Original indie film; box office and video; Oscar song; home movies; smoking; De Niro role choice; polygraph; DeHuff; cats; Focker name; set behavior; ratings rule; Litter Kwitter; Polo bankruptcy
The film originated with a low-budget 1992 version by Greg Glienna; Universal’s rights purchase reportedly allowed it to suppress that earlier film, which intermittently reappears online.
Randy Newman’s A Fool in Love received an Original Song Oscar nomination.
A $55 million budget and roughly $330 million gross are reported; it beat Remember the Titans on opening weekend.
The film is reported as the seventh-biggest release of 2000; the sequels earned $522.7 million and $310.7 million respectively.
Video sales reportedly added $200 million in 2001, illustrating the lucrative home-video era.
Polo’s husband’s home movies were reportedly inserted after test audiences disliked Pam, making her more appealing as a romantic partner.
Stiller reportedly was not a smoker and felt uncomfortable smoking beside De Niro, whose screen technique he admired.
Claims that the bomb dialogue was removed from airplane screenings conflict with a recent personal flight viewing that retained it.
De Niro reportedly turned down Any Given Sunday to make this film.
De Niro reportedly suggested the polygraph scene.
Nicole DeHuff, who played Pam’s sister, died at 30 after pneumonia; the diagnosis and sequel timing are discussed with uncertainty.
Two Himalayan cats, Bailey and Misha, played Jinx, with Misha doing most scenes.
