Taglines: Welcome to the Party.
54 movie storyline. Shane O’Shea (Ryan Phillippe) is a young Jersey City man, handsome enough to become a bartender at Studio 54. There he befriends aspiring singer Anita (Salma Hayek) and her husband, Greg Randazzo (Breckin Meyer). Shane gets sucked into the hard-partying scene at Studio 54; as his life spirals downward, so does the club.
the story of three friends – a busboy, a bartender and a coat-check girl – and the sordid love triangle that nearly tore them apart, set against the glittery excess of New York’s Studio 54 dance club. The film, which debuted to positive response at the Berlin International Film Festival, also screened at Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta Film Festivals as well as the BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival. 54: The Director’s Cut will continue to screen at festivals around the world.
Based on two short films Mark Christopher made, Miramax Films persuaded Christopher to direct the full-length feature about Studio 54. He had spent five years researching the club and the time period while working on a screenplay. Miramax purchased a partial screenplay in 1995 and developed the script with the filmmaker for over a year. Christopher shot the film in Toronto over two months in the fall of 1997. During the production, a Miramax executive was often present on the set and studio head Harvey Weinstein flew up from New York to give his approval.
In the 1998 version, expectations were high with the hopes that the film would become a big summer hit. Christopher finished his cut of the film and the studio scheduled the film’s release for July of the following year. After initial positive reactions within the company, early test screenings for the two-hour cut of the film disappointed the studio. Audiences found the characters unlikable and reacted negatively to a kiss between Shane and Greg. They also did not respond well to the happy ending for both of them and Anita. Miramax requested cuts be made and Christopher initially refused.
54 is a 1998 American drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher, about Studio 54, a world-famous New York City discoteque, the main setting of the film. It stars Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, and Mike Myers as Steve Rubell, the club’s co-founder. Prior to its release in 1998, the film was extensively reshot and recut, and then released to poor critical acclaim but respectable box office.
In 2008, a bootleg version of the director’s cut was screened at Outfest, leading to interest for its release. In 2015, Christopher and Miramax premiered a new edit of the film at the Berlin International Film Festival, with 45 minutes of original material restored and 30 minutes of studio re-shoots removed.
Christopher reshot parts of his movie at the behest of the studio, with only two months until its theatrical release. These edits removed the love triangle subplot between the three characters. Much of the cast was called back for two weeks of additional filming in New York without being told what they would be shooting.
Meyer, for example, found out that his substantial part in the film had been cut down to a stereotypical best-friend role and a new scene was shot that portrayed his character as a thief. The kiss between Greg and Shane was replaced with a conversation. Ultimately, 45 minutes of the original film were deleted and replaced with 25 minutes of new scenes and voice-over.
54 (1998)
Directed by: Mark Christopher
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, Mike Myers, Sela Ward, Breckin Meyer, Sherry Stringfield, Ellen Albertini Dow, Cameron Mathison, Heather Matarazzo
Screenplay by: Mark Christopher
Production Design by: Kevin Thompson
Cinematography by: Alexander Gruszynski
Film Editing by: Lee Percy
Costume Design by: Ellen Lutter
Set Decoration by: Karin Wiesel
Art Direction by: Tamara Deverell
Music by: Marco Beltrami
MPAA Rating: R for strong sexuality, drug use and language.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: August 28, 1998
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