Trivia / The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

• California Doubling: The exterior of the Metropolitan Museum is the actual Met. The interior is the New York Public Library, roughly 40 blocks south.
• Enforced Method Acting:
  • John McTiernan told Pierce Brosnan to keep kissing Rene Russo even though she was pulling away, during a kissing scene near the end of the film. Russo was not told of this, so during the scene, she really was trying to stop the kiss.
  • Also invoked in the script itself; all the men's lines and actions were written by Kurt Wimmer, and the women's by Leslie Dixon, with the goal of expressing opposite-gender perspectives.
• Executive Meddling: Pierce Brosnan's contract for James Bond stipulated that he couldn't wear black tie in any project not associated with the Bond franchise. That's why he's wearing a tuxedo with an open collar and an untied white bowtie during the party scene.
• No Stunt Double: Pierce Brosnan performed his own stunts during the boat crash scene.
• Playing with Character Type: Detective McMann. While, like most characters Denis Leary plays, he can have a temper and a sarcastic sense of humor, he is actually one of the more reasonable and by the book characters in the movie, talking through with Catherine and supporting her when she thought her heart was being broke while also following the rules in the precinct.
• Stillborn Franchise: A possible sequel has long been in development hell. In January 2007, it was reported that the sequel would be a loose remake of Topkapi. Pierce Brosnan said in January 2009 that Paul Verhoeven was attached to direct. In 2010, Verhoeven said that he had left the project due to script changes and a change in the regime. At one point, both Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were rumored for a part, with Brosnan more keen on bringing Theron on board. In April 2013, however, Brosnan cast a doubt on the sequel, calling it "dormant", but claimed he would still like to do it. The initial script was penned by John Rogers from a story he had co-written with Harley Peyton while additional material was provided by Nicholas Meyer, Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek.
  • In the April 2014 edition of Empire, John McTiernan revealed that he had written a script for the sequel, while in prison, called Thomas Crown and the Missing Lioness.
• Technology Marches On: A character complains about Crown having a 10 digit pin in 1999 — these days (2015), 8-10 character pins are standard.
• Throw It In!: The line, "You're not boring, I'll give you that," was ad-libbed by Rene Russo.
• What Could Have Been: Mike Newell was considered to direct.

---