Richard Jewell trivia: 44 facts about the new Clint Eastwood film

Richard Jewell is a new Clint Eastwood film based on the 1997 article “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell” by Marie Brenner, published in Vanity Fair.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new film!

1. Richard Jewell is a 2019 American biographical drama film
2. It is directed and produced by Clint Eastwood
3. It is written by Billy Ray
4. The film is based on the 1997 article “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell” by Marie Brenner, published in Vanity Fair
5. The film depicts the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and its aftermath
6. There security guard Richard Jewell found a bomb and alerted authorities to evacuate
7. Only to later be wrongly accused of having placed it himself
8. It stars Paul Walter Hauser as Jewell, alongside Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, and Olivia Wilde
9. The film had its world premiere at AFI Fest on November 20, 2019
10. It is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on December 13, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures
11. It received generally positive reviews from critics
12. It was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the ten best films of the year
13. With Bates also being recognized for Best Supporting Actress
14. The project was announced in February 2014
15. Then Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill teamed to produce the film
16. With Hill set to play Jewell
17. And DiCaprio the lawyer who helped Jewell navigate the media blitz that surrounded him
18. Paul Greengrass began negotiations to direct the film with Billy Ray writing the screenplay
19. Other directors considered include Ezra Edelman and David O. Russell
20. Before the project went to Clint Eastwood
21. DiCaprio and Hill were no longer officially attached to star
22. Though they remained as producers
23. In May, Warner Bros. acquired the film rights from 20th Century Fox, which had been acquired by The Walt Disney Company earlier that year
24. In June, Sam Rockwell was cast as the lawyer, and Paul Walter Hauser as Jewell
25. Kathy Bates, Olivia Wilde, Jon Hamm and Ian Gomez were also cast
26. In July 2019, Nina Arianda joined the cast
27. Filming began on June 24, 2019 in Atlanta
28. A trailer was released on October 3, 2019
29. It is scheduled to be released in the United States and Canada on December 13, 2019
30. It will be released alongside Jumanji: The Next Level and Black Christmas
31. It is projected to gross $8 to 12 million in its opening weekend
32. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 82%
33. Based on 66 reviews
34. With an average rating of 7.06/10The site’s consensus reads: “Richard Jewell simplifies the real-life events that inspired it — yet still proves that Clint Eastwood remains a skilled filmmaker of admirable economy”
35. Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100
36. Based on 22 critics
37. Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
38. The film came under fire for its portrayal of late Atlanta-Journal Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs, who died in 2001
39. Criticism was specifically directed at the film for depicting offering to trade sex with an FBI agent in return for confidential information
40. The current editor-in-chief of the newspaper claimed that there is no evidence proving this occurred, and in an open letter, employees of the newspaper demanded the film have a disclaimer, acknowledging that “some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license”
41. Wilde, who plays Scruggs in the film, defended her role
42. She claimed a sexist double standard that Jon Hamm’s portrayal of the FBI agent was not held to the same scrutiny
43. Commentators noted that Wilde’s character was based on a real person
44. Whereas the FBI agent was an amalgamation of multiple characters from the original script