22 unknown facts about the film “33 Unfortunate Events” (13 photos)

Klaus, Violet and Sunny Baudelaire suddenly become orphans, their parents die in a terrible fire. Their distant relative, the evil Count Olaf, is appointed as the children's guardian, who plans to destroy his pets and take possession of the inheritance due to them.





1. The film is based on a series of children's adventure novels of the same name by Daniel Handler (writing under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket). There are 13 books in the series, the film is based on the events of the first three.

2. Paramount planned 33 Unfortunate Events as a response to Warner Bros. on “Harry Potter,” but something didn’t work out: none of the following books ever saw the wide screen. It is very likely that the financial results of the first “pancake” were far from expectations (see paragraph 22).

2.1. Please note that the cast also hints at the universe of JK Rowling: Helena Bonham-Carter, Jude Law (played young Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts), and Timothy Spall were noted here. Jamie Harris (Hook-Hooked Fernald) is the son of Richard Harris, who played Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter.



3. However, in 2017, Netflix released a series of the same name starring Neil Patrick Harris, which (series :) quite successfully survived three seasons of filming. Those who watched it – share your impressions in the comments!

4. Whoever took on the filming of “33,” including Terry Gilliam and Roman Polanski. Perhaps the most interesting pair of director and leading actor were Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Agree, it would turn out to be an awesome noir!

4.1. One of the "finalists" for the director's position was also Barry Sonnenfeld. At his request, Daniel Handler began work on the script (and even managed to write 8 versions), but when Sonnenfeld left the project and Brad Silberling finally took over the director’s chair, Robert Gordon took over the script. Handler was offered a place in the credits as a co-author of the script, but he refused, explaining that, from his point of view, it would be wrong to sign for something that you have nothing to do with.





4.2. Sonnenfel and Handler met again on the set of the series 33 Unfortunate Events. The first acted as a director for 10 episodes, the second as a screenwriter for 11.

4.3. There is still something left from Burton in the film, and this is noticeable in the “picture”: cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who shot “Sleepy Hollow”. In fact, it was this work that attracted Silberling so much that he invited Lubezki to the project. And in the DVD edition of the film, the trailer is accompanied by music from Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands”



5. The role of Count Olaf was found for Kerry by his agent’s son Sam. He read Daniel Handler's book and said, "Jim should play Count Olaf. This is him."

6. Although filming lasted only a little over six months, Liam Aiken (Klaus Baudelaire) grew by as much as 11 cm during this time (he was approaching his 14th birthday at the time) and by the end of the film he was noticeably taller than Emily Browning, who played his eldest. sister Violet.



7. During the Baudelaires' first meeting with Count Olaf, the latter suddenly interrupts the conversation and says “Stop! I'll say it one more time. Repeat!”, after which he puts on his face a grimace of genuine sympathy. Legend has it that Jim Carrey actually wanted to re-shoot the scene, but the cameras weren't turned off and it turned out to be a wonderful improvisation that emphasized the nature of the character.

8. During casting, Emily Browning was asked to act with a British accent. In the film she speaks to an American. Actually, she's from Australia.

9. Jim Carrey described the specific speech of his character, Count Olaf: a mixture of Orson Welles and Bela Lugosi.



10. For ease of applying makeup and accompanying head hair :) Jim Carrey shaved his head. Despite this, preparing for filming took him at least three hours.

11. Sunny was played by twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman. And also computer graphics performed by George Lucas' IL&M studio. There are a total of 505 computer visual effects in the film.



11.1. Initially, triplets were chosen for the role of Sunny, but their acting qualitiesva and discipline on the set did not satisfy Silberling at all.

12. Who wrote “The Stunning Wedding”? Al Fancoot? Obviously, this is an anagram of the name of the leading actor :)



13. Uncle Monty plays the autoharp for a reason. William Connolly, who plays the role, is truly passionate about the instrument.



14. What does Mr. Poe drive? This is a Czechoslovakian Tatra 603, produced in 1956-75.

14.1. Note the movie blooper: when Poe picks up the Baudelaires from Count Olaf at the railroad crossing, he takes the children's belongings to put them in the trunk. The Tatra 603 has an engine there.



14.2. By the way, why did Count Olaf even take the children’s things into the car if they were going for a simple walk in the surrounding area?

15. Monty + Python = ...? :)



16. “Damocles pier.” Apparently, the anchor hangs on horsehair :)



17. Why does Count Olaf require Violet to sign the marriage contract with her right hand? It is he who corrects his mistake in the book: in it, Judge Strauss (played by Catherine O'Hara in the film) declares the wedding invalid precisely because the girl signed the contract “not with her own hand.”

18. The silhouettes of the Baudelaire parents belong to production designer Rick Heinrich and the director's wife Amy Brenneman. They can also be seen in the photograph of members of the VFD organization at Aunt Josephine's. By the way, the character to the “northeast” of the Baudelaires is Count Olaf.



19. Simultaneously with the premiere of the film, a game of the same name was released for PS, Xbox and Windows.

20. According to Jim Carrey, he modeled the character of Olaf “on the image of a bird that waits on the shore until someone else’s nest is left unattended, and then steals the eggs. Outwardly, the Count is similar to my father, who looked like a freak. My family was telling me, 'Hey, what are you doing, we're watching a movie too!'"

21. The locomotive that almost hits the car with the Baudelaires does not have a steam engine whistle at all.

22. Budget: $140 million. Box office receipts: $211.5 million.

22.1. This is the first full-length film produced by Nickelodeon to receive an Oscar: out of 4 nominations, it received the award for best makeup.