Trivia / 1492: Conquest of Paradise

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $47 million. Box office, $11,089,907.
• Completely Different Title: Known in France as 1492 : Christophe Colomb (1492: Christopher Columbus).
• Creator Killer: Downplayed. It didn't completely kill Ridley Scott's career, but he didn't direct another movie for four years.
• Duelling Movies: With Christopher Columbus The Discovery, which came out the same year. Both films bombed quite hard and in the same proportions at the box office, but this one earned slightly more and got better (but not good) reviews. Also, thanks to Vangelis soundtrack, it's at least remembered as a thing that existed.
• Fake Nationality:
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  • The extremely-French Gérard Depardieu as the Italian (specifically Genoese) Christopher Columbus.
  • Out of the entire main cast, Beatriz and de Marchena are the only Spanish characters played by actual Spaniards. The rest are mostly Americans, along with a Canadian and an Afrikaner. Ironically, Columbus' brother Giacomo is played by Fernando Guillén Cuervo...who is Spanish.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Averted. For a long time, the film didn't receive a physical release in the United States, until it finally made its DVD and Blu-ray debut from Kino Lorber in June 2017.
• Meaningful Release Date: One of several movies about Christopher Columbus released in 1992 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his voyage, all of which bombed.
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Sigourney Weaver wore a wig, as she'd shaved her hair off for Alien³.
• What Could Have Been:
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  • Francis Ford Coppola and Oliver Stone were approached to direct.
  • Hans Zimmer was originally chosen to compose the music for the film until Ridley Scott decided to approach Vangelis.
  • Gérard Depardieu suggested Sylvia Kristel for the role of Queen Isabel in the hopes securing her a comeback.
• Working Title: Columbus.

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