Trivia / Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $2,000,000. Box office, $5,765,562.
• B-Team Sequel: Tobe Hooper was originally going to be involved in the film. He had submitted a treatment to New Line execs, but bowed out of the project due to scheduling conflicts concerning his film Spontaneous Combustion.
• California Doubling: The movie was shot outside of Los Angeles.
• Channel Hop: The film was released by New Line Cinema, and is now owned by Warner Bros.. Warner Archive released the film on Blu-ray.
• Christmas Rushed: The film began production in August 1989 in order to make a November 3rd release date (trailers shot before the film was were shipped out with that date before prints of A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child). Despite finishing production just days before the original date, issues with the MPAA forced a delay to January 1990 and the film flopped due to said delays and the cuts to get an R rating being very obvious.
• Executive Meddling: The original script was much more brutal with explicit gore sequences. The producers objected to many of the scenes (one of which had a nude man being split down the middle while hung upside down) and demanded extensive changes to the script to reduce gore and violence. Further cuts had to be made to avoid an X-rating after the film was finished.
  • Originally, Benny and Leatherface both succumbed to their injuries at the end of the movie, but New Line decided to shoot a new ending with editor Michael N. Knue in which both characters survive. Jeff Burr was very surprised when he saw the movie in the cinema for the first time; the new ending was shot without his knowledge.
• Focus Group Ending: The original ending was reshot to give the film a more optimistic ending. Benny improbably survives having his head shoved into Leatherface's chainsaw thanks to this.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The teaser trailer functionally has nothing to do with the film, and was shot specifically for marketing purposes before the film had even entered production. The trailer shows a figure (Leatherface) facing away from the camera, out towards a lake, while calm music plays and a narrator states, "Some tales are told, and soon forgotten. But a legend, is forever." After this, in a spoof on Excalibur, a female hand raises a chainsaw out from under the water, then throws it into the air, at which point Leatherface catches it, a bolt of lightning strikes the chainsaw, and he snaps around to face the camera before the image freezes.
• The Other Darrin: Director Jeff Burr wanted Gunnar Hansen to return to the role of Leatherface, but neither party could come to an agreement on financial remuneration. Burr eventually settled on R.A. Mihailoff, replacing Bill Johnson from the last film.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: Originally slated for a November 3rd, 1989 release, the release date was soon pushed to January 12th of the following year.
• Spared by the Cut: Benny and Leatherface died in the original ending but both inexplicably survive in the reshot ending for the theatrical cut.
• Stillborn Franchise: New Line Cinema meant to kick start a new series of Leatherface centered Chainsaw films after this in the hopes of recreating the success they had with A Nightmare on Elm Street , but the film's box office failure cut those plans short.
• Throw It In!: While filming the fight scene between Benny and Tex at the truck, Ken Foree accidentally broke Viggo Mortensen's ribs. The shot was seemingly left in the movie (you can see Mortensen suddenly clutch after being thrown to the ground).
• What Could Have Been:
  • Tom Savini was offered the job of directing this film. Peter Jackson was also considered for the job.
  • In the original script, Sara and Gina were lovers, rather than sisters.
• Word of Gay: According to Viggo Mortensen, this is how he played Tex.

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