Where to watch Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Trivia & production notes

• The project spent 14 years in development limbo, with multiple producers including war hero Audie Murphy and Hal B. Wallis attempting to film Desmond Doss's story over decades.
• Mel Gibson turned down the directing offer twice before finally agreeing to direct nearly a decade later, with his decision announced in November 2014.
• To secure Australian government subsidies after tax incentives were removed, the film relied on Mel Gibson's early years living in Australia and cast most of the supporting roles with Australian actors.
• The film became an international co-production requiring creative financing solutions, including IM Global pre-selling the movie to international distributors to close a deal on the same day Lionsgate acquired US distribution rights.
• Screenwriter and producer Gregory Crosby, grandson of Bing Crosby, wrote the initial treatment after spending years convincing Desmond Doss that a film about his life was worthwhile.
• Andrew Garfield cried the first time he read the screenplay and visited Doss's hometown to connect with the character by handling his personal tools.
• Mel Gibson was drawn to casting Andrew Garfield after seeing his performance in The Social Network.
• Sound mixer Kevin O'Connell won his first Academy Award for this film after receiving 21 previous nominations, and budget constraints forced him to rely on archival recordings of WWII-era weapons for the sound design.
• Walden Media, which acquired the rights at one point, insisted on a PG-13 version of the battle sequences, prompting producer Bill Mechanic to spend years buying the rights back.
• Hacksaw Ridge marked Mel Gibson's first directorial effort since Apocalypto in 2006, and departed from his previous films by featuring a protagonist who refused to commit violence.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Hacksaw Ridge, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.