So says Wikipedia and Warren Oates's imdb bio. I didn't know that. Guess it might explain why Murphy's driving a '79 Trans Am, but I'm baffled why Columbia held it back so long for release. If the '84 Olympics plot angle was a factor, that might explain it somewhat, but then why film it so early? At the time, it was a bit odd seeing this film and knowing Warren Oates had died a year earlier.
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Yeah according to wikipedia, it was filmed in 1980 & Oates died in April of '82. So that is interesting. Maybe the special f/x held it up?
shareI've got the bluray which has a featurette on the making of the film, principal photography began in November 1981 so just a few months before Oates death.
shareI think that was a mix up somewhere. The first draft of the script was written in November-December 1979 and the filming started in January 1980 which lasted for two-in-a-half or three months. It was the winter season during the filming as noticable by the coats and long-sleeved clothing worn by the most of the actors. I know this because Malcolm McDowell personally told it at a Q&A session some months ago. I don't know why it was held up for over three years in post-production.
shareIn 1983 in Australia it was widely released as one half of one of the last opening double bills, with War Games, both filmed by Badham. I was really surprised to find out that it was supposedly filmed some 3 years before its release.🐭
shareOh.
shareI can confirm the original screenplay was 1979 and then went through a series of extensive re-writes so 1980 is wrong.
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