54

54 (1998)

Timing: 1:33 (93 min)

5.8/10
456

All about film

Video 4

Photo 8

Actors and characters

Release date

1998-08-28

Country

United States

Production

Miramax, FilmColony, Dollface, Redeemable Features

Genre

Drama, Music

Budget

$13 000 000

Revenue

$16 757 163

Website

Director

Mark Christopher

Actors

Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek Pinault, Neve Campbell, Mike Myers, Sela Ward, Breckin Meyer, Sherry Stringfield, Ellen Albertini Dow, Cameron Mathison, Noam Jenkins
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Mark Christopher

Producer

Richard N. Gladstein, Ira Deutchman, Dolly Hall, Bobby Cohen, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Don Carmody

Operator

Alexander Gruszynski

Composer

Marco Beltrami

Artist

Audition

Suzanne Crowley, Billy Hopkins, Kerry Barden

Editing

Lee Percy
All team (45)

• Ryan Phillippe's character is based on Tig Thomas, who worked at the legendary "Studio 54" from 1977 to 1982.
• The film is set in New York, but filming primarily took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1997. Reshoots of some scenes took place in June 1998, shortly before the film's scheduled release at the end of August. During the reshoots, 45 minutes of original scenes and episodes were reduced to 25. The overall runtime of the film was reduced from two hours to ninety minutes.
• The character of Disco Dottie is based on Sally Lippman, born in 1900. Lippman mourned the death of her husband when she discovered the disco scene, which completely changed her life. The old lady earned the nickname "Disco Sally" for her moves on the dance floor.
• In Steve's bedroom hangs a painting by Andy Warhol (1928-1987). It depicts the actress Sylva Ward.
• In 2008, approximately 10 years after the film’s release, screenwriter and director Mark Christopher assembled a director’s cut, adding 45 minutes of footage that had never been seen before. This footage was not included in the original version of the film at the insistence of the Miramax film company.
• The post-production process was heavily influenced by Harvey Weinstein, which led The Telegraph in 2017 to include this film in a list titled “Harvey Scissorhands: 6 Films Harvey Weinstein Destroyed.”
• Ian Schrager, the second owner of Studio 54, is not mentioned once in the film. This was done deliberately because, at the time of the premiere, he was still alive, while Steve Rubell (1943-1989) died on July 25, 1989, from AIDS, and the filmmakers feared Schrager might sue them.
• Mark Christopher finished working on the original version of the film in early 1998. Studio executives liked the “raw” cut, but two preview screenings on Long Island turned into a nightmare. The audience complained that they disliked all of the characters and were dissatisfied with the abundance of scenes depicting homosexual love. The kiss between Ryan Phillippe and Breckin Meyer in particular provoked a negative reaction. Viewers felt that the actors themselves were uncomfortable in the scene. Miramax head Harvey Weinstein ordered the plot to be changed and additional shooting to be organized. Almost all references to Ryan Phillippe’s character’s bisexuality were removed from the film, Neve Campbell’s role was expanded, and a new ending was filmed. The resulting version garnered little love from either viewers or critics, while Christopher’s version became a cult favorite among film buffs. A pirated copy of Christopher’s film circulated among them for many years until it was finally officially released in 2015.