The Number 23 Movie Trailer (2007)

The Challenges of The Number 23

With the cast on board, the filmmakers set about figuring out exactly how they would bring this story to life on screen. While Fernley Phillips’ screenplay was unique, it was a complicated story which still needed some tweaking in order to successfully translate to the screen. Specifically, Schumacher knew that they would need to figure out the best way to bring the characters in the book – Detective Fingerling and the femme fatale, Fabrizia – to life in the film.

“The way the script was written, the fantasy world was actually more computer generated – the way Fernley had first envisioned it, the characters were somewhat gray, amorphous people with black hollowed-out eyes,” explains Schumacher. “The first thing I explained to Fernley was that it would be very hard for anyone to get emotionally involved with those shapes for a whole movie. And I thought it would be great for the actor to play the duality. What happened with Jim and Virginia is that they really did become other people because Fingerling as the detective and Virginia as the femme fatale in the movie are totally different human beings from Walter and Agatha, although they certainly have some of them in them.”

The Number 23 (2007)

The key for Schumacher was to succeed in having the characters in the book sequences be dark reflections of the characters in the main story – Walter and Agatha. “It’s a movie about self-revelation and each chapter of the book is designed to be reflective of the content,” says Schumacher. “There are haunting questions that each chapter brings up with, not only Walter, but his son and some of the people around him. Many things become disturbing. I think everybody has read books or seen movies or plays where there are parts that closely mirror their own lives, maybe unspoken things that seem to disturb someone when they’re experiencing it.”

Schumacher also knew that the look of the film – particularly the visualization of the book sequences – would be crucial to hooking audiences into this dark and surreal world. To create the look of the film, he put together a talented production team which included cinematographer Matthew Libatique (The Fountain, Inside Man), production designer Andrew Laws (The Break-Up, Derailed), and costume designer Daniel Orlandi (The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella Man). Together, they created not only the stark look of a modern day thriller, but the dark and disturbing design of the literary nether world of The Number 23.

The Number 23 (2007) - Jim Carrey

23 Examples of the “23 Enigma”

The “23 Enigma” refers to the belief that all incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23, some permutation of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23. Following are some examples of the number’s presence…

1. Each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to the DNA of a child.
2. It takes 23 seconds for blood to circulate throughout the entire body.
3. In humans, the 23rd chromosome determines gender.
4. There are 23 letters in the Latin alphabet.
5. Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times when he was assassinated.
6. Earth’s axis is off by 23.5 degrees.
7. The Knights Templar had 23 Grand Masters.
8. William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564.
9. William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616.
10. The ancient Egyptian and Sumerian calendars begin on July 23.
11. The Titanic sank the morning of April 15th, 1912 (4 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 2 = 23)
12. The Mayans believed the world will end on December 23, 2012 (20 + 1 + 2 = 23)
13. Jim Carrey’s production company is JC23 Entertainment.
14. John Dillinger robbed 26 banks, but only 23 for money.
15. The distance from the center of Mars to its nearest moon is 23,500 km.
16. 230 people died on TWA Flight 800.
17. Kurt Cobain was born in 1967: 1+9+6+7 = 23.
18. Kurt Cobain died in 1994: 1+9+9+4 = 23.
19. The Number 23 began filming on January 23, 2006.
20. The letters in Joel Schumacher and Jim Carrey’s names add up to 23.
21. The letters in Virginia Madsen and Jim Carrey’s names add up to 23.
22. Charles Manson was born on November 12th (11 + 12 = 23)
23. The Number 23 opens in theaters on February 23rd, 2007.

The Number 23 (2007)

23 On The Set

Since obsession with the number 23 forms the backbone of the film, it only seems logical that some of that obsession would spill over to the production itself. In fact, members of the cast and crew seemed to be aware of the presence of 23 in just about everything they were doing.

“Everybody was coming up all the time and asking ‘Did you hear what added up to 23 today?’” says Jim Carrey. “There was always something, everybody got into it. That’s what I hope for people when they leave the theater, that they kind of start looking around and find those things. I’m really drawn to movies that are about more than just the plot itself. Movies that somehow capture a social phenomenon like Jaws captured our fear of the ocean, our fear of the unknown in sharks. I think this movie captures a real phenomenon that’s going on out there. The 23 enigma is everywhere, and this movie puts its finger on that.”

Carrey and the rest of the team became well versed in the 23 mythology. “In life, 23 seems to be attached to a lot of different things – good and bad,” notes Carrey. “You’ve got Michael Jordan and LeBron James, who both wear number 23. David Beckham just changed his number to 23. Then you’ve got O.J. Simpson, the infamous athlete who wore 32 – 23 reversed. You’ve also got Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman, whose names combined have 23 letters. It just goes on and on. It’s everywhere.”

The Number 23 (2007)

But not everybody was quick to get caught up in the symbolism of the number on set. Schumacher found himself debunking superstitions as quickly as people were discovering them. “I try not to get caught up in it anymore, because when we were making the film, the cast and crew became so obsessed with the number,” says the director. “People’s children, the internet, it becomes this every day thing. Somebody would look at the slate and we’re doing the 23rd take of the 23rd scene, and it happens to be February 23rd. Then everybody goes, ‘No way…’ and nothing happens. You do take 23 or not, and then you go on. But the cameras didn’t explode, we didn’t win a million dollars in the lottery. Nothing happened except that it was the 23rd take on the 23rd day – oooohhh.”

Schumacher continues, “I do have my own superstitions, and there were some things that happened on the movie with 23’s. But maybe if we were making a movie called ‘Twenty-Eight,’ that would have happened also. I don’t know.”

Even Virginia Madsen, who was initially a skeptic, began to notice strange coincidences. “My mother bought a new place, and the address has the number 23 on it. Then a parking space that was assigned to me was number 23. And when Jim and I filmed a scene in a car on a flatbed, every time we went to the beginning of the shot we found ourselves on 32nd St. Jim is so satisfied when it happens, but I try my best not to pay attention. I’ve decided it’s just too haunting.”

Whatever people’s feelings were about the 23 phenomenon, Jim Carrey points out that all the conjecture made for an interesting shoot. “What’s really fun about this whole concept of the 23 is that it taps into this need people have to believe in magical things,” he says.

Magic or not, the 23 enigma is sure to capture the attention of audiences. But at the end of the day, The Number 23 is about much more than just numerology. “I don’t know about any enigmas. I wanted to tell a story and I thought this is a damn good story to tell,” says Schumacher. “If people want to see this movie just as a thriller, that’s fine with me. But I think there are many other elements to it. It’s essentially a film about responsibility because I believe in that very strongly. I think we have to take responsibility for everything we have done, and I think when we avoid that it can be like a disease, like a physical disease of the soul.”

The Number 23 Movie Poster (2007)

The Number 23 (2007)

Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Danny Huston, Logan Lerman, Rhona Mitra, Maile Flanagan, Patricia Belcher, Lynn Collins, Mark Pellegrino, Tara Karsian
Screenplay by: Fernley Phillips
Production Design by: Andrew Laws
Cinematography by: Matthew Libatique
Film Editing by: Mark Stevens
Costume Design by: Daniel Orlandi
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
MPAA Rating: R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality and language.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: February 23, 2007

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