Beautiful Joe (2000)

Interesting facts

Beautiful Joe is a 2000 American-British film written and directed by Stephen Metcalfe. It stars Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly, with supporting roles by Ian Holm, Dann Florek, and Gil Bellows.

Production

In October 1998, actress Sharon Stone stated that Beautiful Joe would be her next project, saying she had read the script while visiting her father, Joe, in a hospital. Stone said production would take place in San Francisco, where she lived. Filming instead took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, and began in June 1999. Filming in British Columbia was initially scheduled to last from June 28 to August 17.

Although the film was partially set in Louisville, Kentucky, it would not feature any scenes shot there, with the possible exception of stock footage for outdoor shots. During July 1999, filming took place at Hastings Racecourse, a horse-racing track located at Vancouver's Hastings Park. For the film, the Hastings race track was transformed to portray the Churchill Downs horse track in Louisville.

In August 1999, Stone's husband, Phil Bronstein, had a heart attack and she returned to San Francisco to be with him. Stone's departure caused production to stop for two days, and for the following three days, director Stephen Metcalfe shot scenes that did not involve her character. Stone returned to the film set a week after Bronstein's heart attack and angioplasty.

The film was produced by Fred Fuchs and Steven Haft, and financed by London-based Capitol Films. During production, Capitol Films entered an agreement with Carl Icahn's Stratosphere Entertainment, which was to distribute the film in the United States.

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