The Witches of Eastwick
Three beautiful women. One lucky devil.
Country
Production
Budget
$22 000 000
Box office
$63 766 510
Director
Actors
Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Veronica Cartwright, Richard Jenkins, Keith Jochim, Carel Struycken, Helen Lloyd Breed, Caroline Struzik
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Neil Canton, Peter Guber, Jon Peters, Christine Forsyth-Peters, Rob Cohen, Don Devlin
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Polly Platt, Chris R. Green
Audition
Wallis Nicita
Editing
Short description
Three single women in a picturesque Rhode Island village have their wishes granted - at a cost - when a mysterious and flamboyant man arrives in their lives.
What's left behind the scenes
- The role of Alexandra, which ultimately went to Cher, was originally intended for Susan Sarandon.
- The scene in which one of the heroines falls from the balcony is a quote from Richard Donner's classic horror film "The Omen" (1976).
- The whistling performed by Daryl Van Horne in the scene at the ice cream counter was whistled by the film's composer, John Williams, himself.
- Anjelica Huston auditioned for the role of Alexandra.
- Mostly men in disguise played the witches at the gathering in the hotel.
- The snake appearing in one of the film's episodes is a completely harmless gray-banded king snake (Lampropeltis alterna), which is a common sight in Texas.
- The line 'A woman is a hole, isn't that what they say? All the futility of the world pours into her' is a quote from the book 'Being and Nothingness' by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.
- During test screenings, audiences were so dissatisfied with the original ending of the film that several alternative endings had to be shot.
- Bill Murray was originally intended to play Daryl Van Horne.
- The props department, led by Jim Henson (1936-1990), created mouse models of various sizes. Size A creatures were the size of real mice and were controlled using thin wires. Size B mice resembled large rats and were also controlled with wires. Size C mice were almost a meter tall and were operated manually. The latter were used in only a few scenes, as director Nicolas Roeg decided that it would be too difficult to combine a close-up of a person and such a mouse during editing. Roeg preferred to work with a single frame width, so smaller mouse models in reduced sets were most often used.
- Angelica Huston's transformation into the Grand Witch took 8 hours in the makeup chair.
- The line, "A woman is a hole, isn't that what they say? All the emptiness of the world flows into it," is a quote from the book by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, "Being and Nothingness."
- In addition to a happy ending, an alternate ending more faithful to the original book was filmed. Both versions were shown to test groups. It turned out that the audience preferred the happy ending.
- The snowy landscape against which the opening credits appear was filmed in Ulvik, a center of the Hordaland commune in Norway.
- The piece that Daryl van Horn performs on the violin is Niccolò Paganini's Caprice No. 16 in G minor.
- The whistling of Daryl Van Horne in the scene at the ice cream vendor was whistled by the film's composer, John Williams, himself.
- The character Walter Neff's name is a reference to Billy Wilder's famous film noir 'Double Indemnity' (1944), in which the protagonist shares the same name.
- The piece Daryl Van Horne plays on the violin is Caprice No. 16 in G minor by Niccolò Paganini.
- "The Witches of Eastwick" is a film adaptation of a work by John Updike.
- The Headland Hotel in Newquay, UK, served as the Hotel Excelsior.
- When the studio discussed possible ways to reduce the film's budget, George Miller offered to give up his personal trailer, arguing that the director was constantly needed on set and therefore had no use for it. The studio bosses saw this as a weakness and began to actively interfere with the director's production requests. For example, if Miller requested 50 units of some props, the studio would provide only a dozen. If he requested two cameras, the studio would provide one. Miller decided to "fight fire with fire" and began refusing to shoot scenes for which requests were not fully met. The studio responded by starting to search for a new director. Jack Nicholson saved George Miller from being fired, supporting the director and publicly vowing to leave the project if Miller were replaced.
- The episode in which one of the characters falls from a balcony is a reference to Richard Donner's classic supernatural thriller 'The Omen' (1976).
- Cher, Eartha Kitt, Geneviève Bujold, Ann Bancroft, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Blair, Faye Dunaway, Susan Sarandon, Jodie Foster, Vanessa Redgrave, Frances Conroy, and Liza Minnelli were considered for the role of the Grand Witch.
- Angelica Huston auditioned for the role of Alexandra.
- 'The Witches of Eastwick' is an adaptation of a work by author John Updike.
- Initially, the role of Alexandra, which ultimately went to Cher, was to be played by Susan Sarandon.
- When the studio discussed possible ways to reduce the film's budget, George Miller suggested getting rid of his personal trailer, arguing that the director needs to be on set constantly and therefore doesn't need a trailer at all. This was perceived by the studio bosses as a sign of weakness, and they began to actively interfere with the director's production requests. For example, if Miller requested 50 units of a certain prop, the studio provided only a dozen. If he requested two cameras, the studio provided one. Miller decided to "fight fire with fire" and began refusing to film scenes for which the requests had not been fully met. The studio responded by searching for a new director. George Miller was saved from dismissal by Jack Nicholson, who supported the director and publicly vowed to leave the project if Miller were replaced.
- Neither the novel nor the film explains why the witches hate children so much, or why the Grand Witch intends to get rid of all the children in the country.
- For the British release, a couple of scenes from the film (featuring the witch's face and Bruno's transformation into a mouse) had to be re-edited to allow the British Board of Film Classification to grant it a PG rating (all ages are admitted, but parental guidance is suggested).
- When the boys were turned into mice, rats and puppets were used to play their roles.
- Initially, Daryl Van Horne was to be played by Bill Murray.
- The snake featured in one of the film's scenes is a completely harmless gray-banded kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna), which is a common sight in Texas.
- The name of the character Walter Neff is a reference to the famous film noir by Billy Wilder, "Double Indemnity" (1944), where the protagonist has the same name.
- During test screenings, audiences were so dissatisfied with the film's original ending that several alternative finales had to be filmed.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
