Trivia / Three Kings

• Banned in China: Banned in Iraq, of course. Until things changed.
• Breakthrough Hit: David O. Russell had been a pretty well-known director within indie film circles, but this movie established him as a mainstream filmmaker.
• Cast the Runner-Up: George Clooney was originally considered for Troy Barlow, but lobbied to play Archie Gates.
• Completely Different Title: Known in France as Les Rois du Désert ("the Kings of the Desert").
• Creator Backlash: The story of a heist set during the Gulf War was originally written by John Ridley and called "Spoils of War," reportedly as an experiment to find out how quickly he could write and sell a script. David O. Russell liked the concept but wrote his own script without even looking at Ridley's, cutting him out completely. Ridley was given a "Story By" credit but remains unhappy with how it went down.
• Fake Nationality:
  • French-Moroccan Saïd Taghmaoui playing an Iraqi soldier named Saïd. Nice accent, and as always, great acting.
  Saïd: What is the problem with Michael Jackson?
  • Also New Zealander Cliff Curtis as a Shi'ite Iraqi rebel.
• Hostility on the Set: David O. Russell infamously got into multiple conflicts with several crew members and extras while on the set of the film. George Clooney then tried to alleviate the situation but when Russell violently threw an extra on the ground, Clooney had enough and scolded him for his treatment. The situation quickly escalated into a full blown fist fight between the two. Though the movie is a success, Clooney vowed that he would never work with Russell ever again. Fortunately in 2012, they made up.
• Method Acting: In the scene where Troy Barlow is tortured with electric shocks, Mark Wahlberg was shocked for real. He said he wanted to get into the role, and since they had all the equipment there, they hooked him up and gave him a shock.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Nicolas Cage, Mel Gibson, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson were tapped to play Archie Gates before George Clooney. Clooney had to lobby pretty hard since he was mostly known for TV at the time. Nick Nolte turned it down, saying he was too old and Jeff Bridges was interested, but was turned down as a result of the poor box-office run of The Big Lebowski.
  • Matt Damon and Matthew McConaughey turned down the role of Troy Barlow.
  • Christian Bale auditioned for Conrad Vig.
• Working Title: Spoils of War.

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