Across the Universe
All you need is love.
![Video for the film Across the Universe — Across the Universe (2007) Original Trailer [FHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7nbvTwvWvIY/sddefault.jpg)
Country
Production
Budget
$70 000 000
Box office
$29 367 143
Director
Actors
Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy, T.V. Carpio, Spencer Liff, Lisa Dwyer Hogg, Nicholas Lumley, Michael Ryan
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Jennifer Todd, Matthew Gross, Richard Baratta, Derek Dauchy
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Miguel López-Castillo, Kim Jennings, Deborah Jensen
Audition
Bernard Telsey
Editing
Short description
When young dockworker Jude leaves Liverpool to find his estranged father in the United States, he is swept up by the waves of change that are re-shaping the nation. Jude falls in love with Lucy, who joins the growing anti-war movement. As the body count in Vietnam rises, political tensions at home spiral out of control and the star-crossed lovers find themselves in a psychedelic world gone mad.
What's left behind the scenes
- The guitarist and singer Yo-Yo, played by Martin Luther, is more than an obvious allusion to Jimi Hendrix. Like Hendrix, Yo-Yo arrives in New York with only a guitar, and it is in this city that his career begins. In addition, Sadie dresses Yo-Yo in a purple shirt and places a floral bandana on his head. Yo-Yo protests, but it is precisely this shirt and bandana that are most strongly associated with Hendrix.
- Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono readily agreed to Julie Taymor's request to help her with filming. Later, Taymor arranged a private screening for McCartney. The ex-Beatle stated that he had fallen in love with the film.
- Sadie is, of course, Janis Joplin, incidentally Dana Fuchs’s favorite singer. Sadie even adopted Joplin’s habit of drinking “Jack Daniel’s” straight from the bottle. But the heroine’s name came from the song “Sexy Sadie” (from “The White Album”).
- Doctor Robert's painted bus and his song 'I Am the Walrus' are immediate references to the Beatles' psychedelic bus in the television comedy 'Magic Trip to Nowhere' (1967) and Ken Kesey's 'Merry Pranksters' with their famous bus journey across America. Furthermore, when Doctor Robert arrives at Doctor Gary's place and immediately turns back, it is a nod to Timothy Leary, the legendary LSD popularizer, and his well-known conflict with Ken Kesey.
- Jude's "strawberry" technique of creating canvases by splashing them with red paint is a reference to the work of Jackson Pollock. This is clearly a nod to the Beatles' bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who was also an artist and adored Pollock's paintings. Sutcliffe's story was told in Ian Softley's film "The Fifth Beatle" (1994).
- Bono, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek, Joe Cocker, Robert Clohessy, Linda Emond, Logan Marshall-Green, Harry J. Lennix, and James Urbaniak made cameo appearances.
- To avoid attacks from overly curious 'Beatlemaniacs,' the film was delivered to some cinemas under the false title 'Love and Freedom.'
- The mass of supposedly fictional events in the film hint at similar ones that actually occurred. These include the student riot at Columbia University, the explosion in one of New York’s houses, when three radicals were blown up by their own homemade bombs, and the final scene, in which Sadie and her rock band are driven off the roof of a building by the police for an unauthorized concert – just as the police once drove the “Beatles” off a roof in London. Incidentally, this concert in the film takes place on the roof of a place numbered 9 – which alludes to the song “Revolution 9” from “The White Album”.
- 90% of the songs performed by the actors in the film were recorded "live" directly on the set and were not later dubbed with studio recordings. And young Evan Rachel Wood delivered the song "If I Fell" literally on the first take.
- Almost everything in the film is tied to Beatles songs in one way or another. Its title, 'Across the Universe,' is a 1969 Beatles song that later appeared in a modified form on their final album, 'Let It Be.' The tagline was another of their songs, 'All You Need Is Love.' Additionally, all the characters' names are taken from Beatles songs: Lucy, Jude, Sadie, Mr. Kite, Doctor Robert, Prudence, Yo-Yo, and Rita.
- In an early script, the action unfolded over seven years, from 1963 to 1969. But in the film, it is compressed to two years.
- "Across the Universe" is the title of one of The Beatles' songs.
- A shipyard employee tells Jude to think about what he'll be doing when he turns 64. This is a reference to the Paul McCartney song "When I'm Sixty-Four."
- Practically everything in the film is, in one way or another, tied to The Beatles' songs. Its title is "Across the Universe," a Beatles song from 1969 that later appeared in a modified form on their final album, "Let It Be." The tagline came from another of their songs – "All You Need Is Love." Also, the names of all the characters are taken from Beatles songs – Lucy, Jude, Sadie, Mr. Kite, Doctor Robert, Prudence, Jo-Jo, Rita.
- 90% of the songs performed by the actors in the film were recorded 'live' right on set and were not later dubbed with studio recordings. As for the young Evan Rachel Wood, she delivered the song 'If I Fell' literally in a single take.
- The film's title, slogan, setting, and musical runtime are borrowed from the legendary Beatles.
- Sadie is, of course, Janis Joplin—who, incidentally, was Dana Fuchs' favorite singer. Sadie even adopted Joplin's habit of drinking Jack Daniel's straight from the bottle. However, the character's name comes from the song "Sexy Sadie" (from the White Album).
- Joe Anderson auditioned for the role of Jude, but he convinced Julie Taymor that his role was Max, as that was the character he identified with the most.
- Jude’s “strawberry” technique of creating his canvases, splattering them with red paint, alludes to the work of Jackson Pollock. This is, obviously, a reference to The Beatles’ bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who was also an artist and adored Pollock’s paintings. Sutcliffe’s story was told in Ian Softly’s film “Backbeat” (1994).
- In the early script, the action spanned seven years, from 1963 to 1969. However, in the film, it is condensed to two years.
- Sadie says that Max seems harmless, but who knows – maybe he killed someone with a silver hammer. Later, Max will indeed have a silver hammer in his hands, and the scene will too obviously allude to The Beatles’ song “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”
- "Across the Universe" is Julie Taymor's third film (not counting three earlier works made for television).
- Joe Anderson auditioned for the role of Jude. But he convinced Julie Taymor that his role was Max, and he identified with him the most.
- A total of 34 Beatles compositions were used in the film.
- In one scene, Jude and Lucy literally look like John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the famous cover of Rolling Stone magazine (issue 335, January 22, 1981). The creators of the comedy "Good Luck, Chuck!" (2007) also parodied this cover on their poster.
- Prudence gets into Sadie’s apartment by climbing through the bathroom window. The Beatles have a song called “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.”
- Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono readily responded to Julie Taymor's request for help with the film. Later, Taymor arranged a private screening for McCartney. The former Beatle stated that he fell in love with the film.
- Sadie says that Max seems harmless, but who knows—maybe he killed someone with a silver hammer. Later, Max actually ends up with a silver hammer in his hands, and the scene too obviously hints at the Beatles song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer."
- Doctor Robert’s (Bono’s) painted bus and his song “I Am a Walrus” immediately reference the psychedelic bus from the Beatles’ television comedy “Magical Mystery Tour” (1967) and Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters with their famous bus trip across America. And when Doctor Robert arrives at Doctor Gary’s town and immediately turns back, it’s a nod to Timothy Leary, the legendary popularizer of LSD, and his well-known conflict with Ken Kesey.
- A shipyard worker tells Jude to think about what he will do when he turns 64. This is a reference to Paul McCartney’s song “When I’m Sixty-Four.”
- Sadie introduces herself and her band as "Sadie and the Sloppy Boys." This is a reference to the Creedence Clearwater Revival album "Willie and the Poor Boys."
- The film was released in wide release in America on October 9, 2007. October 9 is John Lennon's birthday.
- In an early draft of the script, there was a character named Sergeant Pepper—a reference to the Beatles' album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' The character was later cut from the final version of the screenplay.
- An early script version featured a character named Sergeant Pepper – a reference to the Beatles’ album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Later, the character was cut from the final script.
- In one scene, Jude and Lucy look literally like John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the famous cover of Rolling Stone magazine (issue 335, January 22, 1981). This same cover was parodied on a poster by the creators of the comedy "Good Luck Chuck" (2007).
- Sadie introduces herself and her group as "Sadie and the Po Boys." This is a nod to the Creedence Clearwater Revival album "Willy and the Poor Boys."
- The film was released in wide distribution in America on October 9, 2007. October 9 is John Lennon's birthday.
- To adapt The Beatles' songs to the film's plot, the screenwriters "named" the main characters after names from songs by the Liverpool Four.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
