One of the most shocking things about Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was the fate of the Mona Lisa. However, it looks like a post-credits scene almost saved the infamous painting from total destruction. Rian Johnson has just shared what it was like making the Mona Lisa scene happen, and revealed the post-credits scene tried to fix everything.
In Glass Onion, billionaire Miles Bron had loaned the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and has the famous painting in his mansion. Although the painting is supposed to be safe within a special case, Helen Brand managed to destroy the Glass Onion along with the Mona Lisa.
Needless to say, the Mona Lisa was an important part of the whole story but at one point, Rian Johnson tried to save it from total destruction. While speaking to Empire, the director revealed that they had filmed a post-credits scene with Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc checking on the painting's safety.
We also shot a little coda which we decided not to use, with Blanc on the phone speaking French and getting a little affirmation of ‘ah, oui, oui, merci’ and cutting to an office in the Louvre where the real Mona Lisa is, with the security guards saying ‘well, back to work’. But that pulls a punch, I like that the real painting gets destroyed in the movie," Johnson said.
As it turns out, the painting used in the film was destined to be destroyed in the first place. Johnson shared how the Mona Lisa was recreated in the movie and the conditions behind its creation.
"We got a very talented, local Belgrade artist to do a recreation of the Mona Lisa and it was kind of extraordinary having it on set," he said. "I didn’t realise this, but if you get a recreation like this, you have to destroy them when you’re done filming, if it’s a famous work of art. You actually have to document yourself burning the canvas because of the counterfeit market."
Johnson stated that the destruction of the Mona Lisa might upset people but cited a classic comedy featuring another famous painting.
"The scene in Bean where he destroys ‘Whistler’s Mother’ is one of the funniest scenes in cinematic history, so I figured we’d get away with this. That scene is so good," he said.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is currently streaming on Netflix.
Related: Glass Onion Star Daniel Craig Addresses Cancelled Doctor Strange 2 Role as Thor's Brother
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