# Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Maybe Baby (2000) | The never-ending shoot, and Ben Elton's directorial debut

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/film-stories-with-simon-brew-606292/eyes-wide-shut-1999-and-maybe-baby-2000-the-never-ending-shoot-and-ben-elton-s-directorial-debut
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/film-stories-with-simon-brew-606292/eyes-wide-shut-1999-and-maybe-baby-2000-the-never-ending-shoot-and-ben-elton-s-directorial-debut.md
Podcast: [Film Stories with Simon Brew](https://stenobird.com/podcast/film-stories-with-simon-brew-606292)
Published: 2026-02-23T06:49:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/WHYNOW4178792800.mp3?updated=1771830243
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/WHYNOW4178792800.mp3?updated=1771830243
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Duration seconds: 4601

## Resource

The plan was for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman to spend around six months in the UK for the filming of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick had been mulling the film for decades, and considering a couple of other projects, too. But the shoot of Eyes Wide Shut would ultimately be his final film - and it's end up in the Guinness Book of Records. For Ben Elton, he was keen to pursue making the film Maybe Baby, having enjoyed success with the same story in his novel Inconceivable. But his insistence on a particular piece of casting nearly derailed the whole project. Stories of both are told in this episode. Please do like and subscribe and leave nice reviews! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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## Transcript

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