Editing Heathers (section)

==Production==
===Development===
Daniel Waters began writing the screenplay in spring of 1986, while he was working at a [[Video rental shop|video store]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Rowlands|first1=Paul|title=Daniel Waters on 'Heathers' (Part 1 of 2)|url=http://www.money-into-light.com/2016/05/daniel-waters-on-heathers-part-1-of-2.html|access-date=January 9, 2021|language=en}}</ref> He wanted the film to be directed by [[Stanley Kubrick]],<ref name="Qnet">{{cite web |date=September 25, 2001 |title=Heathers DVD review |url=http://www.qnetwork.com/review/377 |access-date=March 9, 2011 |website=Qnetwork.com}}</ref> not only out of admiration for him, but also from a perception that "Kubrick was the only person that could get away with a three-hour film". The cafeteria scene near the start of ''Heathers'' was written as a homage to the barracks scene which opens Kubrick's ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''. After a number of failed attempts to get the script to Kubrick, Waters approached director Michael Lehmann, who he met through a mutual friend.<ref name=":0" /> Lehmann agreed to helm the film with producer [[Denise Di Novi]].

In the original version of the script, J.D. successfully blows up Westerburg High, and the final scene features a surreal prom gathering of all the students in heaven. Executives at New World Pictures agreed to finance the film, but they disliked the dark ending and insisted that it be changed.<ref name="Markovitz">{{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/article/2014/04/04/heathers-oral-history/ | title=Heathers: An Oral History | last=Markovitz | first=Adam | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | date=April 4, 2014 | access-date=January 10, 2018}}</ref>

Some reviewers have discussed similarities between ''Heathers'' and ''[[Massacre at Central High]]'', a low-budget 1976 film.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kane|first1=Joe|title=The Phantom of the Movies' Videoscope: The Ultimate Guide to the Latest, Greatest, and Weirdest Genre Videos|date=2000|publisher=Three Rivers Press|location=New York|isbn=9780812931495|page=524|quote=We probably would have liked [''Heathers''] even better if we hadn't seen much the same story before as 1976's ''Massacre at Central High... Heathers'' replaces ''Massacre''{{'s}} fascistic male clique with a femme one but otherwise clones the earlier flick pretty closely.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Siegel|first1=Scott|last2=Siegel|first2=Barbara|author-link1=Scott Siegel|title=The Winona Ryder Scrapbook | date=1997 | publisher=Carol Publishing Group|location=Secaucus, NJ|isbn=9780806518831|pages=51–52|quote=''Heathers''... spoofed the 1976 schlock horror classic ''Massacre at Central High''... about a new student at a Southern California high school who doesn't like how other students are terrorized by a gang, so he decides to off the gang members one by one in gruesome fashion.}}</ref> Daniel Waters has stated that he had not seen ''Massacre at Central High'' at the time he wrote ''Heathers'' but that he had read a review of it in a [[Danny Peary]] book about [[cult movie]]s and that the earlier film may have been "rattling around somewhere in my subconscious".<ref>{{cite book|last=Bowie|first=John Ross|author-link=John Ross Bowie|title=Heathers|page=14|date=2011|publisher=[[Soft Skull Press]]|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=978-1593764579|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygKozrmDh1QC&q=massacre%20at%20central%20high%20heathers&pg=PT14|quote=I [''Heathers'' screenwriter Daniel Waters] had most definitely not seen [''Massacre at Central High''], but I do remember reading about it in the beloved book ''Cult Movies'' by [[Danny Peary]]... so I guess it was rattling around somewhere in my subconscious.}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [Peary's review of ''Massacre at Central High'' appears in his ''[[Cult Movies 2]]''.]</ref>

===Casting===
Many actors and actresses turned down the project because of its dark subject matter. Early choices for Veronica were [[Justine Bateman]] and [[Jennifer Connelly]].<ref name="Markovitz" /> Winona Ryder, who was 16 at the time of filming and badly wanted the part, begged Waters to cast her as Veronica, even offering to work for free.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lunn|first=Oliver|date=August 15, 2018|title='heathers' director michael lehmann dissects the film's lasting influence as it celebrates its 30th anniversary|url=https://i-d.co/article/heathers-director-michael-lehmann-film-30th-birthday-coming-of-age/|access-date=January 9, 2021|website=i-D|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112080429/https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/9km8vz/heathers-director-michael-lehmann-film-30th-birthday-coming-of-age|archive-date=January 12, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Waters at first did not think Ryder was pretty enough, and Ryder herself commented that "at the time, I didn't look that different from my character in ''[[Beetlejuice]]''. I was very pale. I had blue-black dyed hair. I went to [[Macy's]] at the [[Beverly Center]] and had them do a makeover on me."<ref name="Markovitz" />

Ryder's [[Talent agent|agent]] was so opposed to her pursuing the role that she got down on her hands and knees to beg Ryder not to take it, warning her that it would ruin her career.<ref name="Markovitz" /><ref>{{cite video| title=Return to Westerburg High DVD Featurette| publisher=Boulevard Entertainment Ltd.| year=2010| medium=DVD}}</ref> Eventually, she was given the role. [[Brad Pitt]] read for the role of J.D. but was rejected.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/heathers-brad-pitt-alternate-endings-sequel-145531246.html|title='Heathers' writer reveals rejecting 'a pimply' Brad Pitt, alternate endings and the sequel we'll never see|last=Polowy|first=Kevin|date=November 14, 2019|website=Yahoo!}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/21-things-we-learned-from-the-heathers-commentary-439a871c1f8c/ |title=21 Things We Learned from the 'Heathers' Commentary |last=Carr |first=Kevin |date=December 26, 2013 |website=[[Film School Rejects]]}}</ref> Christian Slater reports throwing a "big tantrum" and tossing his script in the trash after assuming he'd bombed his audition.<ref name="Markovitz" /> He was signed to play J.D. shortly after Ryder was cast, stating later that he channeled [[Jack Nicholson]] in the film.<ref name="nicholson">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/04/double-trouble-movie-doppelganger-tom-hardy-marilyn-monroe|title=Double trouble: the hard life of the movie doppelganger|first=Phil|last=Hoad|date=October 4, 2018|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

[[Heather Graham]], then 17, was offered the part of Heather Chandler but turned it down due to her parents' disapproval of the film.<ref name="Markovitz" /> Kim Walker, who was dating Slater at the time, was offered the role instead. Lisanne Falk, 23 years old at the time, lied and said she was in her late teens during the audition. It was only after she was cast that she revealed her true age.<ref name="Markovitz" /> 17-year-old Shannen Doherty wanted the role of Veronica, but Ryder had been cast, so the producers asked her to audition for Heather Chandler. Doherty was more interested in playing Heather Duke and ended up giving an "amazing" reading as Duke, which secured her the part. The producers wanted her to dye her hair blonde to match the other "Heathers", but Doherty refused, so they compromised on her having red hair.<ref name="Markovitz" />

===Filming===
[[Principal photography]] took place over 33 days beginning in July 1988, on a budget of $3 million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Rowlands|first1=Paul|title=Daniel Waters on 'Heathers' (Part 2 of 2)|url=http://www.money-into-light.com/2016/05/daniel-waters-on-heathers-part-2-of-2.html|access-date=January 9, 2021|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803170138/http://www.money-into-light.com/2016/05/daniel-waters-on-heathers-part-2-of-2.html|archive-date=2016-08-03}}</ref><ref name="Markovitz"/><ref>''Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads''. 2001. Blue Underground (presents) and Anchor Bay Entertainment (in association with). Video (extra on 2001 limited edition ''Heathers'' DVD).</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/58108|access-date=August 13, 2023|language=en|title=Heathers (1989) AFI Catalog|quote=According to 14 Sep 1988 DV production charts, principal photography began in Jul 1988.}}</ref> Although set in Ohio, filming was done entirely in Los Angeles. "Westerburg High School" is an amalgam of [[Corvallis High School (California)|Corvallis High School]], now [[Bridges Academy]], in Studio City, [[Verdugo Hills High School]] in Tujunga, and [[Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District|John Adams Middle School]] in Santa Monica.<ref name="Film locations for 'Heathers'">{{cite web| url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/h/Heathers.php | title=Film locations for 'Heathers'| website=movie-locations.com| access-date=November 4, 2022}}</ref> The gymnasium scenes were shot at Verdugo Hills High, and the climactic scene on the stairs was filmed outside John Adams Middle School.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fast-rewind.com/locations_heathers.htm| title=Heathers Movie Filming Locations| website=fast-rewind.com| access-date=February 20, 2018}}</ref> The funeral scenes were filmed at Church of the Angels in Pasadena, California, a location also used in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Just Married]]''.<ref name="Film locations for 'Heathers'"/>

Michael Lehmann has called Doherty "a bit of a handful" on set, in part because she objected to the swearing in the script and refused to say some of the more explicit lines.<ref name="Markovitz"/> Falk stated that Doherty "didn't have much of a sense of humor, and she took herself a little seriously", and Di Novi said: "I don't think Shannen really got what ''Heathers'' was. And that worked for us. She made that character real."<ref name="Markovitz"/> When the cast first viewed the film, Doherty ran out crying because she realized the film was a dark comedy and not the drama she was expecting.<ref name="Markovitz"/><ref>{{cite video| title=Return to Westerberg High 20th Anniversary Featurette| publisher=Boulevard Entertainment| medium=DVD| year=2010}}</ref>