Synopsis

An insomniac office worker trapped in a dull consumerist routine meets the charismatic Tyler Durden, a soap salesman with a radically different philosophy of life. Their friendship leads to the creation of an underground fight club, which quickly grows into a wider movement. As the Narrator becomes increasingly entangled with Tyler and Marla Singer, his grip on reality begins to fracture.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was adapted from Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel. Jim Uhls wrote the screenplay, while Palahniuk later said he preferred the film's ending to the one in his book.

• The initial production budget was planned at about $23 million, but it grew substantially during production, reaching an estimated $63 million to $65 million.

• Principal photography lasted 138 days, from July through December 1998. More than 1,500 rolls of film were shot, roughly three times the average for a Hollywood production.

• Production designer Alex McDowell and his team built more than 70 sets. Tyler Durden's ruined house was constructed in Wilmington, California, while its interior was recreated on a soundstage.

• The fight scenes were carefully choreographed, but performers were encouraged to make the impacts look genuinely painful. The makeup team also studied boxing and mixed martial arts to create more convincing injuries.

• Meat Loaf wore a 90-pound fat harness for the character's distinctive chest, as well as eight-inch lifts in scenes where he needed to appear taller than Edward Norton.

• Digital Domain created the opening title sequence, which travels through imagery based on the inside of a human brain at the cellular level.

• The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival before its United States theatrical release on October 15, 1999. Its violent subject matter and social themes provoked sharply divided reactions.

• Fight Club became more influential after its initial theatrical run, particularly through home video. Its later reputation as a cult film helped turn it into one of the most discussed American movies of the late 1990s.