Showgirls
Short description
Nomi Malone arrives in Las Vegas with ambition and little else, taking work as an exotic dancer while she aims for a place in the city's big stage shows. Her talent draws the attention of Cristal Connors, the established star of a hotel production, who brings Nomi into her orbit. The arrangement soon turns into a rivalry, as Nomi pursues the top spot for herself and the world of Las Vegas entertainment proves harsher than its surface suggests.
Paul Verhoeven directed the film, working from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas, with Alan Marshall and Charles Evans producing. It was Verhoeven's tenth feature as director, following Basic Instinct and preceding Starship Troopers. Elizabeth Berkley plays Nomi, with Gina Gershon as Cristal, Kyle MacLachlan as Zack Carey and Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi and Alan Rachins among the supporting cast. The production involved 125 credited cast members, 269 credited crew and a budget of 45 million dollars.
Released on September 22, 1995, the film runs 131 minutes and was a co-production between the United States and France. It earned about 20 million dollars worldwide, well below its cost. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5.2 from around 81,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.6 from roughly 1,440 votes. A critics' rating of 3.8 from 82 reviews places it below even those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- For the filming of the dance scenes, Elizabeth Berkley worked sixteen hours a day in high heels.
- Joe Eszterhas came up with the film's plot while on vacation in Hawaii. Joe received $2 million as an advance and another $1.7 million after filming was completed.
- After the film flopped at the box office and received seven Golden Raspberry Awards, MGM/UA studio attempted to turn the situation to their advantage by advertising the film as a “cult midnight movie”: advertisements for late-night showings were placed in Los Angeles newspapers, mentioning, among other things, that the film had received seven Golden Raspberry Awards. Despite this unconventional approach, the advertising campaign was also unsuccessful.
- Jenny McCarthy auditioned for the lead role and almost got it, but it turned out at the last moment that she couldn't dance.
- As of early 2008, 'Showgirls' held the record for the NC-17 rated film released in the most theaters – 1388.
- Charlize Theron auditioned for the role of Nomi Malone.
- Gina Gershon refused to recreate the famous leg-crossing scene from “Basic Instinct” (1992).
- Joe Eszterhas came up with the name Nomi Malone by combining his wife’s nickname – Nomi (her real name is Naomi) – and the surname Malone, believing it sounded similar to the word “alone”.
- Sharon Stone and Finola Hughes auditioned for the role of Crystal Connors.
- The only scene filmed inside a Las Vegas casino was the very first scene, where Nomie plays the slot machines.
- Paul Verhoeven and Joe Eszterhas planned a sequel where Nomi would go to Los Angeles to conquer Hollywood.
- In the edited version of the film for television, Paul Verhoeven is credited as Yen Jensen.
- For the first time in the history of the Golden Raspberry Awards, the film’s director, Paul Verhoeven, personally attended the ceremony to receive awards in the categories of “Worst Director” and “Worst Film”.
- The producers wanted Madonna to play Crystal Connors and Drew Barrymore to play Nomi Malone.
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