Line #27 Trivia/Holes


1	!Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.
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4	* AllStarCast: Creator/SigourneyWeaver, Creator/TimBlakeNelson, Creator/JonVoight, Creator/PatriciaArquette, Creator/DuleHill, Creator/HenryWinkler, Creator/SiobhanFallonHogan, Creator/ShiaLaBeouf, and Creator/EarthaKitt make for a surprisingly-stacked movie in terms of its cast.
5	* BillingDisplacement: Sigourney Weaver is billed first, and yet does not appear until forty minutes into the film. Jon Voight and Patricia Arquette are billed second and third, despite just playing supporting characters. Shia [=LeBeouf=] was then only known for the sitcom ''Series/EvenStevens''.
6	* BlackSheepHit: The film was this for director Andrew Davis. He is best known for directing action-thriller type films (such as ''Film/UnderSiege'' and ''Film/TheFugitive''). ''Holes'', in comparison, is more of a family-adventure type film. It is also only the second PG rated film he has directed (the first, ''Stoney Island'', was made before he gained considerable commercial success while his other films are either rated PG-13 or R). Regardless, the film was well received critically and was successful at the box office, earning $71 million on a $20 million budget.
7	* BreakthroughHit: The novel is one for Creator/LouisSachar. It's quite different than his previous work, being a darker and more dramatic novel aimed at an older audience than most of his other works, which are typically lighthearted and absurdist (such as the ''Literature/WaysideSchool'' series). It ended up being Sachar's first Newbery Medal winner, and remains one of his most well-known novels.
8	* CaliforniaDoubling: The film was shot entirely in California, even the scenes that were set in Texas.
9	* FakeAmerican: The presumably American Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston is played by Canadian actor Rick Fox.
10	* FakeNationality: South Carolina native Music/EarthaKitt plays the Egyptian Madame Zeroni.
11	* HostilityOnTheSet: During filming, Creator/ShiaLaBeouf's father and on-set guardian Jeffrey frequently tried hitting on Sigourney Weaver, which made her very uncomfortable.
12	* InMemoriam: The film is dedicated to Scott Plank (Trout Walker's actor), who died in a car accident in October 2002.
13	* IronyAsSheIsCast: While Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston is a baseball player, his actor Rick Fox was a basketball player at the time of the film's production.
14	* PermanentPlaceholder: When Louis Sachar was writing the book, he used [[FunWithPalindromes Stanley Yelnats]] as a filler name for the main character, planning to replace it later with a more normal name. He never did, and the weird name even ended up becoming a plot point.
15	* PosthumousCredit: Although Scott Plank was killed in a car crash in October 2002, six months before the film's release, he's still credited for his work as Trout Walker.
16	* PromotedFanboy: The cast commentary features four of the D-tent boys gushing over most of their adult co-stars, particularly Sigourney Weaver and Eartha Kitt. Khleo Thomas in a [[http://thetiaratalkshow.com/interview-with-khleo-thomas-zero-in-holes/ The Tiara Talk Show podcast interview]][[note]]mentioned at time stamp 9:08[[/note]] also mentions being a fan of Weaver since [[Film/{{Alien}} Ellen Ripley]] and he blurted out in shock seeing her as none of the boys knew she'd been cast as the Warden until they saw her in wardrobe on set.
17	* RealLifeRelative: Nathan Davis, the actor who played Stanley Yelnats II (Stanley's grandfather), was director Andrew Davis' father. Another relative was also used in the jail sequence where Kathryn returns to the sheriff's office and becomes Kissin' Kate Barlow.
18	* ReferencedBy: ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'' has a villainous character named Donatello Versus, whose backstory is nearly identical to Stanley's, being arrested and sentenced for theft of a pair of shoes after it landed on his head. The only differences between Versus and Stanley in this respect is that Versus' prison is much worse and doesn't involve an ancient family curse (well, not on ''his'' family anyway).
19	* SelfAdaptation: Louis Sachar wrote the screenplay for the film. His draft almost wasn't used, but ultimately retained, and skewed far closer to the book than the other optioned draft. Only minimal edits were made, most of which were fixing minor plot holes present in the book.
20	* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Creator/SigourneyWeaver's daughter Charlotte Simpson begged her to play the Warden.
21	* ThrowItIn: During the scene where Mr. Sir brings Stanley to the Warden's cabin, Jon Voight adlibbed the speech about how Mr. Sir keeps the campers in line.
22	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
23	** Frankie Muniz was the first choice to play Stanley in the film.
24	** An early draft of the novel had a whole chapter that was nothing but the word "dig" written over and over again for five pages before ending with the word "spit".
25	** [[Film/DonnieDarko Richard Kelly]] was offered the chance to do this movie. He was replaced when they saw his screenplay, which was ''[[InNameOnly nothing]]'' like the book. It was set in a post-apocalyptic CrapsackWorld where Stanley's crime was [[MercyKill Mercy Killing]] his plague-infected sister instead of stealing a pair of shoes. And instead of a bandit's stash of money, the "buried treasure" that Stanley found was going to be a long-lost Weapon of Mass Destruction. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking It also features a character uttering the phrase 'big titty slut']]. You can find the script [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwUSwyPf6LRDZ0NUT2ZLYjRXVFk/view here]] (NSFW, obviously).
26	** Kissin' Kate's signature KissOfDeath was originally going to be to wear lipstick made from rattlesnake venom. This was later changed to be the Warden's nail polish.
27	** Creator/ShiaLaBeouf originally decided to [[DyeingForYourArt put on weight]] to match Stanley's overweight build from the novel. However, this idea was shot down by the director, who pointed out that to gain and lose that much weight in a short span of time would be dangerous for someone of [=LaBeouf's=] age at the time (weight fluctuation, in general, is a considerable heath risk). Louis Sachar himself ended up telling [=LaBeouf=] that [[AbilityOverAppearance it was more important to focus on Stanley's personality than his appearance.]]

Context Trivia / Holes