Dave
1993 · 110 min
Directed by Ivan Reitman. Written by Gary Ross. Starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn.
A sweet-natured Temp Agency operator and amateur Presidential look-alike is recruited by the Secret Service to become a temporary stand-in for the President of the United States.
Critics 95% · audiences 72% · streaming on Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube (free) · $63 million in the US and Canada on its first run · about 15 million tickets sold, 5.9% of the country · 1 Oscar nomination
How it got made
According to Ivan Reitman, Warner Bros. wanted a box office star to portray the lead role and that one executive even suggested Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the part. Michael Keaton was briefly cast in the role, but had to drop out. Both Warren Beatty and Kevin Costner were also considered for the role. In fact, it was Beatty who brought Dave to Reitman's attention. Kevin Kline almost turned down the role, because he thought he would be playing the same character he played in A Fish Called Wanda.
Nevertheless, Kline was hired to play the protagonist, as Reitman considered him to have a presidential look and be an actor "who was both dramatically strong and was light on his feet," as Kline would not only be playing a double role, but the film was a comedy that dealt with very serious subject matter. Reitman then called Sigourney Weaver, with whom he had worked in Ghostbusters, for the First Lady role. Ross was present for production, as he was interested in starting a directing career as well.
Filming began on August 13, 1992, in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. White House interior sets were filmed at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank while exterior scenes were filmed at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, California. The film's Oval Office set was constructed based on a replica at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and would be reused more than 25 times, for television shows and films such as The Pelican Brief, In the Line of Fire, Hot Shots! Part Deux and Absolute Power. The Secret Service did not cooperate with the production unlike In the Line of Fire, describing Dave as "whimsical".
At the box office
Dave debuted at number 2 at the US box office, behind Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. It reached number 1 in its second weekend. In total, Dave made $63.3 million in the United States and Canada and $28.5 million internationally for a worldwide total of $91.8 million.