Stanley Kubrick wanted to cast Woody Allen in 'Eyes Wide Shut' instead of Tom Cruise

Recently, a documentary was released on the life of the prominent American filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick. In his new biography (Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker), it is revealed that Stanley Kubrick, who had directed Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut, had first thought of casting actor Woody Allen as the lead actor in the movie. The biography adds that Stanley Kubrick had always compared the lead character of Eyes Wide Shut to actors like Woody Allen or Steve Martin, who had mastered the art of playing comical characters in their past works.

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As per a report published in Independent, Stanley Kubrick had also considered actors like Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Alan Alda, Albert Brooks, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks and Sam Shepherd for the leading role in Eyes Wide Shut. However, Stanley Kubrick chose to cast someone like Tom Cruise, who had never worked in a movie with the comical genre, making his performance ‘defenceless’. Reportedly, Stanley Kubrick took eight months to edit the film. He passed away a few days later, after showing Tom Cruise and Kidman the final cut of the film.

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About Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut features actors Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Todd Field playing the lead characters in the film. The story of the movie revolves around the life of a New York City doctor, who embarks on a harrowing odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife reveals a painful secret to him. Directed and written by Stanley Kubrick, the film also stars Madison Eginton, Jackie Sawiris, Sydney Pollack, Leslie Lowe and Peter Brenson in prominent roles. Released in 1999, the movie had collected 16.21 crores USD during its run at the box office. The movie is based on the 1926 novella, Traumnovelle (Dream Story), which is authored by Arthur Schnitzler of Vienna.

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Tom on the professional front:

Meanwhile, Tom Cruise is currently gearing up for the release of the much-awaited franchise movie, Mission: Impossible 7. However, the film is now getting delayed due to the on-going Coronavirus pandemic. Reportedly, the officials at Paramount studios have now pushed the release of the seventh Mission Impossible film to November 19, 2021, and the eighth film to November 4, 2022. The seventh film was scheduled to be shot in Italy. However, the decision was revoked, considering the unprecedented Coronavirus outbreak in the country. It was recently revealed that the production will be restarted in September in another location.

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