Trivia for
Midnight Run (1988) More at IMDbPro »

• Paramount Pictures originally owned the rights to Midnight Run, and they wanted a big name star to appear opposite De Niro in order to improve the film's chances at the box office. It was suggested that the character of John 'Duke' Mardukas be changed to a woman, and be played by 'Cher', who had had recent box office success with The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Suspect (1987) and Moonstruck (1987). It was felt that casting Cher opposite De Niro would lend some "sexual overtones" to the relationship between the two characters. Director Martin Brest however, rejected the gender switch idea, so Paramount next suggested giving the role to Robin Williams, who had recently had a big hit with Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). Williams read and liked the script, and agreed to audition. In the meantime however, Brest had auditioned the little known Charles Grodin and had liked Grodin's interaction with De Niro. As such, Breast cast Grodin without auditioning Williams, and Paramount decided to drop out of the project, selling the rights to Universal, who went ahead with the De Niro/Grodin casting.
  
  
• Robert De Niro spent time with bounty hunters as part of his preparation for this role.
  
  
• Charles Grodin changed a line in the screenplay from "As an accountant" to "As your accountant" to show the growing bond between Walsh and Mardukas.
  
  
• Charles Grodin has permanent scars resulting from the real handcuffs he had to wear for a great deal of the film.
  
  
• The boxcar scene where Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) and John Mardukas (Charles Grodin) discuss whether or not they could ever be friends, was almost entirely improvised on set. As regards Grodin's famous "Have you ever had sex with a chicken?" line, he was told by director Martin Brest to come up with something that was guaranteed to make even Robert De Niro laugh.
  
  
• The scene where John Mardukas (Charles Grodin) falls off a cliff was shot in the Salt River in Clarkdale, Arizona. However, the conclusion of the scene, the shots of Mardukas and Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) crashing through the river rapids, was shot in New Zealand because the water was too cold in Arizona.
  
  
• The famous "Litmus Configuration" scene was mostly improvised.
  
  
• Danny Elfman wrote lyrics for the end credits theme "Try to believe". He sang the lead and recorded it with his band Oingo Boingo under the guise of "Mosley & the B-men". This version only appears on the soundtrack album. It was mixed by Brian Foraker
  
  
• Dennis Farina shot all of his scenes in Las Vegas because he was also shooting the TV show "Crime Story" (1986) there as well.
  
  
• John Ashton said that Robert De Niro got into the part so much that during the fight scene on the train, De Niro actually hit him.
  
  
• The word "fuck" is used exactly 119 times in the movie.
  
  
• The character played by Jack Kehoe in the bail bonds office was named after a Hollywood attorney in the 1940s, Jerry Geisler. Geisler's clients included Errol Flynn and Marilyn Monroe.
  
  
• In the scene where Marvin is knocked out by Serrano's thugs, the script originally had him killed in that scene. But it was changed because if not for his presence at the climax, it would have wound up a lot less dramatic and suspenseful.
  
  
• After doing The Untouchables (1987), Robert De Niro was looking for some lighter material to do next. Initially, he wanted to play the lead in Penny Marshall's Big (1988), but the studio wasn't interested in having DeNiro play the role, and it ultimately went to Tom Hanks. De Niro was then offered Midnight Run, which he liked, and agreed to appear in.
  
  
• The film was shot on location in Arizona, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Michigan, Manhattan, Las Vegas, Idaho and New Zealand.
  
  
• Yaphet Kotto was suffering from a fever for almost his entire involvement in the movie.
  
  
• The idea to have Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) continually checking his watch, and the whole back-story related to his habit, was all De Niro's own idea.
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Martin Brest] - ticket clerk who serves Marvin (John Aston; "smoking or non smoking?"
  
  
• The theatrical trailer for the film shows several scenes which were not included in the final cut. For example, shortly after Jack (Robert De Niro) has captured Jonathan (Charles Grodin) for the first time, there is a scene where they are driving down a city street at night, and Mardukas tries to escape from the car, causing Jack to point his gun at Mardukas and tell him to make himself comfortable, to which Mardukas responds "I'm very comfortable." Another scene involves Jack, Jonathan and Marvin (John Aston) in the car trying to escape from the helicopter, and Jack turns around and yells "They're gaining on us," to which Mardukas responds "Of course, they're gaining on us, they're in a helicopter." A third scene occurs when Jack and Mardukas get the lift from the Native Americans, and as they are traveling along the road a Native American asks them if they travel a lot, to which Jack and Mardukas look knowingly at one another.
  
  

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