The writer’s original version of the film was set in the future to justify the existence of state-of-the-art technology that could swap people’s faces and change their voices.
This notion, however, put John Woo (the Director) off the project. He said, “I want more character, more humanity. If there is too much science fiction, we lose the drama.”
Two film school graduates wrote the screenplay in 1990 and sold it to Warner Bros. Production. The movie makers then shelved the idea, Paramount finally produced it in 1997.
Paramount had heard about the storyline and applied to purchase the idea. The writers sold the script for a second time as Warner Bros’ rights to the film expired.
The original idea for the film was scripted for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
High-definition home movies became the fad in the late 2000s. DVDs were transitioning, and Blu-Ray popped its head up in the market.
Paramount opted to fare the way of Blu-Ray over its HD-DVD competition and released three initial films in the new format. This included Face/Off.
Nicolas Cage originally turned the role of Castor Troy down, as he did not want to play the villain in the film.
Image credit: alamy.com
He changed his mind when he later found out that he would play the role of the good guy for most of the movie.
Image credit: alamy.com