Line #8 Trivia/TheGingerbreadMan


1	!! The folktale
2	* BeamMeUpScotty: At no point in the original print does the titular character say "run run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!" Instead, he would taunt each new opponent by listing off everyone he's already managed to outrun.
3	* ReferencedBy: The base premise of ''VideoGame/CookieRun'' is a take on this tale, featuring anthropomorphic cookies brought magically to life and running through the world. The spinoff ''VideoGame/CookieRunKingdom'' also nods to the "created to be eaten" aspect, as the BigBad's motivation is rage against the Witches who bake cookies only to eat them.
4
5	!! The film:
6	* AlanSmithee: Creator/RobertAltman (along with writer Clyde Hayes) heavily rewrote Creator/JohnGrisham's screenplay, and the final screenwriting credit went to the collective pseudonym Al Hayes. Altman also was going to have his name taken off the credits if the studio went ahead and released the ReCut they did against his will (but they ultimately didn't).
7	* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget--$25 million. Box Office--$1,677,131.
8	* CreatorsOddball: There are a few little arty touches, but otherwise this is one of Creator/RobertAltman's most straightforward movies, without a HyperlinkStory and little of his trademark GenreDeconstruction or BlackComedy.
9	* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/JohnGrisham didn't like the script rewrites, particularly the addition of a hurricane as a plot point and the use of profanity.
10	* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/DarylHannah darkened her signature blonde hair.
11	* FakeAmerican: Creator/KennethBranagh (Northern Ireland) and Creator/FamkeJanssen (Netherlands) as natives of Savannah, Georgia. Also Creator/EmbethDavidtz, who was born in the US, but spent most of her youth in South Africa. Surprisingly, Davidtz has the least convincing Southern accent of the three.
12	* PlayingAgainstType: You'd expect Creator/FamkeJanssen to play the FemmeFatale and Creator/EmbethDavidtz to play the long-suffering ex-wife worried about her kids, but it's actually the other way around.
13	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: [=PolyGram=] released it in late January, right in the middle of the DumpMonths. They clearly were setting the movie up to fail. At its peak, it played in just 30 theaters.
14	* TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment: The release was delayed by a year while Altman and the studio fought over the final cut.
15	* TroubledProduction: Creator/JohnGrisham wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1991, then it fell into DevelopmentHell before Creator/KennethBranagh discovered it. Greenlighted by Creator/PolyGramFilmedEntertainment via Island Pictures (the film company headed by Creator/IslandRecords founder Chris Blackwell, which [=PolyGram=] had bought a few years earlier), Branagh pushed for the studio to hire a respected director for the film, and Creator/RobertAltman was brought in. Altman decide to rewrite the script, which basically ended Grisham's involvement. The budget ballooned to $25 million, partly to cover Branagh's salary. The budget could've been even higher, because Altman cast Creator/RobertDowneyJr, who was in the midst of his drug-related legal troubles. [=PolyGram=] would've preferred a large insurance policy to cover Downey, but Altman just ignored the demand. Expecting another Grisham blockbuster, [=PolyGram=] got nervous after it didn't score all that well with preview audiences (though Branagh said it actually scored fine, just not overwhelmingly so), and recut it (including scrapping Mark Isham's score) without informing Altman, which left him furious. It also angered Chris Blackwell, who resigned as the head of Island Pictures, a moved that led [=PolyGram=] to close the company. Then, when the recut version scored ''worse'' with preview audiences, [=PolyGram=] released Altman's cut (with Isham's music back in), [[ScrewedByTheNetwork but didn't give it much of a release]], and it wound up a BoxOfficeBomb.

Context Trivia / TheGingerbreadMan