Filming was halted for two weeks in November 1999 after Nicole Kidman fractured two ribs and injured her knee while rehearsing a dance routine for the film. Many of the scenes where she is seen only from the chest up were shot while she was in a wheelchair.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Heath Ledger were contenders to play Satine and Christan.

The movie was shot largely at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, with no location filming at all.

Various tricks were used to make John Leguizamo's (Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa) legs appear shorter. Some shots are of his stand-in who was of the correct height, while in others he walked on his knees in special leg braces and wearing blue socks so that his lower legs could be digitally removed.

The necklace worn by Nicole Kidman was made of real diamonds and platinum and was the most expensive piece of jewelry ever specifically made for a film. The Stefano Canturi necklace was made with 1,308 diamonds, weighing a total of 134 carats, and was worth an estimated US$1 million.

The Paris landscape was digitally produced and the two longest visual effects shots to date appear in this film.

The wardrobe department created three hundred costumes and, at one point, eighty people were employed for this task

Both Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor wore harnesses for the scenes on the elephant as they were standing 60ft off the ground.

The stage for "Spectacular Spectacular" was especially reinforced to hold the weight of a galloping horse for a scene where the evil Maharaja rides across the stage. The scene was abandoned but the white horse still appears fleetingly in one shot.

The large red 'L'amour' sign seen on Christian's building was part of the set of Baz Luhrmann's production of 'La Boheme' for the Australian Opera. It also appeared in Romeo + Juliet (1996).

Richard Roxburgh plays The Duke, who finances a play by the bohemians, the self-labeled "Children of the Revolution," which is also the title of a song on the soundtrack. Roxburgh also starred in the film Children of the Revolution (1996).

The film is dedicated to Baz Luhrmann's father, Leonard, who died just as filming was about to begin.

The rose petals seen falling on stage at the end of the film when Satine died where actually cut of parts of Satin.

Zellweger, Renee was next in line after Nicole Kidman to play Satine.

This movie was launched in Australia to an audience of just 250 people in a small country town called Taree (200 miles north of Sydney). Baz Lahrmann grew up just outside of Taree where his family owned a service (gas) station. The 250 tickets were sold at a local pharmacy.

A scene establishing the "Gothic Tower" as a bordello was cut. It involved dancers in S&M gear performing Grace Jones' "Slave to the Rhythm".

"Come What May" was written by David Baerwald for Romeo + Juliet (1996).

CAMEO(Tara Morice): the female lead in Baz Luhrman's Strictly Ballroom (1992) briefly appears as a prostitute in the opening sequence.

A Georges Méliès-style Man in the Moon appears in the film, his singing voice provided by Placido Domingo.

Ewan's poetry he typed at the typewriter in his caravan on the set of Moulin Rouge was featured on disc 2: "My heart aches every hour, every day And only when I'm with you does the pain go away Sometimes together, we both feel our way through....." The typewriter used was the one from the film, that you see Christian using at the beginning and the end of the film.

During the Can-Can dance scene you can see that three of the female dancers have specific theme costumes. One appears to be Little Bo-Peep, one is dressed as a French Revolutionary, and one is dressed as Madeline from the Bemelman's book of the same name.

The movie was clearly influenced by the successful operas Baz Luhrmann has directed: "La Boheme" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream". La Boheme is set in the same time and place as Moulin Rouge, while A Midsummer Night's Dream used the same Indian theme as Moulin Rouge's play-within-a-play.

Taken from the IMD Base.