03/06/2025
American fantasy comedy-drama film Big is a 1988 Directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, an adolescent boy whose wish to be "big" transforms him physically into an adult. The film also stars Elizabeth Perkins, David Moscow, John Heard, and Robert Loggia, and was written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg. It was produced by Gracie Films and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
The Italian film Da grande (1987) has been said to be the inspiration for Big. Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg developed the story in one hour; days after the script was completed they sold it to James L. Brooks and 20th Century Fox
Anne's brother Steven Spielberg was attached to direct the film and wanted to cast Harrison Ford as Josh but Spielberg dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with Empire of the Sun (1987). Ford also pursued other projects instead. Spielberg would later say that his decision to not direct the film was not to take any credit away from his sister. Kevin Costner, Steve Guttenberg, Warren Beatty, Dennis Quaid and Matthew Modine were all offered the role of Josh, all of whom turned it down. Quaid turned it down for another project, a decision he later regretted. Albert Brooks was also offered the role but turned it down as he did not want to play a kid. Jeff Bridges was also considered for the role. John Travolta wanted to play Josh, but the studio wasn't interested in casting him. Sean Penn was considered for the role of Josh, but Marshall deemed him too young. Gary Busey auditioned for the role of Josh, but Marshall did not think he could pull off playing an adult. Andy García read for Josh, but one of the studio executives did not want to spend $18 million for "a kid to grow to be Puerto Rican" (García is actually Cuban). Debra Winger tried to convince Marshall to rewrite Josh into a woman. Marshall also auditioned other comic male actors for the role, but she found their performances "too broad". Robert De Niro was cast in the lead role with Elizabeth Perkins. He later dropped out due to "scheduling conflicts" and was replaced by Tom Hanks. Hanks and Loggia made two cardboard pianos and practiced them at home; the studio hired doubles in case Hanks and Loggia did not get it right. Prior to filming, Hanks spent time with Jared Rushton and David Moscow and attempted to emulate Moscow's body language and acting style in order to make a convincing performance of being the adult version of the child actor.
At the time of the film's release, Big (1988) was part of a series of twin films featuring an age-changing plot produced during the late 1980s, including Like Father Like Son (1987), 18 Again! (1988), Vice Versa (1988) and 14 Going on 30 (1988).
