The Aviator

The Aviator (2004)

Timing: 2:50 (170 min)

7.216/10
5790

7.598/10
176911

7.5/10
406000

All about film

Video 10

Photo 114

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-12-17

Country

Germany, United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures, Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group, Appian Way, Forward Pass, IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. Produktions KG

Genre

Drama

Budget

$110 000 000

Revenue

$213 719 942

Website

Director

Martin Scorsese

Actors

Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

John Logan

Producer

Michael Mann, Graham King, Charles Evans Jr., Matthias Deyle, Sanford R. Climan, Martin Scorsese, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rick Yorn

Operator

Robert Richardson

Composer

Howard Shore

Artist

Christina Ann Wilson, Lori Rowbotham

Audition

Ellen Lewis, Lucie Robitaille

Editing

Thelma Schoonmaker
All team (268)

• Jim Carrey once vied for the role of Howard Hughes. Initially, Michael Mann was supposed to head the project, however, considering the fact that he already had two consecutive biographical films under his belt – "The Insider" (1999) and "Ali" (2001) – the director decided to remain one of the producers and offered the directing position to Martin Scorsese.
• Nicole Kidman actively sought the role of Katharine Hepburn. The project’s launch was delayed for several months due to the wildfires raging in California. Nicole immediately received other offers, and Kate Blanchett happened to be available. Martin Scorsese later admitted that in his vision, Kate had always been number one among the other contenders for the lead role. During filming, Kate Blanchett used three red-haired wigs.
• Martin Scorsese made Kate Blanchett watch 15 films featuring Katharine Hepburn in order to convey the actress's character and mannerisms as accurately as possible.
• The film’s budget exceeded 100 million, with costumes alone costing around 2 million dollars.
• Kate Beckinsale gained around 20 pounds specifically for the role.
• Scorsese regretted that the script only had one scene for Gwen Stefani, and he didn't get to work with her properly.
• While preparing for filming, Leonardo DiCaprio spent an entire day with actress Jane Russell, who once worked with Howard Hughes. She told him that Howard was a calm but extremely stubborn man who always achieved his goals.
• California wildfires nearly destroyed all the sets for the $110 million video, but filming was moved to Long Beach in time.
• Each scene in "The Aviator" was shot on modern color film and later digitally processed in Adobe After Effects. For this purpose, so-called "digital filters" were developed in collaboration with Technicolor specialists – red and green for scenes taking place before 1938, the same plus blue – for later episodes. Closer to the finale, the color palette changes again, to one more familiar to the modern viewer.
• The film was the first project undertaken by Leonardo DiCaprio’s own production company, Appian Way.
• The film uses several scenes from Howard Hughes's film "The Outlaw" (1943).
• In one scene of the film, when Howard Hughes begins editing the film "Hell's Angels", film editor Thelma Schoonmaker can be spotted among the assistants sifting through the film.
• In preparation for her role, Cate Blanchett learned to play tennis and golf.
• While Howard is testing a new aircraft, a close-up shows an open-top cockpit, but the overall shot shows the plane with an intact roof.
• In 1928, at the hotel, Howard Hughes ordered 10 chocolate bars, which were not invented until 1933.
• Kate Beckinsale gained approximately 9 kg specifically for the role.
• Jim Carrey was once considered for the role of Howard Hughes. Initially, Michael Mann was supposed to direct the project, however, given the fact that he had two consecutive biographical films, “The Insider” (1999) and “Ali” (2001) under his belt, the director decided to remain one of the producers and offered the directing position to Martin Scorsese.
• The film uses several scenes from Howard Hughes’s “The Outlaw” (1943).
• In one of the film’s scenes, when Howard Hughes begins editing “Hell’s Angels,” one can notice editor Thelma Schoonmaker among the assistants sorting through the footage.