Background and Trivia |
- Interestingly, the soundtrack was submitted to the US copyright office before the movie itself. The first soundtrack was under application PA0000103271 using the title: Teo Macero presents Impressions of "Virus". This is an early, three track record featuring music from Teo Macero and Janis Ian. The second soundtrack, filed on the same day on February 9th, 1981, was under PA0000103272 using the title: Symphonic Suite "Virus". A third soundtrack was also filed, also on the same day, under PA0000103273 using just the title Virus.
As for the movie itself, it's unclear who was the first to submit it due to the common name of the film. On August 30th, 1982, United Artists submitted a huge application that included 11,069 titles. This was under V1933P375 and included a movie called Virus, although no additional details are listed and it's unclear if this is the same movie. For sure the movie was submitted by May 26th, 1983, when Media Home Entertainment, who would release it on VHS, submitted an application under V2006P068. This was for a Virus motion picture. However, no additional details are listed but was done jointly with Western Horizon Television. Later on November 11th, 1983, Media Home Entertainment submitted another application, jointly with Broadwood Productions, under V2020P263. Broadwood Productions would be the one to release the movie in US theaters, and notes the date of execution between these companies for the rights took place on August 10th 1983.
- Based on a 1964 novel by Sakyo Komatsu of the same name, Day of Resurrection. The novel differs in a couple of ways from the movie. Probably the biggest difference is around the virus itself, though. In the novel it originates from space, as the microorganism was collected from an American astronaut after a mission. It is then worked on as a bio-weapon dubbed as MM-88, short for "Martian Murderer". In the movie, the virus keeps the MM-88 name, but it's never elaborated what it stands for while the space angle, if it even exists in the film, isn't brought up at all. The virus is also not nicknamed the Italian Flu, as in the movie, but briefly as the Tibetan Flu. The climax is also different between sources. In the novel, two teams go to try and stop the nuclear weapons from detonating: one to the United States and the other to the Soviet Union. This is possible because the HMS Nereid does not destroy submarine T232, like it does in the movie, because the crew is not infected with the virus. In the end the US team is still unsuccessful, but it ends up that Antartica was not hit like the Soviet survivors expected, either thanks to their team's efforts or misinformation that it was targeted in the first place. This leaves considerably more people alive at the end of the story, even more so as in the novel there are 10,000 survivors originally at Antartica versus the 863 in the movie.
- A movie adaptation was considered as early as 1965 by Toho, as noted in the Day of Resurrection lost project.
- Directors John Michael Frankenheimer, who did The Manchurian Candidate, and George Pan Cosmatos, who went on to direct Rambo: First Blood Part II, were both offered the chance to direct the movie. They both, however, turned down the opportunity. Noted in SF Soul (ISBN 4106101769).
- Actor George Kennedy was paid $40,000 for his work on the film while Edward James Olmos was paid $20,000. Noted in Age of the Gods (self-published).
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