Big Fish (2003)
- Before Ewan McGregor was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
- Tim Burton originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- The incredible score for Big Fish was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
Big Fish is a 2003 American fantasy drama directed by Tim Burton, based on Daniel Wallace's 1998 novel. The film follows Will Bloom, played by Billy Crudup, an estranged son who returns home when his father Edward, played by Albert Finney in the present and Ewan McGregor in flashbacks, is dying of cancer. Edward has spent his life telling fantastical stories about his past โ encountering a giant, discovering a hidden utopia, working in a circus, and wooing Will's mother through heroic gestures โ that Will has dismissed as lies.
As Edward's death approaches, Will must reconcile his resentment over never knowing his father's real story with the possibility that the stories contain emotional truth even if their details are impossible. Tim Burton found his most emotionally mature and restrained film in Big Fish, telling a story about storytelling itself and the ways we mythologize our lives to make them meaningful. Ewan McGregor's young Edward was Burton's most charming protagonist โ a man whose infectious optimism transforms everyone he encounters.
The film's final sequence, in which the fantastical characters from Edward's stories appear at his funeral, was one of the most moving moments in Burton's filmography. Big Fish earned $122 million worldwide on a $70 million budget.
