Once they reach the roof , McCabe re-enters again and his pleas to David not to believe Ventura become more and more desperate until he collapses onto the ground in despair . David 's interaction with Sofia is extended as he tells her he loves her but ca n't settle for a dream . He then jumps off the building and screams that he wants to wake up as images from his life flash before his eyes . He wakes up in bed and a voice tells him " Open your eyes . You 're going to be fine . " After the American debut of Alejandro Amenábar 's 1997 Spanish film '' Abre los ojos ( Open Your Eyes ) '' at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival , Tom Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner optioned the remake rights . Hoping to entice director Cameron Crowe , who previously collaborated with Cruise on '' Jerry Maguire '' , Cruise invited Crowe over to his house to view the film . Cruise has stated : I 've been offered a lot of films to buy and remake , and I never have because I felt it was too connected with the culture of that place , whatever country it was from . But this was a universal story that was still open-ended , that still felt like it needed another chapter to be told . The title of the film is a reference to depictions of skies in certain paintings by Claude Monet . In addition to Monet 's impressionistic artwork , the film 's tone was derived from the acoustic ballad " By Way of Sorrow " by Julie Miller and a line from an early interview of Elvis Presley in which he said , " I feel lonely , even in a crowded room . " Principal photography for '' Vanilla Sky '' began in late 2000 and lasted six weeks . On November 12 , 2000 , shooting for the scene of the deserted Times Square in New York took place in the early hours of the day . A large section of traffic was blocked off around Times Square while the scene was shot . " There was a limit on how long the city would let us lock everything up even on an early Sunday morning when much of NYC would be slow getting up , " said Steadicam operator , Larry McConkey . " Several times we rehearsed with Steadicam and Crane including a mockup of an unmovable guardrail that we had to work the crane arm around . Cruise participated in these rehearsals as well so we shared a clear understanding of what my limitations and requirements would be . " Filming lasted for six weeks around the New York City-area , which included scenes shot in Central Park , Upper West Side , SoHo , and Brooklyn . One prominent location in the area was the Condé Nast Building that served as Aames Publishing and David 's office . After filming finished in New York , production moved to Los Angeles , where the remainder of interior shots were completed at Paramount Studios . Crowe intentionally left in shots of the World Trade Center after the September 11 attacks in 2001 as a tribute
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Vanilla Sky