The Alamo (2004)

Interesting facts

• Box office: CA$25.8M

The Alamo is a 2004 American historical war film about the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. It is directed by John Lee Hancock and stars Dennis Quaid as Sam Houston, Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett, Jason Patric as Jim Bowie, Patrick Wilson as William B. Travis, Jordi Mollà as Juan Seguín, and Emilio Echevarría as Antonio López de Santa Anna. The screenplay was written by Hancock, Stephen Gaghan, and Leslie Bohem.

Production

The origin of the project began in the mid 1990's, with screenwriter Leslie Bohem, who had previously worked on films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, and Dante’s Peak. Bohem had a conversation with Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace at the Austin Film Festival, who told Bohem about a trip he had taken to San Antonio to take a look at The Alamo. Bohem then set off to write a script.

In January 2001, Variety announced that Kevin Jarre was writing a new script, In October of the same year, it was announced that John Sayles was hired to write a new draft, Sayles, who previously had written and directed Lone Star, had come up with a 137-page draft that was considered brilliant, In contrast to the 1960 film of the same name starring John Wayne, this film was going to attempt to depict the political points of view from both the Me…

During pre-production, several actors such as Mel Gibson and Brad Pitt were considered for roles in the movie. Russell Crowe was in talks to play Sam Houston, while Ethan Hawke signed on as William Barret Travis. Producer Brian Grazer wanted Sean Penn for the role of James Bowie, and Billy Bob Thornton was cast as David Crockett.

Most of the film was shot between January and June 2003, primarily using sets built at a ranch near Austin; at 51 acres, it was the largest set ever built in North America (at the time). A number of buildings, including the mission, were constructed for the film, at a cost of about $10 million. They depicted a Spanish colonial village.

Hancock's version was purported to be the most accurate of all the Alamo films, but various liberties were taken, such as building the Alamo chapel facade forward 40 feet more than the extant (and presumably historically-correct) structure. According to one of the DVD version's special features, Hancock did that to show the Alamo chapel and the interior of the fort in one shot.

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