I had lost my own father-he died at 53 years old from pancreatic cancer in 1972. 'That character just spoke to me profoundly. 'The moment I read the script, I loved the part of Inigo Montoya,' Patinkin told Entertainment Weekly. MANDY PATINKIN FELT A PERSONAL CONNECTION TO THE CHARACTER OF INIGO MONTOYA. (In one of these proto- Princess Brides, a then-unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger was supposed to play Fezzik.)Īfter several false starts, Goldman bought back the rights to the book. The movie only got made because Reiner had built up so much good will with movies like This is Spinal Tap and The Sure Thing that the studio, 20th Century Fox , offered to make any project of his choice.

FOR A LONG TIME, NO ONE WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE MOVIE.Īt one point or another, Robert Redford, Norman Jewison, John Boorman, and François Truffaut all tried to get the book made into a movie, but due to a series of unrelated incidents-'green-lighters' getting fired, production houses closing-it languished for years. It quickly became Reiner's favorite book of all time, and he had long wanted to turn it into a movie-but he had no idea that many before him had tried and failed.

Rob Reiner, who directed the movie, first read the book in his 20s when Goldman gave it to his father. BOTH THE DIRECTOR AND THE LEADING MAN ALREADY KNEW AND LOVED THE STORY BEFORE FILMING EVEN BEGAN.Ĭary Elwes's stepfather had given him Goldman's book in 1975, when the future actor was just 13 years old.

What do you want it to be about?' One of them said 'a princess' and the other one said 'a bride.' I said, 'That’ll be the title.'' 2. William Goldman, who wrote the novel The Princess Bride in 1973 and penned the screenplay, told Entertainment Weekly that, 'I had two little daughters, I think they were 7 and 4 at the time, and I said, 'I’ll write you a story. IT WAS WRITTEN FOR THE AUTHOR'S DAUGHTERS. Pulling from the impressively detailed text of As You Wish : Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride and various interviews Elwes and others have given over the years, we rounded up a series of fun facts and anecdotes sure to delight any fan of the film. Fortunately, in 2012, the movie's leading man, Cary Elwes, was inspired to write a behind-the-scenes book about the making of the movie in honor of its 25th anniversary, for which he interviewed nearly all of the key cast and crew (sadly, André the Giant, who played Fezzik, passed away in 1993). It's no wonder The Princess Bride is such a beloved film: It's action-packed but still lighthearted, sweet but not saccharine, silly but still smart-and, of course, endlessly quotable.

Princess and the bride book