Trivia / The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $60 million. Box office, $14,276,317 (domestic), $66,976,317 (worldwide).
• California Doubling: Filming took place in the Czech Republic.
• Creator Killer: Writer Andrew Birkin's career was incinerated with this film's failure.
• Dawson Casting: Milla Jovovich was 24 when playing Jeanne. She enters the film supposedly at 17 and dies at age 19.
• Dueling Works: The film came out in 1999, the same year as the Canadian Mini Series Joan of Arc starring Leelee Sobieski as Joan.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Milla Jovovich did indeed cut her hair short for the role and she did her own stunts. Many other actors also adopted period haircuts for the film.
• Fake Nationality: While there are French actors such as Vincent Cassel, some fit this - the Americans Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway and Desmond Harrington, and several Britons such as Timothy West.
• Fatal Method Acting: A stuntman died in an accident during the first weeks of filming. Luc Besson was said to have become completely uncommunicative after the incident, only appearing on set to shout orders at people.
• Follow the Leader: Previously in the 90's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves rekindled interest in Middle Ages themed adventure films and even more recently at the time Braveheart in more graphic full-blown period epics. Both of which this film followed the lead of towards the decade's end.
• Unbuilt Casting Type: Years before Deadpan Snarker Action Girl became her type, Milla Jovovich portrays Jeanne this way - but the character is also presented as delusional and unstable.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Luc Besson was originally hired as executive producer for a film that was to be directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who had been developing ideas for a Joan of Arc film for about a decade. Her film was to be entitled Company of Angels, with Jay Cocks hired to write the script. She would have cast Sinéad O'Connor as Joan and Sean Connery as the Conscience.
  • Jack Nicholson turned down the role of the Conscience.

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