60 Fun Facts About Pulp Fiction

Who wrote and directed Pulp Fiction?

He shared the story credit, and later the Oscar, with Roger Avary.

In what year was Pulp Fiction released?

It premiered at Cannes in May and went into wide US release on October 14.

Who plays hitman Vincent Vega?

He took a cut-price fee, reportedly $100,000 to $140,000, and got an Oscar nomination that relaunched his career.

Who plays Jules Winnfield?

His second audition, delivered while angrily waving a hamburger he had brought with him, won him the part.

Who plays Mia Wallace?

Miramax had wanted Holly Hunter or Meg Ryan; Tarantino insisted on her after their first meeting.

Which actor plays the boxer Butch Coolidge?

The role was written for Matt Dillon, who preferred the Vincent part and hesitated too long.

Who plays crime boss Marsellus Wallace?

The part was first offered to Max Julien and Sid Haig, who both turned it down.

Harvey Keitel plays a 'cleaner' with what name?

Tarantino wrote the part for Keitel, calling him his favourite actor since he was 16.

The diner robbers call each other Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. What are their real names?

Tim Roth used his natural London accent for Ringo after faking an American one in Reservoir Dogs.

Who plays Captain Koons, the veteran who delivers young Butch's heirloom?

During the monologue he mentions a soldier named Winocki, a nod to a character in Howard Hawks's 1943 film Air Force.

Which small role does Tarantino himself play?

He chose Jimmie over Lance so he could be behind the camera for Mia's overdose scene.

Who plays Vincent's drug dealer Lance?

Tarantino wrote the role with John Cusack in mind; TriStar preferred Gary Oldman.

Steve Buscemi's cameo at the 1950s restaurant is as a waiter dressed as whom?

He had been considered for Jimmie but could not commit to the schedule.

Which comedian appears in the film as herself, at the scene of Butch's car crash?

Julia Sweeney is also in the film, as Raquel, the junkyard owner's daughter.

Which actor did Tarantino write the part of Jules for, before he turned it down?

He later said he passed because he felt the film glamorized heroin.

Which Reservoir Dogs actor's decision to make Wyatt Earp instead freed up the Vincent role for Travolta?

Madsen's Reservoir Dogs character Vic Vega is Vincent's brother; a 'Vega Brothers' film was mooted but never made.

Which Oscar-winner did Harvey Weinstein push for as Vincent?

Executive producer Danny DeVito reminded Weinstein that Tarantino had final cut and cast approval.

Jules's Jheri-curl wig was a mistake. What hairstyle had the script called for?

Jackson talked Tarantino into keeping the wig, since the look had been popularised by N.W.A.

What Bible passage does Jules recite before executing someone?

Most of the speech is invented; it is lifted from the opening of a 1970s Japanese martial-arts film.

Jules's 'biblical' speech is taken almost word for word from a film starring which martial-arts actor?

In Karate Kiba (1976) the same creed appears as scrolling text read by a narrator.

Which fast-food comparison do Vincent and Jules famously discuss in the car?

The 'Royale with Cheese' exchange was referenced again in the 2010 Travolta film From Paris with Love.

Which made-up fast-food brand from the film has recurred in later Tarantino movies?

Red Apple cigarettes are the other invented brand introduced in the same script.

What is the name of the 1950s-themed restaurant where Vincent takes Mia?

The set was the single most expensive item in the budget, at $150,000.

What competition do Vincent and Mia enter at the restaurant?

Tarantino says the dance was inspired by a 1964 Godard film, not Saturday Night Fever.

Which Godard film does Tarantino cite as the inspiration for the dance scene?

Anna Karina's shuffle with her two gangster boyfriends is the model.

Mia overdoses after mistaking Vincent's heroin for what?

The adrenaline-shot revival was inspired by a story told in Scorsese's documentary American Boy.

The adrenaline-shot scene was inspired by an anecdote in a documentary about which Taxi Driver actor?

He described doing it with a medical dictionary and a Magic Marker to find the spot.

Butch's father died as a prisoner of war in which conflict?

Koons hid the watch for years to bring it home; the details of where are the point of the monologue.

Why does Butch go back to his apartment, where he finds Vincent?

He then sees Marsellus crossing the street, a moment that echoes Marion Crane's boss spotting her in Psycho.

What weapon does Butch choose to rescue Marsellus in the pawnshop basement?

Maynard, Zed and the gimp are frequently compared to the hillbillies of Deliverance.

Whose motorcycle does Butch ride away on with Fabienne?

Marsellus lets him go on condition he leaves Los Angeles for good and tells no one.

What is the name of the taxi driver who helps Butch escape after the fight?

Angela Jones's performance in the short film Curdled got her the part; Tarantino later financed the feature version.

Whom does Vincent accidentally shoot in the head in the back of the car?

Phil LaMarr had read for Jules and Brett before landing the part.

Jimmie panics because his wife is due home from her night shift. What is her name?

Two of the scenes in that segment were originally written by Roger Avary for True Romance.

What lights up the inside of the mysterious briefcase?

The 1955 noir Kiss Me Deadly, with its glowing case containing an atomic device, is the usual comparison.

What pulp-style novel is Vincent reading in the bathroom scenes?

A killer delivers a similar biblical rant in that book too.

Which studio put the script into turnaround, with its chief calling it 'too demented'?

Miramax then picked it up and made it the first film it fully financed.

What was the film's final production budget?

It went on to gross nearly $213 million worldwide.

Which prize did the film win at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival?

The Weinsteins flew the whole cast to France and unveiled it at a midnight screening.

Which Academy Award did Pulp Fiction win?

It had seven nominations; Forrest Gump took Best Picture that year.

How many Oscar nominations did Pulp Fiction receive?

Travolta, Jackson and Thurman were all nominated in the acting categories but none won.

Roughly how much did Pulp Fiction gross at the US box office?

It was the first Miramax release to pass $100 million in the US and Canada.

Which song plays over the opening credits?

There is no composed score at all; Tarantino built the soundtrack from surf, soul and pop records.

Which power-pop song did Tarantino plan, then decide against, for the pawnshop rape scene?

The soundtrack album still reached number 21 on the Billboard 200.

Which band's cover of a Neil Diamond song was the soundtrack's single?

'Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon' is the song Mia dances to just before her overdose.

In which city did Tarantino start writing the script in March 1992?

That is one reason Vincent has just come back from Amsterdam and knows so much about European fast food.

Where did the diner scenes get filmed?

The Googie-style restaurant was a real location; the 1950s theme restaurant was built in a warehouse.

The 2005 film Be Cool reunited Vincent and Mia's two actors for a homage to which scene?

The side-by-side image of Travolta and Jackson pointing their guns is the other most-copied shot; Banksy repainted it with bananas.

Which 2014 Marvel film puts Jules's Bible verse on a character's gravestone as a nod to the film?

Nick Fury visits his own headstone bearing the verse.

Roger Avary's original contribution, 'Pandemonium Reigns', became the basis of which storyline?

Before the premiere Tarantino persuaded him to take a 'story by' credit so the poster could say 'Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino'.

Which magazine named Pulp Fiction the best film of the previous 25 years in 2008?

The same year Empire's readers, critics and industry poll placed it ninth of all time.

What kind of gun does Butch kill Vincent with in the apartment?

Vincent had left it on the kitchen counter while he used the bathroom.

Which Reservoir Dogs actor plays the diner robber nicknamed Pumpkin, using his natural London accent?

He had used an American accent in Reservoir Dogs, and it was he who introduced Tarantino to Amanda Plummer, insisting she be given a really big gun.

The role of Butch was originally written for which actor, who turned it down?

He preferred the Vincent role, which Tarantino wanted for Travolta; Mickey Rourke also passed before Bruce Willis signed on.

Which Portuguese actress plays Butch's girlfriend Fabienne?

Tarantino met her while touring the European festival circuit with Reservoir Dogs.

Who plays Jody, the heavily pierced wife of drug dealer Lance?

Her sister Alexis also appears, as the man who bursts from a bathroom and misses Vincent and Jules with every shot.

Which blaxploitation star read for Jody, was passed over, and then got the lead in Jackie Brown?

Tarantino felt audiences would never believe Lance could yell at her; Ellen DeGeneres also read for the part.

Which Sylvester Stallone film did Pulp Fiction edge out to top the US box office on its opening weekend?

The film went wide immediately into 1,100 theaters instead of the slow platform release typical of indies, grossing about $9.3 million.

Miramax sued Tarantino in November 2021 over his plan to sell what based on the film?

The sale included the original handwritten script; the two sides later settled and spoke of collaborating on future NFTs.

Why did Tarantino shoot the film on 50 ASA, the slowest stock available?

He called it the closest thing to 1950s Technicolor and wanted an $8 million film to look like a $20-25 million epic.