Heathers

Heathers (1989)

Timing: 1:43 (103 min)

7.308/10
1620

7.065/10
20138

7.1/10
127000

All about film

Video 11

Photo 70

Actors and characters

Release date

1989-03-31

Country

United States

Production

New World Pictures, Cinemarque Entertainment

Genre

Comedy, Crime

Budget

$3 000 000

Revenue

$1 108 462

Website

Director

Michael Lehmann

Actors

Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, Penelope Milford, Glenn Shadix, Lance Fenton, Jennifer Rhodes, Jeremy Applegate
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Denise Di Novi, Christopher Webster

Operator

Francis Kenny

Composer

David Newman

Artist

Dana Torrey

Audition

Sally Dennison, Julie Selzer

Editing

Norman Hollyn
All team (83)

• The role of Veronica was written specifically for actress Jennifer Connelly, who ultimately turned it down.
• Daniel Waters originally wrote the script for Stanley Kubrick (the film's opening scene was written as a tribute to Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket"). However, he failed to make contact with the director, so he offered the script to Michael Lehmann, who agreed to participate in the project with producer Denise Di Novi.
• Many actors rejected the offer to star because they found the plot too dark. Among the candidates for the role of Jason was Brad Pitt, who auditioned but was deemed unsuitable by the producers, who felt that Jason would appear too righteous in his portrayal. Christian Slater later signed the contract. The role of Heather McNamara was offered to 17-year-old Heather Graham, but her parents didn't allow her to film. Drew Barrymore and Justin Bateman also auditioned for one of the roles.
• John Adams High School in Santa Monica was used as a filming location for Westerberg High.
• Christian Slater stated that he copied Jack Nicholson's mannerisms for the role of Jason Dean. Slater even wrote him a letter asking him to watch the film, but received no response.
• The film was first released on DVD in 1999, with a new edition released in 2001.
• The DVD version included an alternate screenplay rejected by “New World Pictures” as unsuitable for a young audience.
• The film was a box office failure, grossing $1.1 million. The failure at the box office is explained in the documentary Swatch Dogs and Diet Cokeheads as being due to poorly executed marketing events caused by the studio's financial problems.
• Veronica's room decor was set up in the school gymnasium, which is glimpsed in the final scene of the climax. Heather Chandler's kitchen, where the pivotal scene takes place when Jason supposedly accidentally gives Veronica a cup of cleaning solution, was also used for Veronica's dream scenes, when Jason brings her to Heather Duke's kitchen. However, it's very difficult to notice the similarity in the shots because these scenes were filmed from different angles and with different color lighting.
• In Veronica's dream scene, where Jason highlights lines in Heather Duke's book 'Moby Dick' that could explain the reason for her suicide without any suicide note, 'The Catcher in the Rye' was originally supposed to be used. However, due to copyright issues, the producers were unable to obtain the rights to use it.
• For two actors, the theme of death in the film proved prophetic: Jeremy Applegate (whose character Peter Dawson says he would never commit suicide) shot himself at the age of 34 on May 23, 2000, and Kim Walker (whose character Heather Chandler asks, 'Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?') died at the age of 32 from a brain tumor on March 6, 2001.
• In the scene where Jason delivers his monologue to Veronica, whom he believes has hanged herself, the legs constantly flickering in the foreground belonged not to Winona Ryder, but to a stunt double.