Development Eyes Wide Shut was developed after Stanley Kubrick read Arthur Schnitzler's
Dream Story in 1968, when Kubrick was looking for a project to follow
2001: A Space Odyssey. For the following decade, Kubrick considered making the
Dream Story adaptation a sex comedy "with a wild and somber streak running through it", starring
Steve Martin or
Woody Allen in the main role. Kubrick also considered
Tom Hanks,
Bill Murray,
Dustin Hoffman,
Warren Beatty,
Albert Brooks,
Alan Alda, and
Sam Shepard for the lead in the 1980s. The project was revived in 1994 when Kubrick hired Frederic Raphael to work on the script, updating the setting from early 20th-century Vienna to late 20th-century New York City. Kubrick invited his friend
Michael Herr, who helped write
Full Metal Jacket, to make revisions, but Herr declined for fear he would be underpaid and have to commit to a long production. In an introduction to a
Penguin Classics edition of
Dream Story, Raphael wrote that, "Fridolin is not declared to be a
Jew, but his feelings of cowardice, for failing to challenge his aggressor, echo the uneasiness of Austrian Jews in the face of Gentile provocation." Kubrick, who frequently removed references to Jewishness of characters in the novels he adapted, felt that the character of Bill should be a "
Harrison Ford-ish
goy" and created the surname of Harford as an allusion to the actor. In the novella, the party (which is sparsely attended) requires "Denmark" as the password for entrance, paralleling Albertina's admitted infatuation with a Danish soldier, which she confides in Fridolin. In the film, the password used for the party entrance is "Fidelio." Film critic
Jonathan Rosenbaum notes that both passwords echo elements of one member of the couple's behavior, though in opposite ways. In the novella, the woman who "redeems" Fridolin at the party, saving him from punishment for his infiltration of the event, is costumed as a nun, and most of the characters at the party are dressed as nuns or monks; Fridolin himself used a monk costume. This aspect was retained in the film's original screenplay, but was omitted in the filmed version. The novella makes it clear that Fridolin at this point hates Albertina more than ever, thinking they are now lying together "like mortal enemies". It has been argued that the dramatic climax of the novella is actually Albertina's dream, and the film has shifted the focus to Bill's visit to the secret society's orgy, whose content is more shocking in the film. The adaptation created a character with no counterpart in the novella: Ziegler, who represents both the elevated wealth and prestige to which Bill Harford aspires, and a connection between Bill's two worlds (his regular life, and the secret society organizing the ball). Critic Randy Rasmussen interprets Ziegler as representing Bill's worst self, much as in other Kubrick films; the title character in
Dr. Strangelove represents the worst of the American national security establishment, Charles Grady represents the worst of
Jack Torrance in
The Shining, and Clare Quilty represents the worst of Humbert Humbert in
Lolita. More significantly, in the film, Ziegler gives a commentary on the whole story to Bill, including an explanation that the party incident, where Bill is apprehended, threatened, and ultimately redeemed by the woman's sacrifice, was staged. Whether this is to be believed or not, it is an exposition of Ziegler's view of the ways of the world as a member of the powerful elite.
Casting {{multiple image When Warner Bros. president
Terry Semel approved production in 1995, he asked Kubrick to cast a movie star as "you haven't done that since
Jack Nicholson [in
The Shining]". After that meeting, Kubrick awarded them the roles. The couple's casting was officially announced by
Variety on December 17, 1995. Kubrick also managed to make both not commit to other projects until
Eyes Wide Shut was completed.
Jennifer Jason Leigh and
Harvey Keitel each were cast in supporting roles and filmed by Kubrick, as Marion Nathanson and Victor Ziegler, respectively. Both ultimately dropped out of the production, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. Keitel was first to depart the project to appear in
Finding Graceland, followed by Leigh, who was shooting
eXistenZ with
David Cronenberg. Leigh was replaced by
Marie Richardson, and Keitel by
Sydney Pollack. Among the other supporting cast,
Alan Cumming later said that he auditioned six times for his small role in the film as a hotel clerk.
Vinessa Shaw submitted an audition tape for the role of Domino, a prostitute encountered by Bill, and was cast by Kubrick. Shaw recalled, "twice I was called in and I was hired off of tape because Stanley Kubrick didn’t fly anywhere... I was hired off of this tape and that was it." Kubrick originally offered
Eva Herzigová this role, but she declined. It is implied that the character of Mandy and the mysterious masked woman Bill encounters at the orgy are the same person. By Kidman's account, "Stanley didn’t work under the gun. Time was the most important thing to him. He was willing to give up location to save money, but he wasn’t willing to give up time." Filming took place exclusively at night, and the production was followed by a strong campaign of secrecy helped by Kubrick always working with a small team on set. Cruise developed an
ulcer but did not tell Kubrick. Filming was finally completed in June 1998, This effect is evident in the Christmas party scene at Ziegler's house, with Smith noting that the push processing "made the lights appear to be much brighter than they were" and created a "wonderful warm glow." Kidman revealed that her explicit scenes with the naval officer, played by Gary Goba, were filmed over three days and that Kubrick wanted them to be "almost pornographic".
Locations , one of the settings used by the film|alt=A mansion with four towers. Because of Kubrick's fear of flying, the entire film was shot in England, aside from some exterior footage filmed in New York City, which was
rear projected behind Cruise during some of the street sequences. Somerton, the palatial estate where the orgy sequence takes place, was an amalgam of different interior and exterior locations. Three separate estates were used for these scenes:
Mentmore Towers in
Buckinghamshire served as the exterior, while interior sequences were shot in
Elveden Hall in
Suffolk, and
Highclere Castle in
Hampshire. Outdoor locations included
Hatton Garden standing in for a Greenwich Village street, while
Hamleys toy store in London was used as a stand-in for
FAO Schwarz in the film's final scene. Additional photography occurred in the
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, as well as the
Lanesborough Hotel, the latter of which served as the Nathansons' apartment. Actress Julienne Davis recalled that the morgue scene in which Cruise's character visits her corpse was shot inside a disused bacon factory in
St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Post-production After shooting was completed, Kubrick entered a prolonged post-production process. Editor Nigel Galt worked with Kubrick on the editing process using
Avid Technology, and indicated he had begun editing the existing footage while the film was still in principal photography, beginning on December 30, 1996. The workload was so demanding that Galt requested assistant editors, after which Melanie Viner-Cuneo and Claus Wehlisch were hired, often working 12-hour days. By mid-February 1999, Galt noted that he was working up to 15 hours each day with Warner Bros.' impending March deadline. While Kubrick typically screened the final cut of his films in England, he sent the first cut of the finished film to New York to accommodate Cruise and Kidman. On March 2, 1999, the first cut was screened for Cruise, Kidman, and Warner Bros. executives at the studio's
Fifth Avenue headquarters. According to studio executive Semel: "[Stanley] felt really great about the film and I have to say we were really thrilled. It is an incredible picture." The film was well-received by Cruise, Kidman, and Semel. By Semel's account, only a few minor adjustments remained, consisting of titles and "a couple of color corrections, and some technical things." On March 5, 1999, Kubrick held a second screening of the film for a British Warner Bros. representative at his home in Childwickbury. Kubrick died suddenly two days later of a
heart attack. On March 13, 1999, the day after Kubrick's funeral, Galt resumed the post-production process with the assistance of Viner-Cuneo,
Leon Vitali, Jan Harlan, and Kubrick's wife Christiane. In 2019, it was revealed that
Cate Blanchett had provided the voice of the mysterious masked woman at the orgy party because actress Abigail Good was unable to speak with a convincing American accent. Cruise and Kidman ended up suggesting Blanchett for the
dubbing, which occurred after Kubrick's death. ==Music==