Trivia / Gangster Squad

• Actor Allusion:
  • Both this film and Mulholland Falls were based on the real-life LAPD "Hat Squad." In Mulholland Falls, Nick Nolte led the squad; here, he's Da Chief.
  • Wooters makes a joke where he pretends that the only famous Mickey he has heard of is Mickey Mouse. As a child, Gosling starred in The All New Mickey Mouse Club.
• All-Star Cast: Most of the main cast, including Brolin, Gosling, Stone, Penn, Ribisi, Mackie, Nolte, Patrick and Peña.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Two of the reasons Ryan Gosling decided to make the movie was because he wanted to act in a scene with Sean Penn and shoot a Tommy gun. He was disappointed when he found out he didn't have any scenes with Sean Penn.
• Box Office Bomb: In the United States. Budget, $60 million. Box office, $46,000,903 (domestic), $105,200,903 (worldwide). This was not helped by the film being delayed thanks to the Aurora, Colorado shootings.
• Creator Killer:
  • Writer Will Beall did not write another cinematic film until the Aquaman movie for DC.
  • The movie also put a serious dent in Ruben Fleischer's directing career; his next job wouldn't come for 4-5 years.
• Distanced from Current Events: The film was by the Aurora Theatre shooting. Not only was the release pushed back from September 7th, 2012 to January 11th, 2013, but the entire ending had to be rewritten and reshot due to its depiction of gangsters shooting up a movie theater. The trailer, which included scenes from that shootout (and which played in front of The Dark Knight Rises at many theaters), had to be pulled and redone for the same reason.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Robert Patrick lost 30 pounds for his part, in order to look more like a "cowboy".
• Missing Trailer Scene: After a similar real life incident left a couple individuals dead, a scene of a shootout in a movie theater was cut from the movie and replaced.
• Money, Dear Boy: Ryan Gosling agreed to join the film in exchange for the studio financing his directorial debut Lost River.
• Those Two Actors: Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone acted together for the first time in Crazy, Stupid, Love, released almost two years earlier. They would appear again in the highly acclaimed La La Land which also takes place in Los Angeles, but in a different time.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Bryan Cranston was cast as Max Kennard but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with Argo. In addition, Ben Affleck considered directing, but turned it down in favour of Argo.
  • Jamie Foxx was considered for Coleman Harris.
  • Adam Brody, Joel Edgerton, Luke Evans and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were on the short list for Sgt. Jerry Wooters.
  • Amy Adams and Kate Winslet were considered for Connie O'Mara.

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