Pretty Woman (1990)
- During the filming of Pretty Woman, Richard Gere improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- Before Richard Gere was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
Pretty Woman is a 1990 American romantic comedy directed by Garry Marshall, the film that transformed Julia Roberts into a global superstar. Roberts stars as Vivian Ward, a spirited, warm-hearted Hollywood Boulevard sex worker who is hired by Edward Lewis, a wealthy corporate raider played by Richard Gere, to be his escort for a week of business and social engagements. As they spend time together β attending the opera, shopping on Rodeo Drive, and discovering unexpected emotional connections β both are transformed by the experience.
Pretty Woman was a modern Cinderella story that became one of the most commercially successful romantic comedies in history, earning $463 million worldwide on a $14 million budget. Julia Roberts's incandescent performance β her megawatt smile, infectious laugh, and the vulnerability beneath Vivian's streetwise exterior β made her the biggest female movie star of the early 1990s. The Rodeo Drive shopping scene, in which Vivian returns to the boutique that had snubbed her, became one of the most iconic scenes in romantic comedy.
The film's screenplay was originally much darker β titled "3,000" and ending with Edward dropping Vivian back on the street β before being reworked into its fairy-tale form. Despite criticism from some quarters about its romanticized depiction of sex work, Pretty Woman's cultural impact on fashion, tourism to Beverly Hills, and romantic comedy conventions has been immeasurable.
