Trivia / Riding in Cars with Boys

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $48 million. Gross, $35,743,308.
• Creator Killer: Penny Marshall didn't direct another film until her death in 2018, and revealed in her autobiography that the reason why she was done with filmmaking was because her movies were "all about heart", but after September 11, studios did more action and violent flicks and weren't interested in "films with heart" anymore.
• Dawson Casting:
  • 26-year-old Drew Barrymore plays a 15-year-old and does not look like one.
  • 24-year-old Brittany Murphy plays the also 15-year-old Fay.
  • 28-year-old Adam Garcia and 24-year-old Maggie Gyllenhaal play the 20-year-olds Jason and Amelia.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Drew Barrymore is a high school dropout. The real-life Beverly D'Onofrio has an MFA in creative writing.
• Real-Life Relative: Patrick and Robert Salerno play Jason at two years old, Cody Arens plays 7-year-old Jason, his brothers Skye and Logan Arens play Jason at ages 1 and 3, respectively.
• Saved from Development Hell: When James L. Brooks bought the rights in 1989, Debra Winger and Cher were considered for the lead.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Christina Ricci was considered for the role of Beverly D'Onofrio.
  • Norman Reedus was considered for the role of Ray Hasek.

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