Trivia / Widows

• Acclaimed Flop: The film received great reviews, but only grossed about $76 million out of a budget of $42 million.
• Actor-Shared Background: Alice is Polish-American and passes herself off as a mail-order bride with some brief Polish. Elizabeth Debicki's father is Polish.
• All-Star Cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluuya, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, and Liam Neeson.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget: $42 million. Total worldwide gross: $76 million. The film got good reviews, but was overshadowed by other films and a poor marketing campaign.
• The Danza: The white terrier Olivia is played by a dog also called Olivia.
• Development Gag: Linda at one point says Alice's name is Jennifer. Jennifer Lawrence was the first choice to play her.
• Fake American: Brits Cynthia Erivo and Daniel Kaluuya, Australians Elizabeth Debicki and Jacki Weaver, and Irishmen Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson. All the actors - including the Americans - were coached on their Chicago accents.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell improvised most of their scenes together.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Michelle Rodriguez is the go-to Action Girl and Spicy Latina (to the point of providing the page image). Her character here is a housewife who owns a dress shop and is the least skilled with a gun out of the other widows (although she is the only one of the core trio who's been to prison).
  • Brilliantly done with Liam Neeson, whose characters tend to have inherently noble traits, even the villains and his more violent heroes. Initially, Harry appears to be pretty typical: a criminal, but a charming one who loves his wife and whom the audience easily assumes was A Father to His Men. Then it's revealed that Harry is a Dirty Coward with an It's All About Me attitude who's perfectly willing to doom everyone else to save his own skin.
• Remake Cameo: Amanda's mother is played by Ann Mitchell - who was in the original series.
• Throw It In!: Michelle Rodriguez ad-libbed Linda's line comparing Alice's gold dress to a condom.
• What Could Have Been:
  • As noted above, Jennifer Lawrence was the first choice for Alice but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. Elizabeth Debicki was cast when Steve McQueen heard about a play she was in with Cate Blanchett and called in for an audition - where she was so impressive he offered her the role within an hour.
  • Michelle Rodriguez likewise turned down the role of Linda at first, feeling the urban poverty theme hit a little too close to home ("I've lived that life - why would I want to portray it?") - but after Steve McQueen auditioned other actresses and decided they weren't right, he met with Michelle and persuaded her to take the role.
  • The original cut of the film ran nearly three hours according to Word of God.
• Word of Gay: According to Cynthia Erivo, Belle is bisexual and in a relationship with a woman.