Caligula: Package of Excellence

After the longest of long journeys, Caligula 2.0 - or Caligula: the Ultimate Cut, is released. We travel to Fantasticfest, in Austin Texas, for the North American debut. 

So Malcolm is happy, the man who put the new cut together is happy... but what about the critics and the fans? Did fixing Caligula "fix" Caligula?  

Plus we'll get to the final chapter in the original "making of" saga, where Bob Guccione shoots some new scenes, smuggles some footage out of Italy and sets about on a marketing mission that will make or break the film.

Oh, and we'll also hear from the late great actor John Steiner, who explains why when you walk under an orgy, you should always bring an umbrella. 

Find us on Facebook at Caligula: Package of Excellence Podcast, or drop us a line at [email protected].

Let's talk money! So how much did the most infamous film in history actually cost? Seventeen million, more than Star Wars, has always been the figure bandied about. But is it true? Well, that really depends on who you ask. 

Plus, while we're talking cold hard cash, we'll look at why production costs were so high. Were the Italian producers ripping off the very wealthy Bob Guccione? Was the cast and crew being stiffed? How much extra did it cost to have pornographic soothers made. And, as a bonus WTF issue, was there actually a brothel on set, as one star suspected? 

And while we're on the subject, when did Caligula finally turn a profit? 

It's a lesson in film finance you won't soon forget.

Find us on Facebook at Caligula: Package of Excellence Podcast, or drop us a line at [email protected].

So how out of control were things on the set of Caligula? 

Was a man killed by a half drugged horse? Was an actress mauled? Was a star almost drowned? Was someone having sex with a live eel? And did the director actually say he wanted to screw the producers and was intent on making the "worst film" ever?

And finally, perhaps more to the point, how did it all get so crazy?

If you guessed money, you'd be right. 

Episode 2 goes behind the curtain on a project that seemed to be coming off the rails even before it left the station.  

Plus we'll look at how the original efforts to recut the film were sidelined when new owners came in.

Find us on Facebook at Caligula: Package of Excellence Podcast, or drop us a line at [email protected].

When Malcolm McDowell, Oscar nominee Peter O’Toole, Sir John Gielgud and Dame Helen Mirren signed up for 1980’s Caligula, they had no idea they’d be lending their talents to one the most controversial XXX films the world has ever seen.  

In conjunction with the Drafthouse Films release of Caligula: The Ultimate Cut, episode I of Caligula: Package of Excellence will give movie lovers an inside look at how the original epic catastrophe came to be. Using new and exclusive interviews, firsthand accounts from the set and access to recently uncovered recordings, we'll explore how it all began, and answers the questions – how did it all go so horribly wrong? And why are some people so obsessed with recreating the film?

Find us on Facebook at Caligula: Package of Excellence Podcast, or drop us a line at [email protected].

A preview of Caligula: Package of Excellence - A six part deep dive into the making of the star-studded, XXX porno-toga epic Caligula, that Roger Ebert called  "sickening, utterly worthless, shameful."  It's the story of out of control egos, orgies, a dangerously drugged horse, drugged up movie stars, plots and violence and criminal behavior and one very odd anecdote about an eel.  

Host Collin Friesen and Tara McNamara will be your guides on this jaw-dropping excursion into indie film making history.

So how did actors like Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Sir John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole find themselves in this epically bad, sexually explicit film?  And why, after all these years, has someone gone to the trouble of putting together a new cut of the movie?

Using new interviews, recently unearthed audio, and excerpts from the film shoot itself, t's a story you haven't heard, and won't soon forget. 

Like the film's trailer said "No Rumor can match the reality."

Find us on Facebook at Caligula: Package of Excellence Podcast, or drop us a line at [email protected].