Trivia / Radio Flyer

• Executive Meddling: According to this page, the film was greatly altered from the original story after David Mickey Evans, the original writer/director, was forced off the project. He claims the original script was much more in-line tonally with something like Precious and that Richard Donner and the studio "softened" it to its detriment. A novelization of the original script, titled The King of Pacoima, gives an idea of what his version of the film might've been like.
• The Other Marty: Almost the entire original cast was replaced when the directors were changed. Rosanna Arquette was originally cast as Mary, Tomas Arana as The King, Luke Edwards as Mike, and James Badge Dale as Bobby. All four filmed scenes with the original director. After Richard Donner took over as director, Arquette was rumored to be replaced by Debra Winger before finally being recast with Lorraine Bracco.
• Troubled Production: This was intended to be the directorial debut of screenwriter David Mickey Evans (who later did The Sandlot) and he began the production as director. After a week of shooting, he was fired and production was shut down until Richard Donner was brought in to replace him. In the process, Donner attempted to lighten the tone of the script (which led to its Audience-Alienating Premise), the production budget more than doubled (from $15 million to $35 million) and the release date was constantly shuffled due to reshoots, production delays and bad test screenings (this was intended to be Columbia's big summer film for 1991). Eventually, the film was quietly released in February 1992 and was a Box Office Bomb.
• Uncredited Role: Tom Hanks as the adult Mike.
• What Could Have Been:
  • As revealed in this 2018 Hollywood Reporter article, 3,000 candidates auditioned for the role of Mike. Among them was a then-unknown 12-year-old Milo Ventimiglia. He was one of eight finalists for the part before Elijah Wood was cast.
  • The original script called for more fantasy sequences involving a worm man and zombies. These ideas were scrapped when Richard Donner replaced David Mickey Evans as the director.
  • Evans has stated that the script was much darker than the final film, and the child abuse angle was more prominent. When the film was taken over by Donner, those elements were toned down.
  • Would you believe that someone had so much faith in the movie that a video game for the Super Nintendo was planned? Ocean would have made it; presumably the film's poor reception killed it.

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