Trivia / King of New York

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $5 million (Estimated). Box office, $2.5 million. While the film went on to be a Cult Classic, the film was massively criticized on release. It was so bad that at one of the premiere screenings, Laurence Fishburne and writer Nicholas St. John got booed off the stage.
• The Cast Showoff: Walken is given several opportunities to show off his dancing skills, though he appears a little confused on how to dance to 80s R&B.
• Cast the Runner-Up: James Russo turned down the part of Jimmy Jump. Laurence Fishburne, who had already been cast as Thomas Flanagan, persistently begged Abel Ferrara for an audition for the part. He got the part just by coming in looking exactly as he does in the film and did not have to audition.
• Extremely Lengthy Creation: Abel Ferrara and screenwriter Nicholas St. John worked on the screenplay for five years.
• Hey, It's That Place!: The shootout between the Chinese gang and Frank's crew was filmed in the same alley featured in China Girl, also directed by Abel Ferrara, in Downtown Manhattan.
• Real-Life Relative: Abel Ferrara's young adopted daughter plays Flanagan's daughter in the wedding sequence.

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