Everything you don’t know about Everything Everywhere All at Once, the movie that grabbed seven Oscars
At the 95th Academy Awards, the sci-fi adventure film Everything Everywhere All At Once won the Best Picture. Quite an honour, isn’t it? But it also won in several other categories at the Academy Awards. For instance, Michelle Yeoh won the Best Actress in a Leading Role, Ke Huy Quan won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Jamie Lee Curtis won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for Best Direction, the same duo for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) and Paul Rogers for Best Film Editing. Amazing feat, isn’t it?
The movie is about a Chinese immigrant who gets unwillingly involved in a once-in-a -lifetime adventure where she finds herself in a multiverse. She is needed to connect different versions of herself in all the parallel universes to save them all from an impending doom. Thrilling, isn’t it? While you wait to experience the film, here are some interesting trivia about it.
Inspired by another movie
Have you ever heard of the 1985 Indie documentary Sherman’s March? Well, it was documentarian Ross McElwee’s effort to make a travelogue on American General William T. Sherman who had marched through the country during the Civil War seeking justice. But guess what he ended up making? A short film about self-reflection and self-discovery post a painful breakup that tracked his progress (or lack of it) in his existing and newly-formed relationships. Turns out, the directors of Everything Everywhere All At Once was inspired by the concept of realism that formed the crux of Sherman’s March. They were so intrigued that they decided to blend the concept with maximalism (their speciality) and give a multiverse, sci-fi touch to it. Thus, after many years of research, the Oscar winning film was conceived in 2020, right before the pandemic. Interestingly, it took only 40 days to complete its shoot.
Jackie Chan and Daniel Radcliffe were almost cast
For those who have seen the film knows that it is synonymous with the character of Evelyn played by none other than Michelle Yeoh, who is like the heart and soul of Everything Everywhere All at Once. But what if we told you that when the two Daniels were writing the script, they originally wanted the protagonist to be a man? In fact, they had the legendary Jackie Chan in mind for the iconic role and intended Yeoh as his wife. However, once their story unfolded, they realised that Yeoh’s character, Evelyn, would be best suited as the protagonist and gave their film a plethora of narratives. And the rest, as they say, is history. Not only did Yeoh own the character, she made the film what it is today.
But guess what, Jackie Chan wasn’t the only actor who was on the mind of the creators. Turns out, that they had thought of Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame for the role of one of the hot dog dancers for the role of one of the hot dog dancers in the movie. However, this couldn’t be made possible due to Radcliffe’s schedule issues. He had worked in the 2016 film of the directors called Swiss Army Man. In fact, it was his role as a living corpse that made the film stand out. So, it was no wonder that the filmmakers wanted to reunite with him for this film, even if it meant for a minute role.
Released with different titles worldwide
While the English title Everything Everywhere All at Once is definitely catchy and one of a kind, not many know that the film released with different titles elsewhere. For instance, in Mainland China it was called In an Instant, the Entire Universe (translated from Mandarin), while in Taiwan it released as Your Mother’s Many Universes (translated from Taiwanese). Interestingly, the Taiwanese name also carried a tagline “Even More Marvel than Marvel.” In Hong Kong too, the film ran with a different title.
Bonus fact: The film’s working title was A Woman Tries to Do Her Taxes. Funny, isn’t it?
The Daniels chose this film over Loki
Not many know but the Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert), as in the directors of Everything Everywhere All at Once, was approached by the Marvel Studios to direct Loki, another multiverse film about the villain of the same name. But they were busy writing their own multiverse script, which is why, they gave that opportunity a pass. In fact, it was later taken up by English director Kate Herron.
Fans believe that the Daniels chose their own film over Loki, as they wanted to cast themselves as well. And guess what? They did. Kwan played dual roles. One is that of a person who jumps Evelyn in an alleyway in the kung fu universe and the other as an engineer in the IRS building whose face gets sucked into a bagel. Scheinert, on the other hand, plays the role of the manager who is led out of the office dungeon by a dominatrix. He also acts as the ape with hot dog fingers who kills the bony-fingered species in the universe of 2001: A Space Odyssey.