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Spoilers (2)
The town was called Manchester until 1989, when resident Edward Corley led a highly controversial campaign to formally change its name to Manchester-by-the-Sea. The action was passed by the state legislature that year.
Matt Damon was initially set to direct and star in the film. Back in 2011, Damon, concerned about Kenneth Lonergan's 'horrible limbo', wanted to do something nice for his friend. So he sat in Lonergan's Manhattan apartment and pitched him an idea for a script about a New England handyman who ends up with custody of his dead brother's teen son - a story Damon thought would be right up Lonergan's dark alley. he idea for Manchester by the Sea actually was hatched by John Krasinski. Krasinski shared his nascent pitch with Damon over dinner in 2011 during the filming of The Adjustment Bureau (in which Damon co-starred with Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt). They actually grew up a few bus stops from each other in Massachusetts - Damon in Cambridge, Krasinski in Newton. Damon liked Krasinski's idea so much, he considered not only starring in the film but also making it his directorial debut. They wasted no time heading to New York to pitch Lonergan. Embroiled in his Margaret troubles (the film was being held up from release by a lawsuit filed by producer Gary Gilbert, who was demanding a shortened re-edit that Lonergan was refusing to make) and committed to other stage projects, it took Lonergan a couple of years to get a first draft written. By then, Damon's schedule had filled up and he'd had second thoughts about directing the project, although he still wanted to star in it. Lonergan, meanwhile, finally had seen movement on Margaret (the film had a limited release in 2011; the court case was settled in 2014) and was starting to think about stepping behind a camera again. "He came back with this 150-page draft. It was too long, but it had everything that was in the movie." Damon urged Lonergan to make Manchester by the Sea his next directing job. Even with Damon still attached to star and produce, financing was hard to come by. And then, another blow: Damon had to drop out as the lead because of a slew of other commitments that would have delayed production for years. He recruited childhood friend Casey Affleck to take his place.
The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2014 Blacklist; a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.
According to an interview with Kenneth Lonergan on DP/30, the idea for the film didn't originate with him - the main core of a character going back home to take care of a family member after a death was pitched to Lonergan by Matt Damon and John Krasinski as a script that Lonergan would write and for Damon to direct. But due to scheduling conflicts with The Martian (2015), Damon couldn't direct the film or star in it (he was considered for the role of Lee that Casey Affleck was cast in.) Lonergan was then given free rein as a writer-director for the project, with Damon as producer.
First film distributed or co-distributed by a streaming service - in this case, Amazon - to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
Both Kara Hayward and Lucas Hedges appeared in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom (2012).
When Patrick opens the freezer in the kitchen, you can see Gardein products in the door. Gardein makes vegan meat substitutes. The film's lead, Casey Affleck, is a vegan and might have been involved in the placement of the products.
Email from Jeffrey shows email address of "Jgarner". Casey Affleck's sister in law is Jennifer Garner.
This is the third film written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan after You Can Count on Me (2000) and Margaret (2011).
In two separate occasions in the film, the same hockey game is being watched. First by Lee and then Patrick. The game in question is the 11/21/13 game between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues.
As Kenneth Lonergan's last film Margaret was filmed in 2005, this is his first film as a director for 11 years.
Casey Affleck, Stephen Henderson and Matthew Broderick all previously appeared in Tower Heist (2011).
Both times Lee and Patrick are watching the Boston Bruins on television, the exact same game is being televised (against the Saint Louis Blues). Moreover, you can notice the goaltender Jaroslav Halak playing for the Blues. He played for the team between 2010 and 2014. However, the movie takes place in 2015.
Spoilers
The scene where the paramedics try to roll the stretcher in the ambulance and fail was not scripted. The actors actually continued to struggle to get the stretcher in, but Kenneth Lonergan decided not to cut it.
