Trivia / Apt Pupil

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $14 million. Box office, $8,863,193. The film received mixed reviews for its murky presentation of its disturbing content.
• Deleted Role: John Ottman had a cameo as the music teacher, conducting the high-school band in the graduation scene, but this was eliminated from the final cut.
• Fake Nationality: The English Ian McKellen as Kurt Dussander.
• Irony as She Is Cast: The openly gay Ian McKellen plays a former Nazi, who persecuted LGBTQ+ people.
• The Other Marty: John Ottman originally the lines of the off-screen teacher, but his voicing of lines was substituted at the last minute by Christopher McQuarrie.
• Saved from Development Hell: There had plans to make a film of the short story since 1982. James Mason accepted the role of Kurt, but died from a heart attack before filming could begin. Richard Burton was going to replace him, but he died from a cerebral hemorrhage before he could accept the part. The first attempt in 1987 ran over budget and was stopped after six weeks of shooting, while only ten days of filming remained. According to Stephen King, who saw a rough cut of three-quarters of the movie, "it was really good". It starred Ricky Schroder as Todd Bowden and Nicol Williamson as Kurt Dussander, and was directed by Alan Bridges. By the time sufficient funds were obtained to resume filming over a year later, Ricky Schroder was visibly taller and older, which would have resulted in too obvious a discontinuity in Todd's appearance to work in the film.
• Underage Casting: Ian McKellen was surprised to be asked to play 75-year-old Kurt Dussander, since he was only 57 at the time of filming.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Anthony Hopkins turned down the role of Kurt Dussander.
  • Kevin Pollak was originally attached to play Edward French, but was replaced by David Schwimmer.

---