Trivia for
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) More at IMDbPro »

• Shannyn Sossamon's character was originally "Girl with Pink Hair" but was changed after production was completed to "Pink Hair Girl".
  
  
• Val Kilmer had to quickly lose the 50 pounds gained for his plump role in Oliver Stone's Alexander (2004) in order to play his fit GQ character for this film.
  
  
• Gay Perry's cell phone ring tone is "I will survive".
  
  
• Johnny Knoxville was set to star as Harry Lockhart before being replaced by Robert Downey Jr.
  
  
• Warner Bros. was willing to produce the movie with a larger budget if Harrison Ford were to play the detective. When he passed, several other options were briefly considered before Val Kilmer was offered the role.
  
  
• Shane Black's directorial debut.
  
  
• As a sign of support to Robert Downey Jr.'s recovery from alcohol and drugs, Val Kilmer refused to drink during the entire production.
  
  
• Robert Downey Jr. composed music for his first music album during the production.
  
  
• Shane Black read several stories by Raymond Chandler when writing this script. As a result, the story is divided into chapters and the chapter titles come from Chandler works. Specifically: 1. "Trouble is My Business", 2. "The Lady in the Lake", 3. "The Little Sister", 4. "The Simple Art of Murder", and Epilogue: "Farewell, My Lovely".
  
  
• Joel Silver noted that the film was originally budgeted at US$10 million because Warner Brothers were not confident in the premise. The film ran over and the final budget was US$15 million. Warner Brothers loved the film when it was screened, and immediately opened it at the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival in a high profile capacity.
  
  
• The film was given a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
  
  
• Hugh Grant and Benicio Del Toro were initially considered for the lead roles.
  
  
• Val Kilmer walked around in a $500 pair of Louis Vuitton driving shoes and wore nail varnish while experimenting with several variations of speech patterns for the role. Kilmer also noted this was done much to his son Jack's chagrin.
  
  
• The phrase "kiss kiss, bang bang" appeared in the 1960s as an overseas slang for spy movies, especially James Bond movies. It was popular in Europe and Japan. It first appeared as a film title for a 1966 spy comedy made in Spain with Italian financing. It was also the title of famed critic Pauline Kael's second published collection of reviews. Kael wrote that she chose the words as her title because they are "perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of movies."
  
  
• One scene in the film takes place in a club exhibiting living art, which, at one point in his life, Robert Downey Jr. worked as.
  
  
• In reference to the "Ike, Mike, and Mustard" quote. Ike and Mike are dinner slang for salt and pepper shakers. Also, Pre-1950s, an "Ike, Mike, and Mustard" joke was an off color joke, generally with sexual references, that wouldn't be told in polite or mixed company.
  
  
• The movie's title is a reference to an un-used theme song to the James Bond movie Thunderball (1965). "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" was recorded by first Shirley Bassey and then Dionne Warwick after composer John Barry had chosen the title when he read a magazine article which mentioned that was how Bond was known in Italy. However, the producers got cold feet at the last moment and asked him to write a title song, "Thunderball", which was performed by Tom Jones. Both versions of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" were released many years later, and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" has since become a slang description of the James Bond-style spy genre.
  
  
• The film was originally titled "L.A.P.I.", then "Bang!" - but Val Kilmer suggested to director Shane Black that "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" would have more appeal.
  
  

• SPOILER: Body count = 8: 1.Pink Hair Girl (shot by Mr. Fire); 2.Mr. Fire (shot by Harry); 3.Mr Frying pan (shot by food stand owner); 4.Harlan Dexter (shot by Harry); 5.Harmony's sister (killed her self); 6.Harlan Dexter's daughter (body in the lake); 7.Dexter's Clinic guard (shot by Harry); 8.Aurelio (shot by Perry); 9.Dexter's Goon x2 (shot by Harry); 10.Richie (shot by woman on fire escape); 11.Protocop (falls over the balcony).
  
  

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