Did You Notice This Prop Was In Every Scene In Fight Club?

Fight Club was one of those nineties films that turned out to be a cult classic. The film tackles anti-consumerism and encourages watchers to avoid listening to what corporations tell you to buy. Based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk, the movie is full of great quotes and an ensemble cast.

But, one of the most beloved movies has controversy behind it, even before it was released in theaters. As the movie approaches its 20th anniversary, these are some juicy details that you may not have known about it.

The Idea For The Book Started With An Actual Fight

GettyImages-868567030
Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images
Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images

While camping with friends, Chuck Palahniuk became inspired to write the book Fight Club. This comes from an incident with his friends after the author complained to other campers that they were playing their radio too loudly.

Afterward, a fight broke out and Palahniuk went into work the following Monday with his face smashed up. Thankfully, none of his co-workers who saw his face after the incident acknowledged he looked any different. Their reluctance to learn what happened inspired him to write the book.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fincher Met With A Seinfeld Star But They Didn't Know Who He Was

ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-847468578
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Fox originally wanted Winona Ryder to be cast as Marla Singers, but The director preferred comedian Janeane Garofalo, but the script made her feel uncomfortable. Next up was Courtney Love, but complications stemming from her relationship with Norton muddled things.

ADVERTISEMENT

After Love, Reese Witherspoon was deemed too young by Fincher and she turned down the role. Fincher would meet with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but he believed that she didn't know who he was. The search finally ended when Helena Bonham Carter was cast.

ADVERTISEMENT

Edward Norton And David Fincher Compared The Movie To A Dustin Hoffman Flick

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
the-graduate_417e89
Embassy Pictures/United Artists/MovieStillsDb.com
Embassy Pictures/United Artists/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

The actor said he noticed a parallel between Fight Club and The Graduate. After he read the book for the first time, the American History X star noticed that both are stories of youthful dislocation. The protagonist struggles to "figure out the answer to the question of how to be happy."

ADVERTISEMENT

Meanwhile, the director found some similarities, but felt that both involved an everyman trying to find the right path. Influenced by their findings, a producer considered The Graduate screenwriter Buck Henry to adapt Palahniuk's book, but the author disagreed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pitt And Norton Took Classes To Prepare For The Movie

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_TZRs17
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton took soap-making classes from a boutique company called Auntie Godmother. Plus, they took basic lessons in boxing, taekwondo, and grappling. They would top it off with watching hours of mixed martial arts fights.

ADVERTISEMENT

Makeup artist Jule Pearce even studied the fights to see what type of makeup effects were going to be necessary. Despite being right-handed, she learned how to do her job with her left hand at the insistence of Carter, who believed Marla wouldn't be good at putting on makeup.

ADVERTISEMENT

Paper Streets Is A Real Thing

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
FightClub_099Pyxurz
Pinterest
Pinterest
ADVERTISEMENT

The words appear when Durden gives the Narrator his card for Paper Street Soap Co. That's where the characters exchange numbers, setting the film's events in motion. If anyone understands the terminology of map publishers, you'll see how it relates to the card Durden has.

ADVERTISEMENT

Essentially, paper streets exist on maps but not in the real world. They're mostly used by map publishers as copyright traps. If another map includes this trap street, the publisher would know they were stolen from a different map.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tyler Durden And Marla Are Based Off Real People

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_3ed1c8f2
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

According to Palahniuk, "one of those neo-romantic people who think if the Y2K bug happens, we'll be better off." In a funny turn of events, the friend actually had a lifelong wish of meeting Brad Pitt before Palahniuk was a critically acclaimed author.

ADVERTISEMENT

In a 2014 interview with TOR, he further described what his friends look like in real life. Tyler apparently has "shoulder-length Jesus blond hair" and Marla isn't much like Helena Bonham Carter's character.

ADVERTISEMENT

CGI Effects From An Oscar-Winning Movie Were Used For A Scene

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
titanic_ae7f49d2
Paramount Pictures/20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
Paramount Pictures/20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Some visual effects used for Fincher's film were taken from other films; like in the scene where Norton's character, at the behest of a support group leader, imagines himself in an ice cave. Fincher used the same effects from the end of Titanic when Jack is freezing in the ocean.

ADVERTISEMENT

Plus, the visual effects artists ended up remixing the cloudy puffs of air to work for the dream-like sequence. When working with a limited budget, sometimes you have to get creative!

ADVERTISEMENT

Tyler Durden Appears In The Movie Before He's Formally Introduced

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_596987d4
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

The first time Durden is explicitly in the movie, he's on a moving airport walkway. Before that, he pops up on four separate occasions. It happens near the photocopier at The Narrator's job and again in the hallway outside the doctor's office.

ADVERTISEMENT

He makes another appearance at the testicular cancer support group meeting where he sees Marla leaving. The final time he appears is as a waiter in the video presentation at the hotel the narrator is staying at.

ADVERTISEMENT

Meat Loaf Wore A Fat Suit Filled With Bird Seed

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_sGIRq5
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

The musician required an oxygen tank after every take of the scene where he fights The Narrator. Perhaps that's because the director made him wear a fat suit filled with 100 pounds worth of bird seed shaped to look like sagging flesh.

ADVERTISEMENT

If you remember, Bob violated the, "No shirts, no shoes" rule of Fight Club to hide the fake body. Meat Loaf was a good sport throughout the process, giving Norton a framed photo of the actor's face pressed against his chest.

ADVERTISEMENT

When The Narrator Hits Durden In The Ear, Brad Pitt's Reaction Was Real

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_TZRs17 (1)
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

The scene in which Norton's character is learning how to fight, he was supposed to throw a weak punch. While he was supposed to hit Pitt's shoulder, Fincher whispered to Norton to hit his co-star in the ear.

ADVERTISEMENT

The actor did as he was told, which makes Pitt's reaction all the more amusing. "You hit me in the ear!?" He sounds rightfully shocked and confused at the same time. But thanks to Fincher's instigative ways, he went about the rest of day super pleased.

ADVERTISEMENT

Brad Pitt's Salary Was Significantly Higher Than His Co-Star's

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_PMa4nM
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

In 1991, Pitt's first acting role was portraying J.D. in Thelma & Louise. Since then, he appeared in Interview with the Vampire, Seven, and Meet Joe Black. It's safe to say that the actor was already well-known before being cast as Tyler Durden.

ADVERTISEMENT

Russell Crow was considered for the role and had met with a producer to discuss the part. However, Pitt got the role, earn himself quite the payday by making $17.5 million to add to his bank account. As for his co-star, Norton took the studio's offer of $2.5 million.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Detectives Names Are An Easter Egg

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
MV5BNTM0YzkyYzgtMmY2ZS00YmZkLThlYmMtNmQ3OWI1NzlkM2NhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTcwNTE1Ng@@._V1_
imdb.com
imdb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

The three detectives in the film are named Detective Andrew, Detective Kevin, and Detective Walker. Combining those three last names, it comes up with Andrew Kevin Walker, the name of the writer of Fincher's Se7en.

ADVERTISEMENT

The director christened those snippy detectives as such to give Walker some acknowledgment for doing an uncredited re-write of Fight Club's screenplay. Fincher, Norton, and Pitt all contributed to the screenplay in an unofficial capacity.

ADVERTISEMENT

One Controversial Line Was Changed To A More Controversial One

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_K5tzsx
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

In the book, Marla looks at Tyler after they make love and says, "Oh, Tyler I want your abortion." However, Laura Ziskin, a former Fox executive, insisted that Fincher should change it. The director agreed, but on the condition that he would only change the line.

ADVERTISEMENT

After coming to an agreement, Ziskin immediately regretted it. The new line "I haven't fooled around like that since grade school" made the executive beg the director to swap the original line back in, but he refused.

ADVERTISEMENT

There's A Starbuck Coffee Cup In Every Scene

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
tumblr_lx3i33aODD1r9sx50o1_1280
fightclubstarbucks.tumblr.com
fightclubstarbucks.tumblr.com
ADVERTISEMENT

There's at least one Starbucks cup in every shot. Fincher was inspired by his previous film, The Game, where he managed to place a can of haggis in every scene. It was a touching tribute to his cinematographer, Harris "Haggis" Savides.

ADVERTISEMENT

The addictive coffee company was okay with the idea and claimed to get the joke, but weren't happen with one part. At the end of the movie a Starbucks cup is destroyed and globe crashes into a fake coffee shop.

ADVERTISEMENT

One Jared Leto Scene Was Cut

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_7326614d
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

When the movie introduces Leto's character, Angel Face, Durden looks directly at him. While doing so, Tyler begins to talk about "rock stars", an intentional or unintentional nod at Leto's then year-old stint as the lead singer for 30 Seconds to Mars.

ADVERTISEMENT

Later in the film, Angel Face gets a gruesome makeover during a fight, one that was so bad, the studio insisted it be cut. In the uncut version, Angel Face's nose is split open down the center and it was so gross that the cast and crew avoided Leto.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Narrator Has A Name

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_PMa4nM (1)
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Much confusion exists about the name of Norton's character. Many believe it's Jack due to his use of the phrase "I am Jack's," but others argue that only uses the moniker after he saw it in "Annotated Reader."

ADVERTISEMENT

He is also Jack on the back of the DVD and in the booklet accompanying the DVD. The closed captions provided for the film have him named Rupert. On the DVD commentary, Norton reveals that he refers to the character as Jack.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Blu-Ray Version Includes A Joke

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
207173_10152792611655297_1447445071_n
@FightClub/Facebook
@FightClub/Facebook
ADVERTISEMENT

On the original Fight Club DVD, a special message written by Tyler Durden appears after the regular privacy warning. But, on the tenth anniversary Blu-Ray version of the film, the menu for Drew Berrymore's Never Been Kissed takes its place and last for 15 seconds.

ADVERTISEMENT

Afterward, the film finally moves on. The joke was the director's idea, with Barrymore signing off on the gag. It's definitely safe to say that the director likes to have fun once in a while.

ADVERTISEMENT

Why Support Groups?

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_sEKMGH
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

If you're confused as to why the narrator is attending supports groups at the beginning of the film, here is what he tells Marla, "when people think you're dying, they really really listen to you…" Marla then adds "instead of just waiting for their turn to speak."

ADVERTISEMENT

The line is not only a powerful one, but it comes back into play at the end of the film. In the final minutes, the Narrator, with a gun under his chin, says, "Tyler, I want you to really listen to me." To this, a now-somber Durden listens attentively and quietly. It's likely because the Narrator is about to take himself out.

ADVERTISEMENT

There Was Visual Power Shift

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_d834efad
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Throughout the movie, The Narrator fights Tyler Durden for control over his own body. To help visually create this struggle for audiences, the actors committed to opposing workout regimes. In an interview with the Yale Heard, Norton said that the goal was for him to look progressively weaker while Pitt became stronger.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Brad made the decision to go the opposite way because Tyler is the way my character sees himself. Brad got progressively bigger throughout the movie, he bulked up and got huge and tan and beautiful while I became Gollum."

ADVERTISEMENT

Time Didn't Pass Much

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_4RUmrq
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

To clarify how the characters work, Tyler is awake when the narrator is asleep and vice versa. As Durden becomes more powerful, he takes over for longer stretches and accomplishes a lot more mayhem.

ADVERTISEMENT

Besides this, it's not known how much time passes in the film. That is, until the car accident when Norton's character is left with a bloody gash on his head. The very next shot sees him in bed with the cut healing that night. The morning comes, and the Narrator wakes up with the cut gone and the assumption that at least two weeks have passed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Both Men And Women Begged The Author For One Thing

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-82600098
Jemal Countess/WireImage/Getty Images
Jemal Countess/WireImage/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Some secrets the author will take to the grave with him, no matter how much they bugged him at book signings. They weren't looking for an autograph, but instead, they begged the author to tell them real locations for fight club.

ADVERTISEMENT

Although he heard rumors of actual fight clubs existing in some areas of the United States, he wouldn't give these passionate fans any useful information. He explained in the interview, "I'll be like, 'No, it's made up; it's fake'. It just breaks people's hearts."

ADVERTISEMENT

During Interviews, Pitt And Norton Tried To Not Talk About Fight Club

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
25395953_10159718755745297_2579456685900420556_n
FightClub/Facebook
FightClub/Facebook
ADVERTISEMENT

When Premiere talked with Pitt and Norton, the two actively tried to avoid talking about Fight Club. They kept resisting, eventually telling interviewer Johanna Schnelle that they're there to talk about it, but they don't actually want to talk about the movie.

ADVERTISEMENT

After the two actors go back and forth with Schnelle about whether they should discuss the film, Pitt challenged the writer. The actor said, "You tell us what Fight Club's about."

ADVERTISEMENT

Rosie O'Donnell Played Spoiler On Her Show

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-533646604
Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images
Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

When the film was released, Rosie O'Donnell made an announcement on her show. On her nationally televised show, she admitted to having been at a Fight Club advance screening a few days prior and wasn't able to sleep.

ADVERTISEMENT

Not only did the Flintstones actress implore her audience not to see the movie, but she played the role of spoiler. Brad Pitt was furious when he found out she gave away the big twist, calling the act "unforgivable."

ADVERTISEMENT

Pitt And Norton Asked To Smash A VW Beetle

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-982648178
MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images
MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

During rehearsals, the actors found out they both hated the new Volkswagen Beetle. In the scene where their characters are hitting cars with baseball bats, Norton and Pit asked that one of the cars be a Beetle.

ADVERTISEMENT

The co-stars felt that this type of corporate sell out was exactly what the film needed. As Norton explains on the DVD commentary, "It's a perfect example of the Baby Boomer generation marketing its youth culture to us. It's appalling to me. I hate it."

ADVERTISEMENT

Recurring Characters Continued Throughout The Movie

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_a729e182
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb
ADVERTISEMENT

Since most recruitment occurs when Durden is in control, the audience rarely sees it take place. But, the film has a fascinating way of showing how effective the recruitment methods are. You might not have noticed, but many of the faces at the Fight Club are the people the Narrator and Durden meet on the streets.

ADVERTISEMENT

Consider the long-haired man from the bus, who in the next scene is seen fighting. Even the priest who was sprayed with water shows up with his cross visible around his neck.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bonham Carter Suffered From Bronchitis

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_SYEGic
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

While shooting the movie, Bonham Carter smoked real cigarettes. There's smoking everywhere in Fight Club, as well as advertisements for brands, ash trays. and "No Smoking" signs. Smoking is such a prevalent theme, it's almost its own character.

ADVERTISEMENT

But, for Bonham Carter, the heavy inclusion of smoking took its toll on her body. At the end of the shoot, the actress gave the director an x-ray of her lungs. She gave it to Fincher after she got bronchitis during the six months of filming.

ADVERTISEMENT

There Are Subtle Hints About Imaginary Friends

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
MV5BNTY5OGU2ZDctN2YzYS00NjQzLTg1Y2YtZTYwZjY3MzU2NThiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUwNzk3NDc@
imdb.com
imdb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Rewatch the movie to look for signs that Durden and the Narrator were connected. Hints are littered through the movie, but there are a few many people still miss. Look again at the scene where both characters are on the bus, and a long-haired man walks in.

ADVERTISEMENT

One of the most subtle scenes to hint that the Narrator and Durden are the same is when a tavern owner punches him in the stomach. At the same time Durden gets hit, Norton's character leans forward himself.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Director Wasn't A Fan Of The Film's Marketing Campaign

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-965808056
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Fincher wanted a highly unique marketing campaign which could mirror the film's theme of anti-commercialism. Worried about the possible backlash against the movie, Fox executives refused to go ahead with the director's idea.

ADVERTISEMENT

Instead, the campaign was built largely of the presence of Brad Pitt in the film and all the fighting. Fincher became upset that the ads focused so much on the violence and not the narrative. He especially wasn't pleased when he saw ads for the film during WWE and UFC programming.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Title Sequence Had Its Own Budget

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight-club_yuYQYr
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
20th Century Fox/MovieStillsDb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Fincher paid $750,000 to create a different title sequence. It featured a CGI-mapped brain, specifically focusing on the Narrator's fear and panic receptors. Instead, the pullback from the fear center of the Narrator's brain was used

ADVERTISEMENT

The camera then works outward until the audience sees the gun. When the Narrator says, "No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide." This is one of the most important concepts in Fight Club.

ADVERTISEMENT

Palahniuk Released A Comic Book Meta-Sequel To His Novel

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
fight club 30
Renard Garr/Getty Images
Renard Garr/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The author was convinced to continue Fight Club in comics. It takes place ten years after the events of the novel and is told through the eyes of Tyler Durden trapped in Sebastian's subconscious.

ADVERTISEMENT

He continues his dysfunctional relationship with Marla and falls into the mundane routine of society until Tyler re-emerges to cause chaos. On the Orbital In Conversation podcast, Palahniuk stated he was working on Fight Club 3, and planned to release it in ten issues starting in 2019.