Tower Heist turns 15 this week, and its path to the screen remains one of the great Hollywood switch-ups. A pitch that started as a broad ensemble idea became a two-hander led by Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, filmed entirely in New York and built around a Thanksgiving Day parade heist. The film remains a sharp, pacy caper, and the production choices behind it are just as twisty. Here are eight details from the making of the film that even repeat viewers may have missed.
It was first called Trump Heist
As early as 2005, Eddie Murphy pitched producer Brian Grazer and director Brett Ratner an idea about disgruntled employees who plan to rob Donald Trump and Trump International Hotel and Tower. The original title was Trump Heist, and the planned cast included Chris Tucker, Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence.
Murphy left, then Stiller pulled him back
Rewrites gradually moved away from the ensemble of comedians and began to focus on two central characters, at which point Murphy left the project. When the script was close to final, he was drawn back after being informed of Ben Stiller’s participation, and he rejoined as Slide, cast member and producer.
All New York, $85 million budget
Filming began in November 2010 and took place entirely in New York City on a budget of $85 million, or $75 million after tax rebates. A foot and car chase was filmed on Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, while some vehicle filming occurred on sound stages in Brooklyn.
The penthouse copied a real Trump tower
Production designer Kristi Zea researched upscale hotels and high-rise residences before creating the tower and Shaw’s penthouse. She took inspiration from a top-floor apartment in the Trump International Hotel and Tower at Central Park West, and used modern-classic reproductions by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol.
Trump lent his own buildings
Donald Trump allowed the production to use several of his own properties to portray the luxurious locales. The Trump International Hotel and Tower was used for exterior shots of the tower, and sections of the building were recreated on closed green screen sets for visual effects.
The parade was shot twice
The burglary itself takes place during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That required the crew to film parts of the actual parade, then recreate the event one week later for further filming.
A real Ferrari was too costly
For Shaw’s Ferrari, buying an actual model would have been too expensive and unsuitable for filming: only 350 exist and one would cost at least $1 million. Two replicas were commissioned over three months under prop master Peter Gelfman, and after camera tests the replicas were painted bright red instead of the actual metallic brown of McQueen’s vehicle.
It won Friday, lost the weekend
Tower Heist opened in 3,367 theaters in the United States and Canada, taking $8.5 million on opening Friday and becoming the number one film for the day. It slipped to number two for the weekend with $24 million, behind Puss in Boots at $34 million, and finished with $152.9 million worldwide.
Which of these Tower Heist details is your favourite? Tell us the one you will save for the next rewatch, or drop in your own piece of behind-the-scenes trivia.
Facts from Wikipedia: Tower Heist, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.