BSP 2014 Advent Calendar: Day 10

Welcome to Day 10 of Bam Smack Pow’s 2014 Advent Calendar! Only fifteen more days left until Christmas, and that means fifteen more superhero films will be mined for trivia. For Day 10, we give you …

Darkman (1990)

What do you get when you cross The Shadow and Batman? … Darkman. Sam Raimi created his own superhero when he couldn’t secure the rights to those existing characters. Take note all you aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers. If you can’t beat ’em, make ’em. Darkman was well-received by critics and audiences, and went on to spawn two direct-to-video sequels. The original movie has now become a cult classic.

Darkman was directed by Sam Raimi, written by Sam Raimi, Chuck Pfarrer, Ivan Raimi, Daniel Goldin, and Joshua Goldin, and starred Liam Neeson as Peyton Westlake / Darkman, Frances McDormand as Julie Hastings, Larry Drake as Robert G. Durant, Colin Friels as Louis Strack, Jr., Jessie Lawrence Ferguson as Eddie Black, Nelson Mashita as Yakatito, Rafael H. Robledo as Rudy Guzman, Ted Raimi as Ricky, Nicholas Worth as Pauly, Dan Bell as Smiley, and Dan Hicks as Skip.

Trivia

Bill Paxton, Liam Neeson, Bruce Campbell, and Gary Oldman were all up for the role of Peyton Westlake / Darkman. Director Sam Raimi wanted Campbell, but the producers didn’t think he had the gravitas to pull it off. Paxton was almost cast had he not told Neeson about it. According to Paxton, Neeson found out about the audition and eventually won the part. Paxton was so angry at Neeson for going behind his back that he didn’t speak to him for months.
Liam Neeson endured 18-hour days in full make-up for the part of Darkman. He enjoyed the challenge and also had input in Darkman’s costume.
Demi Moore, Bridget Fonda, Julia Roberts, and Francis McDormand all tested for the role of Darkman’s love interest, Julie Hastings. Roberts was almost cast, but dropped out after winning the role of of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman (1990), which would make her a household name and launch her to stardom. McDormand was eventually cast as Julie Hastings.
Richard Dreyfuss and James Caan were both approached for the villainous role of Louis Strack, Jr., but both turned it down.
Kathy Bates was originally cast as the burn unit doctor, but dropped out before filming started. Jenny Agutter, who would later play Councilwoman Hawley in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) (yes, the woman Black Widow impersonates towards the end of the film), picked up the role as a favor to John Landis.
The screenplay went through twelve drafts because Raimi wanted to explore the character arc of Peyton Westlake.
The film is based on Raimi’s short story, which was an homage to the classic Universal Studios horror films of the 1930s.
The film was so difficult to edit that the editor actually got a nervous breakdown and left the project.
During the cemetery scene, the nearest tombstone bears the name of the set designer, George Denes Suhayda.
Universal Studios’ executives were so nervous about the crazy elements in the film that they had Raimi remove them. Even after having differences with the studio, Raimi still credits the film’s box-office success to Universal’s marketing efforts.
Danny Elfman enjoyed working with Sam Raimi because of Raimi’s visual style. Elfman once commented that Raimi’s works lend themselves easily to music. The two would later collaborate on multiple projects, but stopped working together after Spider-Man 2 (2004) due to creative differences. They would later reunite for Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).
Larry Drake was cast as the villain, Robert G. Durant, because of his subtle and understated portrayal. Sam Raimi thought Drake’s face reminded him of a modern day Edward G. Robinson, and that his look of an underlying aggressiveness made Drake a perfect person to play the antagonist.

Make sure to come back each day because we still have fifteen more days worth of superhero film trivia for you!

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A special thanks to Eric Dufresne for his amazing geometric superhero art that’s being used as the background for the advent calendar.

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