With a relatively meager $15 million budget, the cast ended up being a curious mix of Reiner’s pals ( Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal), British comics local to the film’s shoot ( Peter Cook, Mel Smith), those that Goldman had always had in mind ( Andre The Giant, although there were back up possibilities - several NFL players, and reportedly even Liam Neeson, also auditioned for the role), and relative unknowns. Courtney Cox, Meg Ryan and Uma Thurman were among those who auditioned to play Buttercup, while Danny DeVito was the first choice to play Vizzini. But in the end, it fell to sitcom star-turned-fledgling filmmaker Rob Reiner, who’d recently broken through to film directing with “ This Is Spinal Tap,” “ The Sure Thing” and “ Stand By Me.” And the project fell firmly within the family - Reiner had been given the book originally by his father Carl, while producer Norman Lear had been behind Reiner’s breakout show “ All In the Family” and, as he had with all of Reiner’s films until that point, personally financed the project.Ģ. “ Excalibur” director John Boorman was another who sniffed around it, while most remarkably, French New Wave legend François Truffaut considered making the film at one stage (what we wouldn’t give for that version…). Robert Redford wanted to both make his directorial debut on the film (before “ Ordinary People“) and play the lead role of Westley.
Norman Jewison tried to make it for years, intending to make the framing device revolve around an immigrant family. The film kept failing to get the green light for various reasons, but not for lack of trying, with several big name directors attempting an adaptation at various points. William Goldman wrote the novel “ The Princess Bride” in the early 1970s after asking his daughters what they’d like him to write a story about, with one replying “a princess,” the other “a bride.” Published in 1973, it was a success, and swiftly came to the attention of Hollywood, with Goldman writing a screenplay that would, over the next fourteen years or so, gain a reputation as being one of the best unproduced scripts. François Truffaut and Robert Redford were among the directors who planned to adapt the book. The film was released in theaters on Septemtwenty-five years ago today - and to mark the occasion, we’ve collected up five facts you may not be aware of about Reiner and Goldman’s family classic. The film took fourteen years to make it to the big screen, and the effort was worth it, as the film remains a total delight, genuinely romantic, quietly moving, exciting and consistently hilarious.
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