The settlers game. According to the filmmakers on the Ultimate Edition DVD, the film was going to be a big hit after the movie was #1 at the box office charts despite negative reviews from critics (it earned $3.5 million in its opening weekend). However, word of mouth and a couple of incidents killed the film's momentum.
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According to, what had happened was gangs were attracted to the film and they had saw their rival gangs and caused violent incidents. Paramount Pictures panicked and decided to pull the movie out of theaters. Said the movie still kept going while the studio pulled the movie out of marketing. Despite this, the movie went on to be not only a cult hit but also a timeless classic; it even made a profit since it earned $22.4 million in initial box office receipts against a budget of only $6-7 million.
The night scenes of The Warriors talking about Cyrus and the big meeting at The Bronx were part of re-shoots after the original opening of the film was cut out. The original opening of the film (which can be viewed on the Ulimate Edition DVD) was set in Coney Island during the daytime which Cleon's girlfriend says goodbye to Cleon and also features the rest of the gang being told by Cleon why they were chosen to go to the big meeting. The main reason why this opening was cut was because the editors told that the scene completely fell through because it set in the daytime (95% of the film is set in nighttime) and they felt it wouldn't work since it would cut to nighttime and it was a distraction. Walter agreed and decided to go back and re-shot the conversations that The Warriors have before their train arrives. Producer had discovered the book which this film is based on, without a cover, at a book store.
After reading the description of the plot, he became very interested and bought the rights out of his own pocket. Gordon hired to write it and approach to direct it after working with him on (1975) and (1978).
Hill was very interested in the project but he felt that no studio would let them make the movie so the pair decided to make a western called 'Last Gun' instead. However, financing fell though and Gordon was able to get The Warriors funded by Paramount Pictures. To this day, 'Last Gun' has not been made. The conclave scene in Van Cortland Park was filmed using actual NYC gang members as a gesture of goodwill from the producers to allow them to be a part of the production taking place on their 'territory'. The NYPD expressed reservations about this arrangement fearing the close proximity of so many actual (and competing) gang members could lead to violence.
The insisted on placing undercover officers throughout the crowd to handle any disturbances. So the scene features real gang members as well as real (and unknown) cops. Michael Beck's next leading man role was the 1980 fantasy musical film, Xanadu, in which he co-starred with Olivia Newton John.
The film remains a forgettable failure in every respect as well as a radical shift from the virile, tough guy personae Beck deftly demonstrated in The Warriors. Although Beck never openly expressed regret for accepting Xanadu, he is quoted saying 'The Warriors opened a lot of doors for me in film which Xanadu then closed.' He did go on to work a respectable film and TV career however he would never again be cast as a leading actor, playing only supporting characters. Filming of the encounter/chase/and fight sequences with the Baseball Furies involved two sets of actors playing most of the Furies.
A NYC running group known as the New York Roadrunners was brought in for one night of filming, using the same costumes and makeup, to capture most of the extended running shots in the chase scenes. However, the actual fight, and a great deal more running, was done by stuntmen. The fight involved 2 weeks of rehearsal and one week of shooting, and used actual baseball bats. Stuntman Steven Chambers suffered several broken ribs as the last Furie to go down in the fight when he was hit in the side by Swan's bat. Although he was hospitalized the shot remains in the film. The entire film was shot on the streets in New York City with some interior scenes done at Astoria Studios.
They would shoot from sundown to sunrise. The film quickly fell behind schedule and went over budget. While they shot in the Bronx, bricks were tossed at the crew. Actor remembers that filming of his scene at Avenue A was cancelled because there was a double homicide nearby. For the big meeting at the beginning of the film, wanted real gang members in the scene with off duty police officers also in the crowd so that there would be no trouble. At some point during the film's promotion or after the initial ruckus when released, it was ordered that several bits of voice over in the trailer be censored.
This is done by placing a piece of tape over the optical soundtrack. In the trailer, the narrator states '.between them and safety stand 20,000 cops and 100,000 sworn enemies.' The fact that gangs out numbered the police by five times apparently was considered a security issue and the words 'ten thousand' and 'twenty thousand' were bleeped out with tape. (This probably coincides with Paramount promoting the film after violence at screenings, such as the new poster campaign). The scene in which Cyrus is killed during the mass gang meeting was loosely based on a real event (December 1971) In which a member of 'The Ghetto Brothers' (Black Benji) was shot and killed during a meeting in which he was trying to negotiate peace between several Bronx and Brooklyn gangs.
He was known for his vastly different approach to gang violence, preferring to negotiate peace instead of declaring war on rival gangs. His murder did not incite retaliation, but only furthered peace talks between the offenders and other gangs. The peace talks unified rival gang members to the point that peaceful block parties were held to dissolve turf boundaries. The block parties were also a pivotal moment in the evolution of hip hop.