An original screenplay · Lawrence Kasdan · 1975
For 1991
1991: Seventeen years on: Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, shot from November 1991.
Whitney Houston on stage, March 1991
1975–1977
Kasdan wrote The Bodyguard by 1975, the sixth of eight scripts he finished in five years. By his own count it was passed on 67 times before Warner Bros. bought it. Send it out and see how long a yes takes.
Kasdan’s sixth finished script; McQueen and Ross in mind; passed on 67 times; sold to John Calley at Warner Bros. for $20,000.
Conceived in 1975, from AMPAS production notes; the sale reported in August 1977.
How many passes each press shows is this page’s own pacing; only the total is Kasdan’s.
The Bodyguard
by Lawrence Kasdan
0 of 67
passes
The script is on the desk. Nobody has read it yet.
The drafts from 1975 to 1991: Boorman, McQueen’s illness, O’Neal and Ross, Ross leaving in August 1979, Costner reading it on a break from Silverado, the call to Houston, her yes, the screen test and the start of shooting.
Shooting started on 25 November 1991.
Where the yes came from
Warner Boulevard, Burbank; Studio Tour at 3400 Warner Boulevard
Warner Bros. bought the script in 1977, from Kasdan, for $20,000. He says it had been passed on 67 times.
Warner Bros. released the film on 25 November 1992.
The Studio Tour runs 8.30am to 3.30pm, from $79 for three hours.
Burbank · From $79 · tours 8.30am to 3.30pm · closed 3–5 and 26 November
Three-hour guided tour of the working lot at the studio that bought the script in 1977 and released the film.
Book the tour25 November 1991 – 27 March 1992
Four months, from Los Angeles in November to Miami Beach in March, by way of Long Beach and a lake in the Sierra. Two of the places played themselves. Turn each card from the part it played to the place it is.
Shooting from 25 November 1991 in Los Angeles to 27 March 1992 in Miami Beach; Long Beach, Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake.
The Fontainebleau standing in for itself, as did the Mayan.
Turn the card to see the real place.
4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida
The film’s main performance scenes were shot at the Fontainebleau, which played itself. I Will Always Love You and I Have Nothing were filmed here.
Shooting ended here on 27 March 1992.
Morris Lapidus designed it. It opened in 1954 on the old Firestone estate, and reopened in November 2008 after a billion-dollar rebuild.
Goldfinger used it too: the opening aerial shot is the Fontainebleau.
A working hotel; the lobby is open to guests and diners.
Los Angeles
Lawrence Kasdan, not yet the writer of The Empire Strikes Back or Raiders of the Lost Ark, finishes a script about a bodyguard and a star. He has Steve McQueen and Diana Ross in mind.
Newark, November
At New Hope Baptist Church, where she has sung in the choir since she was five, Whitney Houston sings her first solo. She is twelve. Seventeen years later she plays the star.
Kasdan writing it in the mid-1970s, before Empire, Raiders and Jedi.
Mental Floss: 12 facts about The Bodyguard, by Eric D. Snider, 18 May 2017
McQueen and Ross in mind.
Houston in the choir from five; her first solo at New Hope in November 1975, aged twelve; her first film role.
106 Sussex Avenue, University Heights, Newark, New Jersey
Whitney Houston grew up in this church, joined its choir at five and learned the piano here.
She sang her first solo here in November 1975, aged twelve.
Her mother, Cissy Houston, was a lifelong member of the church.
A working church; visitors are welcome at services.
Nashville 1973 · Miami Beach 1992
Dolly Parton wrote I Will Always Love You in 1973 as her goodbye to Porter Wagoner. Costner wanted Houston to sing its first verse with no band at all. David Foster, who produced it, first thought that ridiculous, then agreed.
A live version was recorded at the Fontainebleau around March 1992, late at night, after Houston had been filming all day. The studio version followed on 22 April at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles. Accounts differ on who chose the song: the music supervisor Maureen Crowe, after Linda Ronstadt’s 1975 recording, or Costner himself.
Written in 1973 as a farewell to Porter Wagoner.
Costner’s unaccompanied first verse; Foster’s reaction; the Fontainebleau recording late at night with her band; 22 April 1992 at Ocean Way; Crowe choosing it after Ronstadt’s version.
Costner asking for Parton’s song, in Mental Floss’s account.
Mental Floss: 12 facts about The Bodyguard, by Eric D. Snider, 18 May 2017
4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida
The film’s main performance scenes were shot at the Fontainebleau, which played itself. I Will Always Love You and I Have Nothing were filmed here.
Shooting ended here on 27 March 1992.
Morris Lapidus designed it. It opened in 1954 on the old Firestone estate, and reopened in November 2008 after a billion-dollar rebuild.
A working hotel; the lobby is open to guests and diners.
1611 Roy Acuff Place, Music Row, Nashville
Dolly Parton recorded I Will Always Love You here on 12 June 1973, the year she wrote it as a farewell to Porter Wagoner.
Her single reached number one on the country chart in June 1974.
The studio opened in 1957. More than 47,000 songs were recorded here.
In 1967, hurrying to her first session here, Parton drove her new Chevrolet into the side wall. The repair can still be seen.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum runs daily scheduled tours of the studio; book through the museum.
Miami Beach, Florida
The 1954 Morris Lapidus hotel where the film’s main performances were shot and where Houston recorded a live take of the song after a day’s filming. Still a working hotel on Collins Avenue.
See the hotelHollywood and Westlake
The film ends at the Academy Awards. The Academy let the film-makers use its name, but not its statuettes. The night was then built from two buildings: arrivals outside the Park Plaza, the ceremony inside the Pantages.
The name allowed, the statuettes refused; the Park Plaza for the exteriors; the Pantages for the recreated interiors.
Two questions for the Academy.
Outside
607 South Park View Street, across from MacArthur Park, Westlake
The arrivals outside the film’s Academy Awards were shot here.
Claud Beelman designed it in the 1920s as Elks Lodge No. 99. It was renamed the Park Plaza Hotel in 1983 and hired out to film-makers and promoters.
Wild at Heart, Barton Fink, The Mask and The Fisher King also used it.
An events building now called The MacArthur; see the front and its sculpted figures from Park View Street or MacArthur Park.
Inside
6233 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
The film’s Academy Awards ceremony was recreated inside the Pantages.
B. Marcus Priteca designed it. It opened on 4 June 1930 and seats 2,691 today.
A working theatre for touring shows; buy a ticket to see the auditorium.
An empty plinth. Whatever was handed out on screen, it was not an Oscar.
A year later, the real thing
135 North Grand Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles
The real 65th Academy Awards were held here on 29 March 1993. I Have Nothing and Run to You, both from The Bodyguard, were nominated for Best Original Song.
The Oscar went to A Whole New World, from Aladdin.
Part of the Music Center; the building opens for performances.
1992–2014
It opened on 25 November 1992 on 1,717 screens, two days after a benefit premiere in Hollywood. The critics were cool; the audiences were not, and the songs went further still.
The release on 1,717 screens; the reviews; the box office.
23 November 1992
6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
The film’s benefit premiere was held here on 23 November 1992, when it was Mann’s Chinese Theatre. It raised $250,000 for the Magic Johnson Foundation and the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children.
It opened on 18 May 1927 and was called Mann’s Chinese from 1973 to 2001.
A working cinema. The forecourt, with nearly 200 sets of handprints, footprints and autographs, is open to everyone.
1 March 1994
1260 Avenue of the Americas, Rockefeller Center, New York
At the Grammys here on 1 March 1994, Houston opened the show with I Will Always Love You. The soundtrack won Album of the Year, and the song Record of the Year.
The hall opened on 27 December 1932.
A working music hall with 5,960 seats; buy a ticket for any show.
6 November 2012
Strand, Covent Garden, London
The stage musical of The Bodyguard ran here from 6 November 2012 to 29 August 2014, with Heather Headley as the first Rachel.
There has been a theatre on the site since 1806; this Art Deco building opened in December 1930.
A working West End theatre with 1,500 seats.
The people
Mick Jackson, a British director, made it after L.A. Story; it was Houston’s first film. Kasdan produced it with Jim Wilson and Costner. Andrew Dunn shot it, Jeffrey Beecroft designed it and Alan Silvestri scored it after John Barry left. Gary Kemp, Bill Cobbs, Ralph Waite, Michele Lamar Richards and Mike Starr are in the cast, and Debbie Reynolds plays herself.
William Vitagliano, a 33-year-old member of the crew, was killed in an equipment accident during the Los Angeles shoot on 3 January 1992.
Director, cast, producers, budget, worldwide gross and soundtrack sales; the accident on 3 January 1992.
Cinematographer, designer, composer and John Barry’s departure.
Fourteen weeks at number one.
Nashville
Daily scheduled tours of the studio where Dolly Parton recorded I Will Always Love You in June 1973.
See the museum13 places on the map: 7 in and around Los Angeles, 2 at Fallen Leaf Lake and Miami Beach, 2 where the voice and the song came from, and 2 in New York and London. Rachel’s house on North Beverly Drive is a private home and is not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. See the facade from South Hill Street. Inside opens only for club nights and shows; the venue changed hands in 2025 and 2026, so check before you go.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open every day, 10am to 10pm. The photograph shows East Anaheim Street, not the bar.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An events building now called The MacArthur; see the front and its sculpted figures from Park View Street or MacArthur Park.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working theatre for touring shows; buy a ticket to see the auditorium.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working cinema. The forecourt, with nearly 200 sets of handprints, footprints and autographs, is open to everyone.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Part of the Music Center; the building opens for performances.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The Studio Tour runs 8.30am to 3.30pm, from $79 for three hours.
1038 South Hill Street, Downtown Los Angeles
Rachel’s Queen of the Night number was filmed at the Mayan, which played itself as a nightclub.
See the facade from South Hill Street. Inside opens only for club nights and shows; the venue changed hands in 2025 and 2026, so check before you go.
2803 East Anaheim Street, Long Beach
Joe Jost’s bar in Long Beach was one of the film’s locations.
Open every day, 10am to 10pm. The photograph shows East Anaheim Street, not the bar.
607 South Park View Street, across from MacArthur Park, Westlake
The arrivals outside the film’s Academy Awards were shot here.
An events building now called The MacArthur; see the front and its sculpted figures from Park View Street or MacArthur Park.
6233 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
The film’s Academy Awards ceremony was recreated inside the Pantages.
A working theatre for touring shows; buy a ticket to see the auditorium.
6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
The film’s benefit premiere was held here on 23 November 1992, when it was Mann’s Chinese Theatre. It raised $250,000 for the Magic Johnson Foundation and the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children.
A working cinema. The forecourt, with nearly 200 sets of handprints, footprints and autographs, is open to everyone.
135 North Grand Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles
The real 65th Academy Awards were held here on 29 March 1993. I Have Nothing and Run to You, both from The Bodyguard, were nominated for Best Original Song.
Part of the Music Center; the building opens for performances.
Warner Boulevard, Burbank; Studio Tour at 3400 Warner Boulevard
Warner Bros. bought the script in 1977, from Kasdan, for $20,000. He says it had been passed on 67 times.
The Studio Tour runs 8.30am to 3.30pm, from $79 for three hours.
Stay
The Fontainebleau, still a hotel, and the Forest Service campground above Fallen Leaf Lake.
Miami Beach, Florida
The 1954 Morris Lapidus hotel where the film’s main performances were shot and where Houston recorded a live take of the song after a day’s filming. Still a working hotel on Collins Avenue.
See the hotelFallen Leaf Lake, California · Site $47 a night · cabin $126 · open mid-May to mid-October
Forest Service campground a quarter of a mile north of Fallen Leaf Lake, off Highway 89. Reservations only, through Recreation.gov; no potable water at the sites.
Check the seasonGo there
The Warner Bros. lot, Studio B in Nashville, and walks in Hollywood, Miami Beach and Lake Tahoe.
Burbank · From $79 · tours 8.30am to 3.30pm · closed 3–5 and 26 November
Three-hour guided tour of the working lot at the studio that bought the script in 1977 and released the film.
Book the tourNashville
Daily scheduled tours of the studio where Dolly Parton recorded I Will Always Love You in June 1973.
See the museumHollywood
Live marketplace results for walks along Hollywood Boulevard, past the Pantages and the Chinese Theatre. None is built round this film; check each itinerary.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursMiami Beach
Live marketplace results for MiMo and Art Deco walks and drives along Collins Avenue.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursLake Tahoe
Live marketplace results for tours round the south shore of Lake Tahoe, the side Fallen Leaf Lake is on.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
The touring stage show plays the theatre where the film’s Oscars were staged, in March 2027.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
The 1992 soundtrack, Parton’s 1974 album and a friend’s memoir of Houston. No original poster for this film is in our store yet.
Robyn Crawford · Dutton
A 2019 memoir by Houston’s friend and long-time creative director.
Find the bookWhitney Houston and others · CD, Arista, 1992
The US CD of 17 November 1992, the best-selling soundtrack ever made.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDolly Parton · LP, RCA Victor, 1974
Parton’s 1974 album, with her own I Will Always Love You, recorded at Studio B.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
14 of 14 places · 18 of 18 Moments
1038 South Hill Street, Downtown Los Angeles
Rachel’s Queen of the Night number is filmed at the Mayan, playing itself.
2803 East Anaheim Street, Long Beach
Joe Jost’s in Long Beach is one of the locations.
North Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills
A Beverly Hills estate that once belonged to Hearst is Rachel’s house.
607 South Park View Street, across from MacArthur Park, Westlake
The Park Plaza is the outside of the film’s Academy Awards.
6233 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
The film’s Academy Awards are recreated inside the Pantages; the Academy allows its name but not its statuettes.
6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
The benefit premiere at Mann’s Chinese Theatre raises $250,000.
135 North Grand Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles
Two songs from the film are nominated for Best Original Song.
Warner Boulevard, Burbank; Studio Tour at 3400 Warner Boulevard
Lawrence Kasdan writes The Bodyguard with Steve McQueen and Diana Ross in mind, inspired by Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.
After 67 passes, Kasdan sells the script to Warner Bros. for $20,000.
Ryan O’Neal is chosen for Frank, with Ross still attached; she leaves in August 1979.
Kevin Costner reads the script during a break from filming Silverado.
Fallen Leaf Lake, El Dorado County, about a mile south-west of Lake Tahoe
Fallen Leaf Lake stands in for Herb Farmer’s mountain home, with the pier at Tallac House.
4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida
The main performances, I Will Always Love You and I Have Nothing among them, are filmed at the Fontainebleau.
After a day’s filming, a live version of I Will Always Love You is recorded at the Fontainebleau with Houston’s band.
1611 Roy Acuff Place, Music Row, Nashville
Dolly Parton records I Will Always Love You at RCA Studio B.
106 Sussex Avenue, University Heights, Newark, New Jersey
Whitney Houston, aged twelve, sings her first solo at New Hope Baptist Church.
1260 Avenue of the Americas, Rockefeller Center, New York
Houston opens the Grammys with the song; the soundtrack wins Album of the Year.
Strand, Covent Garden, London
The stage musical opens in the West End.
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