Trivia / Under the Volcano

• One-Book Author: The film was written by playwright Guy Gallo, his only screenplay before he died in 2015.
• One-Hit Wonder: Lowry wrote other books, but none are nearly as well regarded as this one.
• Saved from Development Hell: The film rights to Lowry's novel had been secured as early 1962, but various circumstances kept it from being realized until the 80s. John Huston tried on-and-off to make it for almost 30 years, and went through 20 different scripts.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In addition to the alternate version mentioned above, Lowry intended for the book to be part of a larger cycle. He didn't get very far.
  • Lowry wrote a screenplay adaptation in the late 50s and pitched it to MGM, but they rejected it and he died before he could develop it any further.
  • Ken Russell, Joseph Losey, Jules Dassin, and Luis Buñuel were all variously attached to direct at some point. Buñuel would've cast Laurence Olivier as Firmin and Jeanne Moreau as Yvonne.
  • John Huston wanted Richard Burton to play Geoffrey Firmin, but the actor was busy with a production of Private Lives, with his wife Elizabeth Taylor.