Making the movie
The movie cost only $8 million to make. The initial budget was reportedly even lower until Bruce Willis was added to the cast. Five million dollars went to pay the actors’ and actresses’ salaries. The film was already profitable when its worldwide rights were sold for $11 million (again, mainly on the strength of Willis’ presence). It went on to gross over $200 million at the box office.
Tarantino wrote the character of Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe specifically for Harvey Keitel.
The role of Vincent Vega was originally written with Michael Madsen firmly in mind. Unfortunately Madsen had decided to sign up for Wyatt Earp (1994), and was unable to commit to the film. He was later said to regret the decision.
Uma Thurman did not actually like the song that was played in the Jack Rabbit Slim’s Twist Contest (Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell”), and she told Quentin Tarantino about this, saying it just did not sound right. Tarantino simply replied, “Trust me, it’s perfect.”
An iconic moment in the film is the scene where Vincent and Mia Wallace dance together to take part in the Jack Rabbit Slim’s dance contest. Because of his previous turns as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Danny Zuko in Grease (1978), Uma Thurman was nervous about dancing with John Travolta, and she said to Tarantino, “you expect me to dance with John f*cking Travolta?!” Tarantino mentioned it to Travolta and he told her to, “just shut up and twist”.
Tarantino didn’t originally write the part of Vincent for Travolta, but was very pleased he was cast. He said:
“Everybody thinks that I wrote this scene just to have John Travolta dancing but the scene existed before John was cast”.
Nowadays, Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta as hitmen Jules and Vincent seem irreplaceable but, early in the casting process, Tarantino had thought about hiring Tim Roth as Vincent, and Gary Oldman as Jules, re-writing those characters as, “two English guys.”
Quentin Tarantino hesitated over the choice between the character he was going to play, Jimmie or Lance. The initial plan was that Tarantino would take one character, and Eric Stoltz would take the other. Although Tarantino had originally intended for actors Jeff Goldblum, Steve Buscemi, or Bill Paxton to play the role of Jimmie, none of his choices were available and only Stoltz could make the shoot. He ended up choosing Jimmie’s role because time was running out on a casting deadline and because he wanted to focus on the direction during Mia’s overdose scene.
As Steve Buscemi had to refuse the role of Jimmie due to scheduling conflicts, Buscemi appears as the Buddy Holly waiter in Jack Rabbit Slim’s.
Tarantino wrote the script in Amsterdam, in a hotel room and in the “coffee shop” Betty Boop. He stayed for several months, and left the video rental store “Cult Video” with an unpaid bill of about $150. This stay explains the references to Dutch culture and customs at the beginning of the movie. Vincent tells his heroin dealer that “I just got back from Amsterdam,” and discusses it with Jules in their opening scene. In the conversation in the Jack Rabbit Slim’s restaurant, Mia mentions that she goes to Amsterdam to “chill out” for a month or two every now and again. Also, Butch often calls Fabienne “tulip,” a cultural symbol of the Netherlands.
Jules flipping the table over in the beginning was improvised by Samuel L. Jackson, and Frank Whaley’s reaction was genuine, but they continued with the scene, and that particular shot was done in one take.
Tarantino admitted that Jules’ Samuel L. Jackson Bible quote of Ezekiel 25:17 was something he remembered from the Shin’ichi Chiba movie The Bodyguard (1973). He said he never read it in the Bible, and it is taken almost word for word from that film.
The shot of Vincent plunging the syringe into Mia’s chest was actually filmed by having Travolta pull the needle out, then running the film backwards.
The Samurai sword makes its first appearance in thius film when Butch kills Maynard with it. The Japanese sword also featured in True Romance (1993) written by Tarantino.
Mr. Blonde, a.k.a. Vic Vega, played by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs (1992), is the brother of Vincent Vega. Quentin Tarantino even had a spin-off film in development, titled “Double V Vega”, which was a prequel to both movies. This film was scrapped, because both actors were too old to play younger versions of themselves.
Harvey Keitel convinced his friend Bruce Willis to take part in the film, knowing that Willis had been a big fan of Reservoir Dogs (1992). Willis worked on the film for only eighteen days.
The F-word is used two hundred sixty-five times in the movie.
Pam Grier auditioned for the role of Lance’s wife Jody. Though she had a great audition, Quentin Tarantino decided not to cast her, because he could not imagine Grier getting pushed around the way the character does.
Interesting facts about the story
Quentin Tarantino was quoted as saying that Butch is responsible for keying Vincent’s car.
In the opening sequence with Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, Jules can be heard talking about quitting “the life,” and Vincent can be seen entering the
bathroom.
Vincent Vega is the only character who is present in every segment of the film: “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”, “The Gold Watch”, “The Bonnie Situation”, and “The Diner”.
We never find out what’s in the famous briefcase that Jules and Vincent are tasked with retrieving at the start of the movie. There’s been all sorts of speculation over the years. People have theorised it contains:
- The diamonds that the gangsters steal in Tarantino’s debut feature Reservoir Dogs (1992).
- The gold suit Val Kilmer wears in True Romance (1993), where he plays Elvis.
- Marcellus Wallace’s soul.
Tarantino put these rumours to rest by saying the contents of the briefcase are, “whatever the viewer wants it to be.”
After leaving Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Mia and Vincent head back to Mia’s apartment and we see them with a huge trophy, indicating they won the dance competition. However, in a later scene during the segment with Butch we hear a TV in the background. On the TV, a news broadcast is reporting that the dancing trophy from Jack Rabbit Slim’s was stolen. So, Mia and Vincent stole the trophy.