quickly followed. By August 1989, having not found what they were looking for in New York, DiCillo and his casting director, Marcia Shulman, went to Los Angeles, where Brad Pitt was the second to last guy seen. DiCillo recalls, "[He] didn’t have much on his resume. In fact he only had two things; he’d done a small Canadian TV series and he’d just finished shooting what he’d listed as his only real film credit — something called Thelma and Louise that no one had heard about because it hadn’t even been edited yet." Convinced Pitt was Johnny Suede, DiCillo forced the casting on his South African producer, who was shortly thereafter replaced by Ruth Waldburger when the South African's option expired. The film was ultimately shot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 30 days, from November to December 1990. Music Original music for the film was performed by rockabilly guitar legend Link Wray. Subsequently, a version was released on Netflix that removed 8 minutes of Wray's music. DiCillo objected to this version, and subsequently was allowed to reedit the film himself, removing scenes and voiceover that had been added by the distributor. Release and reception The film was entered into competition at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, where it was seen by Mark Tusk from Miramax who, convinced Pitt would become a film star, urged Harvey Weinstein to make the unprecedented step of purchasing the rights to a film he had not yet seen. Johnny Suede won Best Picture at the festival, and the distribution deal was sealed. The movie reportedly grossed $90,091 in the US box office, against a production budget of $500,000, though this was in one cinema - its widest release. DVD release The 2009 Anchor Bay release of this movie includes an audio commentary track from DiCillo. References Works cited External links Critical analysis of "Johnny Suede" by Critical-Film.com reviewer Scott Wood Tom DiCillo's blog entry on how the original financing of "Johnny Suede" fell through. 1991 films 1990s musical comedy films 1991 romantic comedy films American independent films 1991 independent films American musical comedy films American rock music films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films Films directed by Tom DiCillo Films set in New York City Golden Leopard winners 1991 directorial debut films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films