Trivia / Repo! The Genetic Opera

• Acting for Two: Terrance Zdunich plays both the Graverobber and the Repo Man at the beginning.
• Actor-Inspired Element: Paris Hilton supplied most of Amber's clothes from her own wardrobe. The support group members wore her clothes too.
• Ascended Fanon: The creative team has been very accepting of fan theories (such as the idea that Single Mom's name is actually "Mary Sue").
• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • The reason Sarah Brightman agreed to do the film was that it was something way out of her comfort zone and sounded like fun.
  • Similarly, Paris Hilton put her own money on the line in order to keep the film from halting production, doing a nightclub appearance to donate funds to the movie.
• Box Office Bomb: Despite the $8 million budget, the film only grossed $182k in its very limited release. It has however found success as an underground film, with many calling it a modern version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• Completely Different Title: Greece: Murderous Transaction.
• Contractual Purity: Alexa Vega had been a child star in the Spy Kids franchise, and her teen work had been light fare like Sleepover and Odd Girl Out. This marked a darker role for her, and Shilo fittingly is an Innocence Lost character.
• Cut Song:
  • "Crucifixus", which is used as the screen closes in to GeneCo, but only an instrumental version is used in the film.
  • "Bravi!" — a commercial that would have been used before "Mark It Up", it is heard briefly between "Infected" and Nathan's Story.
  • "Tao of Mag", a commercial starring Mag that promotes the Genetic Opera. It is heard briefly between "Mark It Up" and Rotti's Story.
  • "Can't Get It Up if the Girl's Breathing?" — Amber telling GraveRobber that there are other ways to pay for Zydrate. It would have succeeded "Housecall".
  • "Come Up and Try My New Parts" — Amber seduces GraveRobber to get out of paying for Zydrate. Would have succeeded the above song.
  • "GraveRobber and Shilo Escape" — GraveRobber and Shilo escape from the Italian festival, An alternate version is used in film, Amber not included.
  • "Buon Giorno" — A Genetic Opera greeting that would have come after "We Started This Op'ra Shit!"
  • "Rotti's Chapel Sermon" — This was re-edited to make up "Interrogation Room Challenge". It succeeds "Buon Giorno".
  • "Needle Through a Bug" — A deleted scene where Shilo must pass another of Rotti's tests. It succeeded "Rotti's Chapel Sermon".
  • "Aching Hour" — Mag sings about her imminent death during the Renaissance festival. It plays in its entirety during the credits.
• Dawson Casting: Shilo is seventeen, played by Alexa Vega at twenty.
• Doing It for the Art: Paris Hilton was denied an audition at first, Darren Lynn Bousman afraid that she wouldn't be able to do it and that the media would attack him for Stunt Casting. He eventually gave in and she came to the audition dressed "perfectly for the part" and nailed the sound booth audition. She even went so far as to donate clothing to the production to defray costs!
• Executive Meddling: An attempt at it, anyway. In the DVD Commentary, Darren Bousman mentions several instances of having to go to war with one or more of the producers in order to get a certain scene into the final cut. As Bousman refused to name names, however, it is anyone's guess as to whether these fights were with various producers, or all with the same producer who just happened to be a pain in the arse.
• Follow the Leader: It's not Baz Luhrmann, but an incredible simulation!
• No Budget: The film was made for just $8.5 million.
• Science Marches On: Some science fiction/speculative fiction fans try and take this movie to task for its depiction of organ transplants 50 years in the future being implausibly efficient by today's standards, forgetting that the idea of ANY kind of artificial organ transplant was science fiction 50 years ago.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: The band members of the Genetic Opera wear masks because the film originally only had twenty extras, and this disguised the fact.
• Stillborn Franchise: Word of God is that the film is the middle part of a trilogy. The next film would have been a prequel titled Repo: The Beginning. The creators later revealed they no longer had ownership of the franchise, leading them to make a Spiritual Successor in The Devil's Carnival.
• Underage Casting: Paul Sorvino (born 1939) plays the father of Bill Moseley (born 1951).
• What Could Have Been:
  • Sarah Brightman replaced another actress who dropped out.
  • The song "Genetic Repoman" was originally not supposed to be filmed. When producers weren't around, Darren Lynn Bousman quickly filmed Terrance Zdunich singing.
  • George A. Romero was asked to cameo but couldn't make it.
  • The film was originally going to be Direct to Video but got a limited theatrical release.
• Word of God: There are a lot of facts and background behind the characters that never made it into the final cut of the film, or even the deleted scenes. For instance, the holographic image of Marnie is apparently not actually a projection, but a window looking into her preserved corpse hidden inside the wall. Or that Blind Mag's replacement eyes were taken from Marnie's body... somehow, despite Nathan preserving and stuffing her away in his wall in secret.

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