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1Entries in this franchise with their own Trivia pages:
2
3* ''Trivia/DeathWishII''
4* ''Trivia/DeathWish3''
5* ''Trivia/DeathWish4TheCrackdown''
6* ''Trivia/DeathWishVTheFaceOfDeath''
7* ''Trivia/DeathWish2018''
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9* ChannelHop: The film was going to be made by Creator/UnitedArtists, until budget constraints forced producers Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts to liquidate their rights. The original producers were replaced by Italian film mogul Dino [=De Laurentiis=] who brought the project to Creator/{{Paramount}}.
10* CompletelyDifferentTitle: In Spain, the film was released as ''El Vengador Anonimo'' (The Anonymous Avenger).
11* DisownedAdaptation: Brian Garfield, the author of the original novel, unsuccessfully sued the filmmakers for twisting the source material. The point of Garfield's novel was that vigilante tactics ''weren't'' the solution, and were a [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil slippery slope to fascism]] no matter the good intentions behind them, while the film portrayed Paul more heroically. He later wrote ''Film/DeathSentence'' (itself later adapted to film) as both a sequel and a [[FixFic response]] to the movie.
12* PopCultureUrbanLegends: There's a long-standing rumor that Creator/DenzelWashington made his film debut as a mugger killed by Kersey late in the film. Washington has [[https://www.yahoo.com/news/denzel-washington-shoots-down-rumor-hes-in-1974-death-wish-i-wasnt-even-an-actor-yet-194032164.html debunked this story]], noting that he was still in school and hadn't decided on acting as a career while ''Death Wish'' was filming.
13* ReferencedBy:
14** In ''Series/TheLoveBoat'' episode "Second Time Around," Bricker's ex-wife's fake fiancé almost gets in a fistfight with him. Later he tells the ex-wife that he was trying for a combination of Creator/CaryGrant in one of his light comedies and Creator/CharlesBronson in ''Death Wish''.
15** In the ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' send-up of ''Series/TheEqualizer'', Robert [=McCall=] and real life vigilante Bernie Goetz are arguing over which one of them should shoot a subway mugger, when Charles Bronson butts in and says he was doing this in ''Death Wish'' years before either of them.
16* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
17** Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/GeorgeCScott and Music/FrankSinatra were offered the role of Paul Kersey, but backed out.
18** The role of Paul Kersey was originally meant for Creator/SteveMcQueenActor, who turned it down.
19** Creator/SidneyLumet was set to direct the film with Creator/JackLemmon playing Paul Kersey (presumably to be more in line with the "everyman" character in the book) and Creator/HenryFonda as the police chief. After Lumet chose to direct ''Film/{{Serpico}} instead, both Lemmon and Fonda dropped out.
20** At one point the movie was set to be shot in black-and-white.
21** Creator/LeeMarvin was another candidate for Paul Kersey.
22** The killing in the subway station was supposed to remain off-screen in the script, but Creator/MichaelWinner himself decided to turn this into an actual, brutal scene.
23** The early draft of the script had the vigilante being inspired by seeing a fight scene in ''Film/HighNoon''. Winner decided on a more elaborate scene, involving a fight scene in a recreation of the Wild West, taking place in Tucson, Arizona.
24** After the success of ''Film/DirtyHarry'', Creator/ClintEastwood was offered the role of Paul Kersey but declined, feeling he would be poorly cast. He also thought that Creator/GregoryPeck would have been right for the part.
25** One draft ended with Kersey confronting the three thugs who attacked his family and ends up dead at their hands. Detective Ochoa discovers his weapon and considers following in his footsteps. In another, Kersey is wounded and rushed to a hospital with his fate left ambiguous. Meanwhile, Ochoa has found the weapon and struggles with the decision to use it. His decision is left unclear.
26* WorkingTitle: Dino De Laurentiis and Paramount originally wanted to call the film ''The Sidewalk Vigilante'' because they thought a movie with "Death" in the title was a deterrent and would put audiences off.

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