasn't surprised by the reactions, quipping, "The good thing about it was we got a decent number of walkouts - I was worried that we might not, but we did."

  Despite this less-than-stellar response, the film did garner some good press in Russia. The Russian Guild of Film Critics voted Johnny Depp Best Foreign Actor in 1998 for his performance. 

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking