Trivia for
Misery (1990) More at IMDbPro »

• Cameo: [J.T. Walsh] State of Colorado Police Chief.
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Rob Reiner] the helicopter pilot.
  
  
• After seeing The Shining (1980). Rob Reiner was immediately inspired to direct a movie based on a Stephen King novel.
  
  
• The main character Paul Sheldon's novels are published by Viking, the same publishing company that published Stephen King's books at that time.
  
  
• A video of When Harry Met Sally... (1989) (also directed by Rob Reiner) is visible in the general store.
  
  
• The "guy who went mad in a hotel nearby" is a reference to The Shining (1980), also based on a novel written by Stephen King.
  
  
• Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Paul Sheldon but passed because he wasn't sure he wanted to do another movie based on one of Stephen King's novels after what he had experienced with Stanley Kubrick on The Shining (1980).
  
  
• When Annie demands that Paul burn his manuscript, she lights the paper and we see a close-up of the words on the paper, an article about Cameron Crowe and how he is an amazing scriptwriter. It talks about his movies, but mostly offers praise for Say Anything... (1989).
  
  
• According to William Goldman's book "Four Screenplays", the main character role, Paul Sheldon, was offered to William Hurt, 'Kevin Kline (I)', Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, and Warren Beatty, all of whom declined.
  
  
• Anjelica Huston was offered the leading role, and was interested, but was unable to accept it due to her commitment to The Grifters (1990). Bette Midler also turned the role down before it went to Kathy Bates.
  
  
• One of Stephen King's first typewriters had a malfunctioning "N" key, just like the one used by James Caan in the movie.
  
  
• The new manuscript that Paul burns at Annie's urging was called "Fast Cars."
  
  
• In a recent interview with Melvyn Bragg, William Goldman revealed that few actors wanted the role of Paul Sheldon because Annie Wilks overshadowed him so much as a character. Warren Beatty commented before declining that the hobbling scene made Paul Sheldon "a loser for the rest of the film". Goldman was determined to keep that scene in the film as it was his favorite from the Stephen King novel.
  
  
• Stephen King had originally planned to release the novel under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. While writing it, however, it was discovered that King was Bachman. King subsequently published the novel under his real name, and announced that Bachman had died from "cancer of the pseudonym."
  
  

• SPOILER: In Stephen King's novel "Misery", Annie cuts off Paul's foot to prevent him from escaping. Screenwriter William Goldman has stated that the reason he decided to adapt the book to film was because of this gruesome scene and the effect it would have on the audience. However, Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman's script revision changed the method of torture to Paul getting his ankles broken with a sledgehammer. Goldman was opposed to the change until viewing the film.
  
  
• SPOILER: Kathy Bates reportedly was disappointed that a scene was cut in which she kills a young police officer by rolling over him repeatedly with a lawnmower. Director Rob Reiner was afraid that the audience would laugh at it.
  
  

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