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German director Werner Herzog, who is responsible for numerous classics, includingAguirre, the Wrath of God, wasn’t the easiest man to work with. Known for being extremely passionate about his craft, the director can often come as cantankerous according to Christian Bale, who joined forces with the German director to craft a critically acclaimed war film, which failed at the box office.
But apart fromRescue Dawn‘s tumultuous development, this isn’t the only time hell broke loose on the sets of a Herzog-led film, as back in the 70s, the director threatened to shoot one of his actors.
Also read:Before Blowing Fans Away In Oppenheimer, Josh Hartnett Was Rejected By Christopher Nolan For His $100m Christian Bale Movie: “It never went further than that”
When Werner Herzog threatened to kill the Hollywood icon
To say that actor Klaus Kinski and director Werner Herzog’s bond was complicated would be an understatement. Collaborating on five movies throughout their working relationship, one of the two’s greatest works remains 1972’sAguirre, Wrath of God,which would not have seen the end of the day without the director’s extreme tactics. Considering he was already warned that other directors were not interested in working with the actor, Herzog was adamant about making the movie successful.
And according to reports, the late actor once decided to abandon the project once and for all after an assistant cameraman grinned during shooting. But following the director’s adamancy to complete this project, Herzog threatened to pull out his rifle and put a kibosh on Kinski’s tantrums. Herzog recounted,
“I said to him, ‘I do have a rifle,’ very calmly. He could try to take the boat and he might reach the next bend of the river but he would have eight bullets through his head. But of course there were nine bullets, and I said, ‘Guess who gets the last one?’ And he looked at me and he understood it was not a joke anymore. I would have done it. He understood he better behave.”
The director’s tactic did work out, as he explained Kinski was very disciplined throughout the remaining days of shooting. But years later, industry giant Christian Bale would find himself in one of Werner Herzog’s films,Rescue Dawn, and although the experience was intense too, he did commend the director for being disciplined and committed.
Also read:Lindsay Lohan Wanted to Kill Herself to Meet Christian Bale’s Late Dark Knight Co-Star? Her Mom Certainly Thought So
Matt Damon turned downRescue Dawnbefore Christian Bale accepted the project
Christian Baledidn’t have an easy time working on the Werner Herzog-ledRescue Dawn, as he ate live maggots, tussled with dangerous serpents, and lost a substantial amount of weight to do the movie justice. But before Bale,Matt Damonseriously considered taking the role but eventually turned it down in favor of another movie,Stuck on You, stating that his mother talked him out of this. He said,
“You don’t always have to go into the jungle and lose a bunch of weight; you’re allowed to have fun,”
Also read:“It didn’t feel like a machine”: Oppenheimer Director Christopher Nolan Took a Dig at $29B Marvel Universe After Wrapping His Batman Trilogy With Christian Bale
But despite the extreme effort from Christian Bale, the end product struggled at the box office, only making $10 Million in total, despite being a hit among critics.
Rescue Dawnis available to stream on Apple TV.
Source:Slash Film
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2543
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
