Damon Wayans, met by chance, reportedly denied the research claim that he and Bruce Willis feuded on The Last Boy Scout, illustrating the unreliability of casting research. — Bill Simmons
Nicholson was reportedly the studio’s top Joker choice since 1980, and Willem Dafoe reportedly stated in 2009 he had been in talks. — Bill Simmons
Robin Williams was reportedly offered the Joker to pressure Nicholson, released once Nicholson agreed, and then refused Warner roles such as the Riddler without an apology; the apology detail is doubted. — Bill Simmons
Dead Poets Society was 1989’s third-biggest film; swapping Nicholson and Williams would make both films worse, and “he stole my balloons” is called a favorite line.
Nicholson’s reported conditions included top billing, a share of earnings including merchandise, capped work hours, and no work on Lakers home playoff games; his fee dropped from $11 million to $6 million, but he may have made $90 million. — Bill Simmons
Martin Landau reportedly turned down Carl Grissom for Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Jack Palance in that role is imagined as bad.
Sean Young was cast as Vicki Vale and replaced after a horse-riding injury; the Knox actor later claimed she sabotaged a read-through, which is doubted. Her Catwoman costume audition for Batman Returns is recalled.
The Knox actor also claimed Keaton blocked Peters’ choice of Michelle Pfeiffer because they had dated, which is doubted since she is in the sequel. — Bill Simmons
Adam West was publicly disappointed not to be asked to reprise Batman. — Bill Simmons
Stone offered Jim Morrison to Ian Aspery (as spoken) of the Cult, who turned it down and later toured with the Doors in the early 2000s; his voice, like Eddie Vedder's, was compared to Morrison's. — Bill Simmons
An unverified report that Bono wanted the role; Michael Hutchins (as spoken) could have been good, while Bono doing it seems strange. — Chuck Klosterman
Gecko is estimated at about 10% of the influence behind late-80s Trump, part of a culture celebrating rich idiots. — Brian Koppelman
Swapping Cruise and Sheen between Cocktail and Wall Street: Cruise makes anything better and Sheen could not pull off Cocktail, which is likened to the 2007 Cavs. — Brian Koppelman
With Cruz, the cast could go up, maybe with Duval as the dad, and it might be one of the greatest movies ever. — Brian Koppelman
An answerable question: Bobby Axelrod surely watched Wall Street growing up and would never make Gecko's mistakes. — Brian Koppelman
Bad overdub in Gecko's speech; Bud at Spader's office during the liquidation meeting; dumping Marv too fast; the Who Am I moment; Gecko not suspecting a wire; no Emilio cameo
Wouldn't Sir Larry notice Sheen tailing him on a motorcycle? The reply is that he does a look when he sees Sheen with Gecko. — Brian Koppelman
A shouted line during Gecko's speech is one of the worst dubs ever, and there is a lot of that. — Brian Koppelman
Was Bud dumb enough to trust Gecko with Blue Star? The cocaine and parties are offered as an explanation. — Brian Koppelman
Bud randomly being at Spader's office during the Blue Star liquidation meeting is a script stretch, and he turns on his best friend Marv too quickly. — Brian Koppelman
The Who Am I moment is nitpicked a second time. — Brian Koppelman
Sheen crying in handcuffs is questioned as un-Bud-like, but the counter-guess is that Dennis Levine, the real person Bud was based on, probably cried. — Brian Koppelman
Gecko was too smart not to worry about a wire, and he didn't say enough in that scene to get arrested. — Brian Koppelman
Emilio could have made a cameo as the union rep or Sheen's other son; the Charlie Sheen cameo in the sequel was its best part. — Brian Koppelman
Michael Douglas is at Apex with this or Fatal Attraction, becoming the biggest male star in the world. — Brian Koppelman
Oliver Stone is at Apex here after Platoon, letting him make any movie, leading to JFK, which is called his best movie. — Brian Koppelman
Charlie Sheen's Apex is argued to be the Two and a Half Men TV run or Platoon as an artist, not this movie; he was in a death match with Cruise for roles. — Brian Koppelman
Sean Young's Apex is No Way Out rather than this; Darrell Hanna could be argued for Roxanne. — Brian Koppelman
Wall Street itself is called an evergreen with no Apex; cocaine and limos are only maybe at the apex, and the Talking Heads peak is Stop Making Sense. — Brian Koppelman
Goofy movie robots are the favorite, a step crazier than Rocky 4, with Paul Guilfoyle playing with the robot. — Brian Koppelman
Early stealth Hamptons is raised; steak tartar is called at its high point, and squash is a call that is liked. — Brian Koppelman
Sheen spent 45 minutes on the actual trading floor, with real brokers playing themselves. — Brian Koppelman
Stone told Premier Magazine the moving camera was meant to become the predator in a movie about sharks. — Brian Koppelman
The shoot took 53 days, seven days ahead of schedule and close to $2 million under budget, because of a coming director strike. — Brian Koppelman
Consultant Ken Lipper got the actors into Solomon Brothers, the 21 Club and the New York Stock Exchange, and sits next to Douglas at 21 in the movie. — Brian Koppelman
Baldwin was the second choice for McManus; the first choice, Michael Biehn, reportedly turned it down and later called it a huge mistake. — Bill Simmons
With Biehn it would be a less funny movie, though one host has always loved him. — Chris Ryan
The script went to everybody in town; Palminteri's role was offered to Chris Walken and Bob De Niro, and Walken is imagined as Kobayashi or Redfoot. — Bill Simmons
Singer and McQuarrie sent Spacey the script without saying which role was his; he assumed Palminteri's or Byrne's part, but it was written with him in mind for Verbal. — Bill Simmons
Byrne, dealing with personal problems, backed out for 24 hours until the filmmakers agreed to shoot in LA, where he lived, in five weeks. — Bill Simmons
A joke proposes making Redfoot the Voight character from Heat to connect the universes. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say Charlie Sheen was considered for Brian Flanagan, which makes sense, and that Robin Williams also was, perhaps when the character was older. — Bill Simmons
IMDb suggests every white actor of the late 80s was considered; only Charlie Sheen is believed. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Heather Graham was offered Jordan Mooney but declined because she was committed to License to Drive with Corey Haim. — Bill Simmons
Asked whether the movie is better with Shue or a young Heather Graham, the answer is that it is great with Shue, and another agrees. — Bill Simmons
Eyeball is all nickname and the actor is not especially great; a better-known actor of the era such as Jason Patric or Charlie Sheen would make it more fun. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Schumacher had to push for the three Breakfast Club actors, and that Emilio wanted to play Billy (called a potential disaster) before settling for Kirby. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say C. Thomas Howell (transcribed 'See Thomas Howe') auditioned for Kirby but was too young, and that Rob Lowe was only 20 when cast as Billy. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Robert Downey Jr. was considered for Billy before Lowe won it after three auditions; one host loves Lowe as Billy and still sees Downey as Kevin as the sweet spot. — Bill Simmons
Emilio's Kirby is like his Breakfast Club character five years later, yet he had one of the better careers with Young Guns, his own films and Stakeout. — Chris Ryan
Charlie Sheen is called a bit too young and reportedly skipped his audition; one host says he could have played Alec, as he basically does in Wall Street. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say Demi Moore was cast after Schumacher saw her storm out of a John Hughes audition on the Columbia lot; she was on General Hospital, which one host watched. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say that when Moore went to rehab, moving Jenny Wright into the role of Jules was discussed. — Bill Simmons
Madonna stories are uncertain; Madonna as Jules is a good runner-up, but Moore was perfect, and Madonna may not have managed the Jeep scene, possibly Moore's best acting. — Chris Ryan
Mid-80s ensembles seem to have had about 40 actors going up for the same eight parts. — Chris Ryan
