Trivia / The Ghost and the Darkness

• Billing Displacement: Michael Douglas has top billing despite not appearing until about halfway through the movie and Val Kilmer being in the lead role. Douglas taking over as producer had a lot to do with that.
• Creator Backlash: Stephen Hopkins said in a 1998 interview that the film "was a mess...I haven't been able to watch it."
• Dueling Dubs: There's two Brazilian Portuguese dubs, one for home video releases by BKS with Carlos Campanile as Remington and Affonso Amajones as Patterson; and another by VTI for TV airings featuring Élcio Romar as Remington and Marco Antônio Costa as Patterson.
• Executive Meddling/Wag the Director:
  • According to script writer William Goldman, Remington was originally going to be a small and enigmatic character simply known as "Red Beard", but after Michael Douglas took over as producer the role was given to him and received more importance at Patterson's expense. The final insult came when Val Kilmer was nominated to the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor.
  • Director Stephen Hopkins said in 1999 interview with SFX magazine how making the film was his worst experience as a filmmaker, "a true nightmare". Even before filming began the working relationship between Douglas and Hopkins was very tense. Douglas even went and had the movie completely re-cut in post production removing 45 minutes of scenes in order for him to have more screen time. This also explains story parts that go nowhere and plot holes that the movie has. Like for example, a part where the story jumps from having only few people killed by lions only for characters in next scenes mentioning how the number of people dead is much bigger. Hopkins expressed disappointment with the final cut of the film.
• Fake Irish: Val Kilmer as Col. John Henry Patterson.
• Troubled Production: The film had its share of issues, due in no small part to shooting on location in South Africa, specifically in the Songimvelo Game Reserve. There was also considerable concern as to whether Val Kilmer could deliver on his performance due to this and a plethora of problems he was undergoing at the time he came onboard.
  Stephen Hopkins, director: We had snake bites, scorpion bites, tick bite fever, people getting hit by lightning, floods, torrential rains and lightning storms, hippos chasing people through the water, cars getting swept into the water, and several deaths of crew members, including two drownings.... Val came to the set under the worst conditions imaginable. He was completely exhausted from doing The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996); he was dealing with the unfavorable publicity from that set; he was going through a divorce; he barely had time to get his teeth into this role before we started; and he is in nearly every scene in this movie. But I worked him six or seven days a week for four months under really adverse conditions, and he really came through. He had a passion for this film.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In the early '90s, when Brian De Palma was chosen to direct the film, Kevin Costner was going to star as Patterson. However when The Bonfire of the Vanities proved to be a box office disaster the studio withdrew their offer to De Palma and Costner went on to do The Bodyguard.
  • Kenneth Branagh was approached to direct after the success of Henry V (1989).
  • Paramount originally wanted Michael Mann to direct.
  • Paramount wanted Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson to star as Patterson.
  • The part of Remington was originally offered to Sean Connery and Anthony Hopkins but both declined; the producers were considering asking Gérard Depardieu when Michael Douglas, initially hired as a producer, decided to play the role himself.

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