Development . The genesis of
12 Monkeys came from
executive producer Robert Kosberg, who had been a fan of the French short film
La Jetée (1962). Kosberg persuaded that film's director,
Chris Marker, to let him
pitch the project to
Universal Pictures, seeing it as a perfect basis for a full-length science fiction film. Universal agreed to purchase the
remake rights and hired
David and
Janet Peoples to write the screenplay. Producer
Charles Roven chose
Terry Gilliam to direct, because he believed the filmmaker's style was perfect for
12 Monkeys nonlinear storyline and time travel subplot. The film represents the second film for which Gilliam did not write or co-write the screenplay. Although he prefers to direct his own scripts, he was captivated by Peoples' "intriguing and intelligent script. The story is disconcerting. It deals with time, madness and a perception of what the world is or isn't. It is a study of madness and dreams, of death and re-birth, set in a world coming apart". Universal took longer than expected to approve
12 Monkeys, although Gilliam had two stars (Willis and Pitt) and a firm budget of $29.5 million (low for a Hollywood science fiction film). Universal's production of
Waterworld (1995) had resulted in various
cost overruns. To get
12 Monkeys approved for production, Gilliam persuaded Willis to lower his normal
asking price. Because of Universal's strict production incentives and his history with the studio on
Brazil, Gilliam received
final cut privilege. The
Writers Guild of America was skeptical of the "inspired by" credit for
La Jetée and Chris Marker.
Casting Gilliam's initial casting choices were
Nick Nolte as James Cole and
Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey Goines, but Universal objected. Gilliam, who first met Bruce Willis while casting Jeff Bridges' role in
The Fisher King (1991), believed Willis evoked Cole's characterization as being "somebody who is strong and dangerous but also vulnerable". in winter was fraught with weather problems. There were also technical glitches with the futuristic mechanical props. Because the film has a nonlinear storyline, continuity errors occurred, and some scenes had to be reshot. Gilliam also injured himself when he went horseback riding. Despite setbacks, the director managed to stay within the budget and was only a week behind his
shooting schedule. "It was a tough shoot", acknowledged
Jeffrey Beecroft, the film's
production designer. "There wasn't a lot of money or enough time. Terry is a perfectionist, but he was really adamant about not going over budget. He got crucified for
Munchausen, and that still haunts him." The exteriors of the climactic airport scene were shot at the
Baltimore–Washington International Airport, while the interior scenes were shot at the
Pennsylvania Convention Center (formerly
Reading Terminal). Filming at the psychiatric hospital was done at the
Eastern State Penitentiary and
Girard College.
12 Monkeys was shot in the
1.85:1 format rather than
anamorphic.
Design Gilliam used the same filmmaking style as he had in
Brazil (1985), including the
art direction and
cinematography (specifically using
Fresnel lenses). The
art department made sure that the 2035 underground world only used pre-1996 technology, to depict the bleakness of the future. Gilliam, Beecroft and set decorator
Crispian Sallis went to several
flea markets and salvage warehouses looking for materials to decorate the sets. The majority of visual effects sequences were created by Peerless Camera Company, which Gilliam founded in the late 1970s with Kent Houston, the film's
visual effects supervisor. Additional
digital compositing was done by
The Mill, while
Cinesite provided film scanning services. == Music ==