Get Busy Living
In 1994, a film hit theaters that would go on to become the top ranked movie on IMDB. It wasn't Forrest Gump and it wasn't Pulp Fiction. It was The Shawshank Redemption. But how did this film that bombed at the box office become an all time favorite? This is the story of The Shawshank Redemption.
Based On A Book
The film was based on Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.
$5,000
Writer/Director Frank Darabont bought the rights to the novella from King in 1987 for $5,000.
King Didn't See The Vision
Stephen King didn't see how his novella could be made into a movie. But to Darabont it was "obvious".
King Never Cashed It
As for that $5,000, King never cashed the check. He would later frame it and give it back to Darabont with a note saying: "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve".
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
The Script
Five years after purchasing the rights to Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Darabont wrote a script on spec and showed it to Castle Rock Entertainment.
Liz Loved It
Liz Glotzer, who was Castle Rock's Entertainment producer at the time, loved the script so much that she threatened to quit if they didn't make the movie.
Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner was a co-founder of Castle Rock Entertainment. Why does this matter?
Montclair Film, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Studio Tried To Get Rid Of Him
Obviously, this was an important movie to Darabont, but Rob Reiner really wanted to direct the movie. Reiner had already proven his ability to adapt Stephen King books with Stand By Me and Misery.
The Studio Tried To Get Rid Of Him
Reiner offered to buy him out—offering him $2.5 million to step aside and let him take the reigns. But Darabont said no and instead agreed to a salary of just $750,000 and a percentage of profits.
What Actors Did Rob Reiner Have In Mind?
While we can always wonder about how the film would've been different had Reiner been in the director's chair, another thing to imagine is how it would've been different with Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford in the lead roles. We don't know if they would've said yes, but Cruise and Ford were who Reiner had in mind for the parts.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
The Budget
Castle Rock gave Darabont $25 million to go make the movie.
popculturegeek.com, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
White Irishman
While the character of Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding is described as a white Irishman in the novella, Liz Glotzer suggested Morgan Freeman for the role.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
As For Andy Casting...
Darabont had thought about Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall for the part—but both actors were unavailable.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
As For Andy Casting...
Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and Kevin Costner all turned it down.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
Why They Said No
Hanks because of Forrest Gump and Costner because of Waterworld. Cruise got so far as table reads of the script, but turned it down because he didn't want to work with an inexperienced director like Darabont.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
Red's Mugshot
The photo on Red's mugshot is actually Morgan Freeman's son, Alfonso.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Feeding The Bird
The scene where Brooks feeds his baby bird Jake was a lot harder to film than Darabont probably expected—due to the regulations in place by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). The organization wouldn't allow them to feed the bird a live waxworm—but instead required them to use one that had died...of natural causes.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Recording The Voice-Over
Morgan Freeman's voice-overs in the film are iconic, but they took three weeks to record. Well, actually they only took about an hour the first time they recorded them during production. But when post-production was unable to remove a background hiss from the dialogue, Freeman had to come back and do them all over again.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Goodfellas Influence
Another movie with great voice-over narration is Martin Scorsese' Goodfellas—a film that Darabont looked at and took much influence from in how to do voice-over narration well.
Warner Bros., Goodfellas (1990)
Ambulance Pushed
Have you ever pushed an ambulance? Well, a group of folks on the set of The Shawshank Redemption did. The ambulance meant to drive Bogs away after his beat down from Captain Hadley broke down on the set and couldn't drive away. So, a bunch of people got behind it and just pushed it past the camera. We couldn't tell. Could you?
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Stephen King Loved The Movie
King has called it one of the best adaptations of any of his books. But that doesn't mean he didn't have a couple nits to pick with Darabont's film.
Tussauds, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
King's Nit 1
King isn't a huge fan of the scene in which Andy locks himself in the Warden's office and plays Mozart's Marriage of Figaro over the loudspeaker.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
King's Nit 2
King has a problem with the fact that the tunnel Andy digs in the wall is almost a perfect circle.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Peter/Randall Stevens
In Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption, when Andy escapes from the prison, the alias he adopts is the name "Peter Stevens". However, the production was worried they might get sued by a real person with that name, so Darabont changed the first name to Randall instead—choosing Randall as an ode to the bad guy in another Steven King novel, The Stand.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Darabont Wanted To Stay True To King's Ending
In the Steven King version of the story, there is no Red and Andy reunion on the beach at the end, and originally, that is how Darabont planned to end the film as well—with Red on the bus and leaving a little ambiguity to it. But the studio really wanted a reunion on the beach.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
They Filmed Both
Respecting Darabont's artistic desires, Castle Rock agreed to give him money to film both versions—but while still leaving the final call in his hands.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
He Picked The Reunion
After watching both versions and seeing how strongly test audiences loved the reunion, Darabont decided it was the way to go: "I think it's a magical and uplifting place for our characters to arrive at the end of their long saga".
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
But Not The Dialogue
The full reunion scene he filmed had dialogue between the characters, but that was too much for Darabont who felt that the longer version had a "golly-gee-ain't-we-cute" feel to it that he very much disliked. So, he cut that out and left the perfect ending we all know and love.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
It Wasn't A Hit
Not only wasn't The Shawshank Redemption a hit when it came out, it was a big old flop—taking in just $16 million in its initial theatrical run.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Post-Nomination Release
After the film picked up a bunch of Oscar nominations, the studio re-released it back into theaters and it made an extra $12 million. Add all that to the $45 million it took in internationally, and it ended up with a grand total of $73.3 million. That's okay, but in no way does it indicate how popular and beloved the movie would become.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Home Video
Given the poor showing at the box office, the studio should've probably lowered their expectations for the video rental market—but instead, Warner Home Video sent out 320,000 copies to video stores in 1995...and it paid off big time.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Number 1 Rental
The Shawshank Redemption was the number 1 most rented movie of 1995.
Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
IMDB Number 1
In 2008, The Shawshank Redemption passed The Godfather and moved into first place atop the IMDB user-generated Top 250 movies list. It has remained there ever since.
.jpg){kind=link}
