Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American fantasy comedy-drama film,  written by Charlie Kaufman and  directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener,  with John Malkovich  playing a fictional version of himself. In the film, Cusack plays Craig Schwartz, a puppeteer who finds a portal that leads into Malkovich's mind.

 The film was nominated in the 72nd Academy Awards  in three categories: Best Director for Jonze, Best Original Screenplay for Kaufman and Best Supporting Actress for Keener.

Plot
Craig Schwartz is an unemployed puppeteer in a forlorn marriage with his pet-obsessed wife Lotte. Gaining a file clerk job through Dr. Lester at LesterCorp, in the strange Floor 7½ low-ceiling offices of the Mertin-Flemmer Building in New York City, he develops an attraction to his co-worker Maxine, who does not return his affections. Craig enters a small door hidden behind a filing cabinet and finds himself in the mind of actor John Malkovich ; able to observe and sense whatever Malkovich does for fifteen minutes before he is ejected and dropped into a ditch near the New Jersey Turnpike. Craig reveals the portal to Maxine and they let others use it for $200 a turn.

Craig tells Lotte, who becomes obsessed with the experience, allowing her to live out her transgender desires. Lotte becomes attracted to Maxine and they begin a sexual relationship by having Lotte inside Malkovich while Maxine has sex with Malkovich. Craig, forsaken by both women, locks up Lotte in a cage, then enters Malkovich's mind and has sex with Maxine. Craig discovers that he is able to control Malkovich's actions while in his head, causing the actor to become paranoid. After consulting with his friend Charlie Sheen, Malkovich trails Maxine to the Mertin-Flemmer building, where he tries the portal and is placed in a world where everyone looks like him and can only say "Malkovich"; he is ejected and meets Craig by the turnpike. Malkovich demands that the portal be closed, but Craig refuses.

Lotte escapes and phones Maxine, revealing that Craig was having sex with her. Maxine is annoyed but accepts it as she enjoyed the experience. Seeking help, Lotte finds Lester, who reveals himself to be Captain Mertin, the creator of LesterCorp; he is aware of the portal and has a room dedicated to Malkovich. Lester explains that the person connected to it becomes "ripe" for occupation on the eve of their 44th birthday. However, after the old host turns 44, the portal moves to its next host, an unborn child. The former allows one to increase their life before moving on to another host while the latter means being trapped within the unborn child. Lester, who has been using the portal to prolong his life, reveals his plan to use Malkovich for himself and several of his friends. Offered the chance to join Lester's group, Lotte warns him that Schwartz has control.

Craig finds he is able to remain in Malkovich indefinitely. He spends the next eight months in Malkovich's body, and through his control turns Malkovich into a world-famous puppeteer. Malkovich marries Maxine and learns that she is pregnant as their relationship grows distant. As Malkovich's 44th birthday approaches, Lester and his friends cut a deal with Maxine and fake her kidnapping. They call up Craig threatening to kill her if Craig does not leave Malkovich. Craig ends the call, causing Lester to think that he called their bluff. Lotte loses hope and attempts to kill Maxine, but they end up at the turnpike after falling through the portal and Malkovich's shame-ridden subconscious. Maxine reveals that she conceived when Lotte was inside Malkovich's body and kept the child because it is theirs. The revelation cements their love for each other.

Craig calls back Lester thinking Maxine is still in danger, realizing his opportunity. Lester continues his bluff, convincing Craig to leave Malkovich's body. Lester and his friends enter the portal, taking control of Malkovich. Craig, discovering that Lotte and Maxine are together again, enters the portal to become Malkovich and regain Maxine, but finds himself in the next host: Emily, the baby of Maxine. Craig is permanently trapped inside her and is powerless as he watches Maxine and Lotte living happily through Emily's eyes. Years later, an aging Malkovich, under the collective mind of Lester and his friends, reveals to Sheen a plan to prolong their lives through Emily.



Cast

 * John Cusack <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> as Craig Schwartz: An unsuccessful puppeteer. Cusack read the film's script after he had asked his agent  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">to present him with the "craziest, most unproduceable script you can find". Impressed with the script, he asked his agent to follow its progress and book him an audition, with which he won the role.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">*Cameron Diaz as Lotte  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Schwartz: Craig's pet-obsessed wife. Diaz's make-up artist <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> Gucci Westman described styling Diaz in the role as "a challenge, to make her look homely". <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> The script included minimal physical descriptions of characters, and thus when Diaz took up the role she did not know that "people weren't going to recognize me".

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">*Catherine Keener as  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">Maxine Lund: Craig's co-worker. Keener cited  Being John Malkovich<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> as an instance of her taking up a role based on the director's previous work. She had heard about Jonze's experience with music videos  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">nd took up the part of Maxine although she initially disliked the character and did not feel that she was right for the part.


 * John Malkovich as John Horatio Malkovich: <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">An American actor. Charlie Kaufman  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">said that there was never another actor in Malkovich's place in the script: "The screenplay was always 'Being John Malkovich,' even before I had any expectation that John Malkovich would even read the script.'' <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">He chose Malkovich because he believed there to be "an enigmatic quality about him that works", <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">[8] <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> though Malkovich was partly chosen because of the sound of his name in repetition. Kaufman explained that "When we were thinking of alternatives, we found that a lot of them weren't fun to say." Jonze's then father-in-law Francis Ford Coppola <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> was able to contact Malkovich,  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">and Jonze flew with producer Sandy Stern  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">to Malkovich's home in France. Stern said that Malkovich was "half intrigued and half horrified" when he first read the script, but he eventually agreed to star in the film.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">*Orson Bean as Dr. Lester <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">: The head of LesterCorp.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">*Mary Kay Place as <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> Floris: The receptionist at LesterCorp.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">*Charlie Sheen a <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">ppears as a fictionalized version of himself and a lifelong friend of Malkovich.

<span style="line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">Spike Jonze  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">makes a cameo appearance as  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Derek Mantini's assistant. Brad Pitt  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">also has a half-second-long cameo, as a miffed star in the documentary on Malkovich's career, who seems to be on the verge of saying something before the shot ends. Sean Penn  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">appears as a fictionalized version of himself and a fan of Malkovich's puppeteer work. Film director David Fincher  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">makes an uncredited appearance as Christopher Bing in the American Arts & Culture pseudo-documentary <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> on John Malkovich. Winona Ryder, Andy Dick <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> and the members of Hanson  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">can be seen in the audience of a Malkovich puppet show. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">The puppets in the film were created by Kamela Portugese and Images in Motion. Phillip Huber animated the puppets.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Development
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> Kaufman's idea of  Being John Malkovich<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> originated simply as "a story about a man who falls in love with someone who is not his wife". Gradually he added further elements to the story which he found entertaining, such as floor 7½ of the Mertin Flemmer building; in his first ideas, Malkovich was "nowhere to be seen". <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> He wrote the script on spec  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">in 1994 and though it was widely read by production company and movie studio  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">executives, all turned it down. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Hoping to find a producer, Kaufman sent the script to Francis Ford Coppola, who passed it on to his then-son-in-law Jonze.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> Jonze first read the script in 1996 and had agreed to direct the film by 1997. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> Jonze brought the script to Propaganda Films <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">, which agreed to produce the film in partnership with production company Single Cell Pictures. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Single Cell producers Michael Stipe and Sandy Stern <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> pitched the film to numerous studios, including New Line Cinema <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">, who dropped the project after chairman Robert Shaye  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">asked: "Why the fuck can't it be  Being Tom Cruise?''. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Jonze revealed in a September 2013 interview that Malkovich asked him the same question during their first meeting and also relayed Malkovich's attitude after filming commenced: <span style="background-color:rgb(249,249,249);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:21.280000686645508px;"> Either the movie's a bomb and it's got not only my name above the title but my name in the title, so I'm fucked that way; or it does well and I'm just forever associated with this character. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Jonze explained in the same interview that he didn't realize how brave Malkovich's performance in the film was.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> With a budget of US$10 million principal photography  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">of  Being John Malkovich<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> began on July 20, 1998 and continued through August. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Filming took place primarily in Los Angeles;  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">specific locations included the University of Southern California  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">campus and the Observation Bar on board the RMS Queen Mary

Distribution
Theatrical release

 Being John Malkovich<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> was given limited release in  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">U.S. theatres on October 22, 1999 and opened across 25 screens. On its opening weekend, the film grossed US$ <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">637,731 across 25 screens with a per-screen average of $25,495. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">It expanded to another 150 screens the following week, <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bo1_20-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">[20] <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> bringing in $1.9 million with a per-screen average of $10,857. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">In its third week, the film's release widened to 467 locations and grossed $2.4 million, averaging a lower $5,041 per screen with a cumulative gross of $6.1 million. It moved into a wide release  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">the next week, expanding to 591 screens, and grossed $1.9 million with a 20% drop in ticket sales. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Its fifth week brought in $2.2 million with a 17% increase in ticket sales, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> which dropped a further 33% the following week despite further expansion to 624 screens. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">It finished its theatrical run after 26 weeks with a total gross of $22,863,596.

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> The film opened in the United Kingdom in March 2000, earning £ <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">296,282 in its debut week  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">and closing after fifteen weeks with a total gross of £1,098,927. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">In France, the film opened in December 1999 with a gross of US$546,000 from 94 venues and went on to further success due to positive reviews and word of mouth. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">It grossed $205,100 from 109 screens on its opening weekend in Italy and ticket sales dropped by 37% the following week with a cumulative gross of $480,000 from 82 screens. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> Its German release brought in a total of $243,071. Being John Malkovich<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> had a total foreign gross of $9,523,455, combined with its domestic gross to give an international total of over $32 million.

Home media
Being John Malkovich<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);"> was initially released in 2000 on VHS  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">, both as a regular edition and a limited edition collector's set, and on DVD  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">, with special features including a theatrical trailer, TV spots, cast and crew biographies, the director's photo album and featurettes on floor 7½ and puppeteering. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">A special edition DVD, released later the same year, included the aforementioned features, an interview with Jonze and two behind-the-scenes featurettes. It was released on HD DVD  <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">in 2008. The Critertion Collection <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;"> released a special edition of the film on Blu-ray and DVD in 2012.