11 Things You Never Knew About 'The Brothers Bloom' on its 10th Anniversary
After director Rian Johnson made his critically beloved debut in "Brick," but before he became the man who either saved or ruined "Star Wars" (depending whom you ask), he gave us "The Brothers Bloom." This goofy crime movie helped further cement Johnson as a rising star in Hollywood. Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Johnson's sophomore film some fun trivia about the making of "The Brothers Bloom."
1. Johnson began developing "The Brothers Bloom" several years before Brick materialized. He's cited 1973's "Paper Moon" as his biggest influence on the film.
2. The screenplay was included in the 2006 Black List, a roundup of the most acclaimed scripts yet to be produced.
3. While the film isn't strictly based on any existing works, the main three characters are all inspired by characters from James Joyce's "Ulysses."
4. Johnson originally wanted Mark Ruffalo to play Bloom Bloom instead of Stephen Bloom. Ruffalo and Adrien Brody convinced him to swap their roles.
5. Johnson intended from the beginning for Bang Bang to have little or no dialogue. Not counting the karaoke scene, Rinko Kikuchi only speaks three words over the course of the entire movie.
6. Penelope's home is actually the Peleș Castle, which is located in Sinaia, Romania.
7.Ricky Jay, who provides the voice of the narrator, is actually a skilled sleight of hand magician himself. Johnson originally wanted to cast Jay as Maximillen Melville, but Jay's busy schedule made that impossible.
8.Rachel Weisz spent weeks ensuring she could convincingly perform Penelope's numerous talents in the film. That included recruiting Brody's help in learning how to skateboard.
9. Weisz eventually became skilled enough at card tricks to perform the single-take trick scene on her own with no assistance or digital manipulation.
10. The reason Tom Cruise is given a "special thanks" credit in the film is because Cruise expressed an early interest in the project. While Cruise never officially became involved with "The Brothers Bloom," Johnson has said his detailed feedback significantly improved the final script.
11. Johnson brought back "Brick" stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lukas Haas to play cameo roles in the bar scene early in the film.