Pretty Woman Movie Secrets We Never Would Have Guessed

Showing a Parallel Universe

The movie’s opera show, the Italian La Traviata, that Edward and Vivian went to see together was about a man who falls in love with a lady of the night. Well, well, well. Coincidence? We think not. The storyline of the opera show was very similar to Viv and Ed’s real-life story, except for a few notable differences.

/pop-culture/pretty-woman-movie-secrets-we-never-would-have-guessed/img/prettywoman13_MobileImageSizeReigNN.jpg

Source: Touchstone Pictures / IMBD

For one thing, the ending of the opera story was tragic. The woman dies, leaving her lover in despair. A sad ending, for sure. Pretty Woman, however, had a very Disney-esque ending, where the two lovers were reunited at the end. But then, what else could be expected of a Disney movie, anyway? Somehow, it seems that Disney can’t bring itself to disappoint its characters and audience.

Ready, Set, Film

The movie set for Pretty Woman was not at just one location; the movie was filmed at many different locations around Beverly Hills, and also at the film studio in Los Angeles. Only one hotel there allowed shooting both inside and out, and so that hotel was used as the set for the majority of the film – the Regent Beverly Wilshere Hotel.

/pop-culture/pretty-woman-movie-secrets-we-never-would-have-guessed/img/prettywoman14_MobileImageSizeReigNN.jpg

Source: hotels.com

For scenes that had to be shot elsewhere, the nearby Ambassador Hotel was used. Incidentally, it ended up being demolished in 2005, and can now only be re-lived in the movie. The fancy restaurant where the filming was done was, in fact, an actual restaurant. It was called The Voltaire in the movie but was actually named Cicada.

Another World, Another Life

Like all rom-coms, which end happily ever after, Pretty Woman ended with Edward running after Vivian, saying a few heartfelt words, and then reuniting with her on her balcony. But the original script was entirely different. Written by J. F. Lawton, the movie was called 3000, and it was neither a love story nor did it have the happy ending that it does now. In fact, it was a lot darker.

/pop-culture/pretty-woman-movie-secrets-we-never-would-have-guessed/img/pretty-woman-movie-still-coat-700x371MobileImageSizeReigNN.jpg

Source: exploringdigitalwriting.com

The original script depicted two people who had spent a very intense week together and then got separated, leading to them being very disturbed and ending up damaged and in tears. Not the typical happily ever after, but some say that it might have been a more realistic storyline.