Trivia / Tower Heist

• Accidentally-Correct Writing: Early in the film, Josh tells off Charlie for wishing one resident a happy Chinese New Year, as the woman is actually Korean. While it is generally referred to in Western countries as the "Chinese New Year", the holiday's proper name is the Lunar New Year, and is celebrated in many East and South Asian countries, including Korea, meaning Charlie was technically in the right (even if his terminology was off).
• All-Star Cast: Take a look at the poster.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: The signing on of Ben Stiller as the lead was instrumental in coaxing Eddie Murphy back to the project.
• Dueling Movies: With Horrible Bosses.
• Hey, It's That Place!: The scene in the bar where Josh and Claire meet was the same bar in Goodfellas.
• Hostility on the Set: Greg Grunberg, who has a son suffering from epilepsy, demanded an apology from Brett Ratner after hearing a joke about seizures from the trailer. Ratner later apologized.
• Throw It In!: The only improvised scene was when Odessa instructs Slide how to crack a safe in a very suggestive manner.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Eddie Murphy pitched the film as an African-American Ocean's Eleven, with his co-stars being Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence, as a group of disgruntled employees who plan to rob Donald Trump and Trump International Hotel and Tower. While references to Trump were ultimately removed in the final script, Trump Tower became the location used for the titular Tower.
  • Brett Ratner initially approached Robert Redford to play Arthur Shaw having been a fan of his work in The Hot Rock, but Redford turned him down.
  • The alternate ending - Instead of ending on a bittersweet note as Josh starts his jail term for the successful heist, safe in the knowledge that everyone else wasn't charged & Shaw's going to spend the last years of his life in prison; originally the film was going to end on a more upbeat note, as the film skipped forward to Josh' release, where Slide would be waiting to return the favor for Josh picking him up from jail the last time he was released, and the front bumper of Josh's car replaced with Shaw's solid gold one. The scene would then cut to Lester's bar, in Shaw's former penthouse, where the staff of the Tower were waiting to celebrate his release, and the implication that he was going to go on that date with Denning after all.
• Working Title: Trump Heist.

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