Question: In the scene where Jake is driving Andrew to find Melanie, he tells the story about the cat. And they were both like, "Put it back.". He made her feel things she didn't want to feel anymore and it erupted. Suhail F. Kafity. Unheard of. Director Andy Tennant directed TV shows in the 1980s ("The Wonder Years," "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," "The Adventures of Brisco Country, Jr"), then moved to feature films in the mid-1990s ("It Takes Two," "Fools Rush In," "Ever After: A Cinderella Story"). Spoiler warning: the ending of Sweet Home Alabama is directly discussed towards the end of this article. Answer: She says something to the effect of "mother nature had other plans" leading audience to believe she had a miscarriage. Tennant: I think what happens is you get the cast you deserve Reese was coming off a huge hit with "Legally Blonde," Patrick Dempsey had done movies before but he was the '80s heartthrob and this was his start as a leading man, and then Josh was unknown so I think if there was any kind of nervousness on Josh's part he should have seen what it was like in my head. "Sweet Home Alabama" was written in answer to two songs by Neil Young, "Southern Man" and "Alabama", because the songs "took the entire South to task for the bloody history of slavery and its aftermath. You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. Always Be My Maybe. The ending was reshot because test audiences thought Reese Witherspoon's character died. He would see me and just walk the other way. Witherspoon plays Melanie, a successful fashion designer who's based in New York and engaged to McDreamy. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. (Witherspoon's rep told Insider she was unavailable to be interviewed for this story. She tells him they are still married, they return to what would have been Melanie and Andrew's reception, and finally, have their first dance as husband and wife. In order to depict two people from Alabama, they had to practice their Southern drawl. It was an eye-opening experience. Thank you for visiting! Period.'" During that time, he was offered "Sweet Home Alabama.". I don't like my words when I listen to it. Pop Market DiscogsPop culture, or popular culture, is the collection of ideas, opinions, and images popular within a culture at a given time. Why don't we do a love triangle where the love choices are between a great guy and the right guy? Turns out this incredibly dark turn was intended in the original script as a joke, though. But I was terrified I was going to be fired before we even started. During the end credits some photos are shown with the cast. The film was directed by Andy Tennant, from a screenplay by C Jay Cox (with story credit going to Douglas J Epoch), and it tells the story of Melanie Smooter, a woman who left her home in Alabama for New York City. If youd like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Follow Film Stories on Twitterhere, and on Facebookhere. At the end of that scene, where I say, "Go home," originally we shot it where Reese slaps me and then walks away. They were like, "What did you do?" We had to build a fake dog head to come out of the water because the dog was just in an ideal world that dog was supposed to jump into the water. Witherspoon stars in the film as a successful New York fashion designer who returns to her small Alabama hometown to finalize her divorce from her husband Jake (played by Josh Lucas) and announce her engagement to a wealthy New Yorker named Andrew (played by Patrick Dempsey). She was just jokin around. It is sampled by Kid Rock. Lucas would be so serious in some takes that Tennant would call him "Ralph," referring to the actor Ralph Fiennes, so he would loosen up. At the end of the movie (spoiler alert), Melanies wedding to Andrew is disrupted when its revealed she never signed her divorce papers. Lucas: I was scared of being famous. I keep hearing that others from the movie would absolutely love to do it. Trivia: Erin Vanderbilt, the woman that Andrew is shown marrying at the end originally had a bigger part, but test audiences misunderstood her relationship with Andrew before breaking up with Melanie, so all of Erin's scenes were cut except for that small bit over the credits. Answer: baby girl. In this fluff ball of a fairy tale, Reese Witherspoon is Melanie Carmichael, a rising New York fashion designer from humble Southern roots who is forced to choose between two Prince Charmings. Apparently, the clincher was the moment when the parents were looking at their dead daughter didnt get any laughs. It wouldn't be appropriate. (c) universal music publishing, inc. "Sweet Home Alabama." "Sweet Home Alabama" premiered on September 27, 2002 20 years ago today. Melanie realizes Jake is the artist and that he owns the resort. Jake and Melanie do this as a practical joke. "When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, 'What the fuck!'" he said. The film tells the story of Melanie Smooter, a Southern girl from a small town who becomes estranged from her past after she moves to New York to become a fashion designer. She is cornered there by Kate's assistant, sent to gather information on Melanie's background. A mid-credits sequence shows that they have a baby daughter, Melanie continues to thrive as a designer, and Jake opens a "Deep South Glass" franchise in New York. It is still roaming town because it somehow survived the attempt to blow it up and it either never had cancer or has gone into remission. UK DVD and Blu-ray release dates confirmed: up to mid-2023, Passion Of The Christ 2 set to be on eve of production, James Cameron reveals The Abyss and True Lies getting 4K disc releases this year. Even though the film received mixed reviews from critics, it has a huge cult following of fans who absolutely loved it and still cherish it as one of their favorite movies today. The coonhound cemetery was on Moore Street in Crawfordville and the bar was located at Heavy's Barbecue near the town. They were developing it for Charlize to star. The streets and storefronts of Crawfordville, Georgia, were used as the backdrop for the Catfish Festival and other downtown scenes. We shot it at the actual Tiffany's in New York City. paul pion cantor net worth. The film takes its title . It was written in response to Neil Young's 1970 song "Southern Man", which the band felt blamed the entire South for American slavery;[4] Young is name-checked and dissed in the lyrics. Als u uw keuzes wilt aanpassen, klik dan op 'Privacyinstellingen beheren'. Its on the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Tennant: When I hear people still holding it dear to their heart I end up calling Josh and going, "God, I wish we were making Sweet Home Alabama 2." Tennant has written a treatment for a sequel to "Sweet Home Alabama." Tennant: What happened was Reese's daughter, Ava, went to school with my son, so I would see Reese on occasion. Melanie doesn't know this. You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. In addition, Dakota Fanning and Thomas Curtis appear briefly as the childhood versions of Melanie and Jake, respectively. Tennant: What happened was Reese's daughter, Ava, went to school with my son, so I would see Reese on occasion. The scene cuts to Fred Ward, playing Melanie's father, giving a snarky look as the two talk. It was interesting because I had this moment where I was like, "Really?" To mark the 20th anniversary of the movie's theatrical release, Insider spoke with Tennant and Lucas, who shared never-before-told stories about the making of the movie, including details about the original ending that needed to be reshot, the multiple slaps to the face Lucas took from Witherspoon for a scene that ended up being cut, and how the rom-com almost starred Charlize Theron. Tennant said Parks had a dog who would jump in the water and fetch rocks that were at the bottom. So I had to throw him off the dock and from that moment on he hated me. Tennant: Rick and I drove around Alabama. 13. I totally remember you.'. I'm there tightening up things on the movie. Buena Vista Pictures; Alyssa Powell/Insider, TIMOTHY WHITE/TOUCHSTONE/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK. I've done two movies with her, I did "Ever After" and this. They then go and dance as the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Sweet Home Alabama" plays. Courtesy of Songs Of Universal, Inc. on behalf of itself, and EMI Longitude Music, Universal Music Corp. on behalf of itself and EMI Full Keel Music Official Licensed Product. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a critical score of 38% based on 159 reviews, with an average rating of 5.19/10. When the movie . Netflix April 2020: Whats Coming & Going, Binge-Worthy Iconic Movie Franchises And How Long It Takes, Netflix October 2019: Whats Coming & Going, Netflix September 2019: Whats Coming & Going, 7 Things You Didnt Know About Sweet Home Alabama. Everyone had passed on it in town. In the original draft of Sweet Home Alabama there was a character with an entire subplot named Erin Vanderbilt. Reese and I were in this relationship in a sense, not in a real-life one, but in terms of the characters they were in this thing. Download Sweet Home Alabama stock photos. Pet cemeteries, just like human, have sturdy stone headstones to withstand the elements, not plastic. Even though theyd known each other for a while prior to working together, Reese didnt remember who he was! She is a director's dream. When Melanie's mom says stuff like, "Go get them Yankees," and we play it for laughs, I don't know. qatar to toronto flight status. And she asked me what I was doing, and I was like, "We just wrote a movie, but I don't know if it's ever going to get made." She is forced to return home after becoming engaged to a man named Andrew and must procure a divorce from her childhood sweetheart and estranged husband, Jake. Then Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed and I wrote the music."[10]. In a 2013 interview, Clayton spoke at length about her decision to take the job. Tennant: The studio felt the movie needed a better opening. With a $35.6 million opening weekend, the movie held the record for the best-ever September opening for 10 years. 7. View All Credits 1 693.6K 126. Tennant: I don't know why we thought that was really funny. More trivia for Sweet Home Alabama. Sweet Home Alabama Lyrics . They put in the script a dog who dives for a bone feeling it was a good example of small-town America but the movie dog never wanted to go in the water. So there were some intense moments. What happens next undermines that ending, though, as her husband seemingly carries the corpse of Melanie back into the wedding reception and announces that shes dead. Imagine if the credits had rolled at just that point. "I don't care about your past, all I want to know is if there's a place for me in your future.". I knew from then on that this was unique. Director Andy Tennant did test the ending too, ultimately conceding that no one though it was funny. [1], Sweet Home Alabama (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the film soundtrack, includes thirteen songs by different artists. There were moments where I felt it was an incredible blessing and other times, like that paparazzi incident, were terrifying. Nobody had told me beforehand this movie is going to be a big success. Tennant recalled taking a trip to the South before rewriting the movie, and that helped cement its southern feel. During Melanie and Andrew's wedding at the Carmichael estate, a lawyer arrives and halts the ceremony. Jake announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead" but then a few seconds later he says, "Long live Felony Melanie." After he orders her out of his house, Melanie empties Jake's checking account, hoping to spur him into ending the marriage. It held the record for best September opening for a decade. Trivia: During the film's original outdoor reception Jake carries Melanie, who feigns death after having supposedly been struck by a lightening bolt, towards the wedding guests. And I think there was a lot of fear on her part about me and what I was going to bring because she couldn't look at any past work of mine and understand why I was cast. It was also covered by The Jacquie Young Band, Alabama, Wild Junkers, Chihiro Onitsuka and other artists. Als u niet wilt dat wij en onze partners cookies en persoonsgegevens voor deze aanvullende doeleinden gebruiken, klik dan op 'Alles weigeren'. I was like, "Who are you?". Most of the downtown scenes were filmed in Crawfordville and Taliaferro County. It has come and gone ever since and I'm now way further beyond that where I don't give it much credence either way. The 2002 romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama" ends predictably enough, with Reese Witherspoon's character matched with the right guy but the original ending to the film threw audiences a . Zero. Answer: It was only humane from Melanie's skewed, immature-at-the-time perspective, believing the cat would be killed instantly. Jake scolds her and takes her home, preventing her from driving drunk, and Melanie wakes to find the signed divorce papers on her bed. D I miss'ole' ' C bamy once a G gain (and I think it's a sin) D Well, I heard ole C Neil put her G down. Dreamstime is the world`s largest stock photography community. "sweet home alabama" written by ronnie van zant, gary robert rossington, edward c. king. 30 Melanie and Jake have a _________ at the end of the movie. When Tennant and Parks handed in the rewrite, one of the major notes from the studio was that the proposal Andrew gives Melanie at the beginning of the movie wasn't special enough. The Carmichael Plantation, which Melanie tells the reporter is her childhood home, is the Oak Hill Berry Museum, a historic landmark in Georgia which is near the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Does your conscience bother you? There's this motto: Act like a movie star and people will treat you like a movie star. Tell the truth But even in Witherspoon's most optimistic moments, she probably didn't imagine that teaming up with filmmaker Andy Tennant, who just a year earlier helmed a movie that performed so poorly he was thrown in "director jail," and starring opposite an unknown leading man by the name of Josh Lucas would lead to enormous success. When Reese is leaving the dog cemetery, she brushes against one of the tombstones that has a stone dog on the top of it, yet as she walks past the dog begins to rock back and forth - clearly this is not a stone headstone. "[5], The film grossed over US$35 million in its first weekend. As my mom and I left, I got attacked basically by paparazzi. Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Where are those four characters now: Melanie, Jake, Andrew, and Melanie Lynskey's character, Lurlynn? And she told me how a former boyfriend had proposed there. Lynyrd Skynyrd originally released Sweet Home Alabama written by Ed King, Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant and Lynyrd Skynyrd released it on the album Second Helping in 1974. "Sweet Home Alabama" follows Melanie as she travels to her Alabama hometown to finalize her divorce from her childhood sweetheart, Jake (Lucas), so she can marry Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), the son of the New York City mayor (Candice Bergen). beatles mono cd box set fake. My kids were going through college so it got me thinking about a new generation of kids going to school and young love and what that would do to parents when they see their kids being real grown-ups. Fred Ward's character is racist, says Tennant. (01:06:40). Witherspoon landed the lead role ahead of Charlize Theron, who was also considered, and the movie which co-stars Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey then plays out as something of a fairy tale. Like Melanie and Jake in "Sweet Home Alabama," Sasha (Ali Wong) and Marcus (Randall Park) are childhood best friends, growing up next door to each other in . You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. Melanie follows and gets drunk, insults her old school friends, and outs her longtime friend, Bobby Ray. I don't know if anybody else wanted me, and I mean Disney (which released the movie by its then theatrical distribution arm, Buena Vista Pictures) and everyone from the power positions. Sweet Home Alabama characters were essayed by Hollywood's top actors. Spoiler warning: the ending of Sweet Home Alabama is directly discussed towards the end of this article. The reaction of Melanie's mother at the supposed death of her daughter apparently upset the test audiences so much, that the production crew reshot the whole reception scene, minus the practical joke. In her recollection, her initial response was negative: "[Clydie King] said the song was 'Sweet Home Alabama.' I've been acting for 30 years now and I regularly have people ask me if I've ever made another movie. Neil Young pays tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant: Alabama / Sweet Home Alabama - 11-12-77. What I think worked for us is it was all true. It is , however, a good. Get it? In a sequence Question: The clips shown in the credits of the movie; is the child featured in their now happy lives, Witherspoons' daughter Ava? In the original scene, she slaps him and walks away. A young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation. In an interview with Garden & Gun, Rossington explained the writing process: "I had this little riff. That Jake would have mid-life issues and that there are differences where Jake and Melanie landed. Also, I had four young kids to feed at the time. Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama Road Sign in Alabama USA, Entering Sweet Home Alabama Road Highway Welcome Sign, Sweet home alabama welcome sign at rest area stop off highway, Welcome Sign to Sweet Home Alabama Road along Interstate 10 Photo Image, Aerial photo Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama USA, Alabama We Dare Defend Our Rights State Motto, George Wallace Plaque Alabama Visitors Center, Old used ticket for the concert of Lynyrd Skynyrd at Shoreline Amphitheatre. * Sales figures based on certification alone. But he spoke for the common man of the South. He was a Jefferson County Commissioner and is credited with helping bring the University of Alabama Medical Center to Birmingham. ", Lucas: I remember the audition so well because I don't know if there's a handful of auditions that I've ever had that I felt worse about. Design and text 1996 - 2023 Jon Sandys. In an anniversary interview with Insider, its revealed that as originally shot, the ending found Melanie racing off to the beach where lightning strikes and it cuts to the wedding reception. It was also the first film ever allowed to film in Tiffanys since Breakfast at Tiffanys in 1961. Tennant: I don't know how anybody deals with fame, I really don't. Tennant: When I hear people still holding it dear to their heart I end up calling Josh and going, "God, I wish we were making Sweet Home Alabama 2. Hell, maybe Jake now lives in a trailer park while Melanie had built this perfect life. Lucas: There were a few dogs who played Bryant, but the main one, in the scene where he jumps off the dock and swims for the bone, in order to do that scene the dog needed to jump and he wouldn't do it. But in a parallel universe somewhere, the alternative version went out. Reese Witherspoon was at the height of her box office powers when she decided to take the lead in Sweet Home Alabama.By this stage in the early 2000s, she'd built a career quickly and impressively off a mix of very smart choices and very savvy commercial picks. "[4] "We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two," said Ronnie Van Zant at the time. I regularly have that happen. Jake: The only reason I ain't signing is cause you've turned into some hoity-toity Yankee bitch, and I'd like nothing better right now than to piss you off. Despite the cognitive dissonance that Jewel's glossy cover of Skynryd's title track causes, it's actually not a bad reworking of the Southern rock classic into an adult alternative single. Weekend Song. What is humane about blowing it up and if it was gonna die of cancer all those years ago why is it still roaming around town? Tennant: I didn't realize how funny that line would be, but when Melanie [Lynskey] does her whole thing about Jaclyn Smith and the designer, she is just brilliant and can make anything work. That led to me going to "director jail." Pet cemeteries, just like human, have sturdy stone headstones to withstand the elements, not plastic. I think we all got to be precise with each other. Trivia: During the film's original outdoor reception Jake carries Melanie, who feigns death after having supposedly been struck by a lightening bolt, towards the wedding guests. (01:08:15). Everyone was pretty much in the same zone, said Lucas in an interview with IGN. Tennant has written a treatment for a sequel about Witherspoon's character's child going to college. to get Wallace elected.