If it’s your first night, you’ve got to learn everything about Fight Club, one of our awesome franchises in the August MAYHEM Loot Wear! How much do you know about this incredible, cult classic Brad Pitt/Edward Norton film? No worries, we’ve got plenty to educate you with!
1. It was incredibly difficult for 20th Century Fox to figure out how to get clearance for one specific name used for a character in Fight Club. Back when the movie was being produced, it was realized only one living Marla Singer existed in all of the United States. Film studios often have to get clearance if there’s a small number of people with the same name of a character in their movies. Especially when they’re based on popular books and audiences expect to see their favorite character from the book. This meant a lot of work to secure use of the name from the real life Marla Singer, no relation.
2. Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club, has stated that he feels the film is an even better version of his story than the book he wrote and he urges people to watch that before even buying his book.
3. When the camera shakes during the scene where a priest is sprayed with a hose, it wasn’t an effect. It was because the camera operator couldn’t stop himself from laughing and they could only take one take.
(20th Century Fox)
4. Back when the movie was nearly released, Rosie O’Donnell had seen it at an early screening and went on her talk show to tell her viewers how rough it was to watch. She then proceeded to warn her viewers to not see the movie and if they were curious, she’d tell them the ending of the film and spoiled it for millions of her television viewing audience. This was so problematic to the studio that she was seen as ‘toxic’ within the studio and they stayed far away from her. During the DVD commentary, Brad Pitt said he was wildly shocked by it and that he found it an ‘unforgivable act‘ to do to the same actors she wants to have on her show.
5. The exhaling of breath in the ice cave scene is actually CGI that is a recycled asset from the film Titanic.
6. There was such an importance placed on Meatloaf’s suit fitting for his Robert Paulson character’s heft, that costume and effect designers filled a ‘fat suit’ with birdseed to make sure it hung naturally and also was somewhat dimpled realistically. Only problem? This suit weighed over 100 pounds once it was ready to wear.
(20th Century Fox)
7. The reddish-lens glasses you see Tyler Durden wear are not just a fashion statement. They are commonly known to be used by people with insomnia to stop their eyes from taking on a natural melatonin which induces proper sleep responses in people. Why is this? Because he wanted the Narrator (sometimes referred to as ‘Jack‘) to sleep in order to control him.
8. While it wasn’t necessary for the film, both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton learned how to make soap during the pre-production of the film.
9. Remember the earlier factoid about Meatloaf’s character Robert Paulson? Well, Tyler makes it known that you can’t wear shirts during Fight Club, but for some reason Robert is allowed to wear one. It’s not explained, but this was done because the suit had to be kept hidden as it wasn’t a full painted and lifelike prosthetic.
(20th Century Fox)
10. In the beginning of the film, you see the Narrator inspecting a Lincoln Town Car. Later on, you see him and Tyler Durden crash the same type of car and eventually Tyler tells the Narrator that he would’ve liked to fight Abraham Lincoln. This is essentially a nod to dreaming and how sometimes real things we’ve encountered find their ways into our dreams as our brains process and dump out situations we’ve been in during the day. The reason the car shows up again and Lincoln is mentioned, is because the Narrator spent time inspecting a car of the same name before he meets Tyler during the worst of his insomnia.
