Trivia / The Man with the Iron Heart

aka: HHHH

2017 Film

• Ability over Appearance: Jason Clarke doesn't really look like Heydrich.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget €27.8 million (about $33 million). Global box office gross: a little over $4 million.
• California Doubling: Parts of the movie were filmed in Budapest in addition to Prague, due to the rival production Anthropoid taking up much of the desired historical locations. While the climax of Anthropoid was filmed in the actual place in Prague where the events happened, the Orthodox cathedral Ss. Cyril and Methodius, the climax of The Man with the Iron Heart has been filmed in a different church, and a Catholic one at that.
• Completely Different Title: With the original French title being HHhH:
  • Australia, UK and USA: The Man with the Iron Heart
  • Canada: Killing Heydrich
  • Czech Republic: Death's Head
  • Germany: The Power of Evil
  • Greece: The Target
  • Serbia: A Man Without a Heart
  • Taiwan: Villain Chase
• Dueling Works: Came out less than a year after Anthropoid, which is about the exact same central historical event (Heydrich's assassination). The Man with the Iron Heart is based on a Historical Fiction book (which was itself based on the events) and gives a heavy, biopic-worth focus on Heydrich's life, whereas Anthropoid is more directly based on the historical events and focuses entirely on the Czechoslovak commando with no German protagonist. Heydrich only shows up for the assassination attempt scene in Anthropoid. It's even because of the production of Anthropoid that many scenes of The Man with the Iron Heart had to be shot in Budapest instead of Prague. Interestingly, it's an odd repeat of a similar duel in 1943, between Hangmen Also Die! and Hitler's Madman.
• Fake Nationality: The German and Czech characters are played by British, Australian and American actors.
• Meaningful Release Date: The film came out in early June 2017 in France, 75 years after the death of Heydrich.
• Similarly Named Works: The Man with the Iron Heart (which was one of the monikers of Heydrich) is also used by an Alternate History novel written by Harry Turtledove. The French release meanwhile kept the novel's title, HHhH.

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