novella Legends of the Fall in January 1979 and public response was so enthusiastic that Revenge was published in May. Warner Bros promptly bought the screen rights and hired Harrison to do the screenplay. The project languished in development hell for eleven years. John Huston was to direct Jack Nicholson and then Orson Welles was attached to direct. Harrison later recalled he "wrote about 12 different endings to it". Walter Hill worked on the screenplay for a while. Costner had an interest in the novella from the mid-1980s. "It seemed to me something I wanted to do myself", he said. "I contemplated directing it because it seemed like a small movie. The story was manageable, but the themes were big and universal, and the writing was tough and it was honest and it was original. There was poignance in the story, and it read like an original movie to me." Producer Ray Stark eventually acquired the rights from Warner Bros in exchange for the film Bird. Costner used his celebrity status to help get the film made. Costner would serve as executive producer and take a special interest in the script. The writer was Robert Garland who made No Way Out with Costner. For a time it seemed John Huston might direct Costner in the film and the two men met; Huston was not impressed by the actor. In 1987, New World Pictures teamed up with Rastar to co-own feature film rights to the Revenge project. Shooting Principal shooting took place in several Mexican cities, including Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City. Production completed on December 14, 1988. Some shooting took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the town of Sombrerete, Mexico. The closing scene was shot at the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, one of several monasteries near the volcano Popocatapetl. Director Tony Scott would lend several assets from his prior making of Top Gun, including access to the Navy personnel to arrange footage of F-14s over rough desert terrain. Viewers would also recognize the familiar cockpit simulators in Revenge's opening sequence as those used in Top Gun. Release Columbia released Revenge on VHS and Betamax in August 1990. The version included on the 2007 DVD and Blu-ray releases is Tony Scott's director's cut, shorter by 20 minutes, running 104 minutes, and including expanded scenes as well as some deletions and additional scoring by Harry Gregson-Williams.