From inception to reception and afterlife,Eyes Wide Shut traces the details of the origins and production of Stanley Kubrick's last film. It is based on extensive archival research and over twenty new interviews.

Chronology Preface Introduction Chapter One: "It's Probably Going to be the Hardest Film to Make": Stanley Kubrick, Arthur Schnitzler, and the Long Gestation of Eyes Wide Shut Chapter Two: The Jewish Tailor: Writing the Screenplay of Eyes Wide Shut Chapter Three: The Knishery: Pre-Production Chapter Four: "They Absolutely Took Their Skin Off": The Production of Eyes Wide Shut Chapter Five: "Mayhem": Postproduction Chapter Six: "A Genuine Work of Honest Art": The Reception and Afterlife of Eyes Wide Shut Chapter Seven: Non-Submersible Units: An analysis of Key Scenes in Eyes Wide Shut Epilogue: Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's Films, and the History of Cinema Filmography Notes Bibliography Index

"The book is an immaculately researched account of the film's creation..." -- Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage "With Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of His Final Film, we finally have the great book this film deserves ... Every chapter in this book is valuable to the Kubrick scholar or the casual cinephile; thoughtful yet readable throughout, it hits that golden spot of being a scholarly page-turner." -- Whitlock & Pope "I'm not sure if it will spur Eyes Wide Shut haters to reevaluate the film, but Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of His Final Film will give them some fresh insight into the seemingly impenetrable mind of Stanley Kubrick." -- Mike Segretto, Psychobabble "Two leading Kubrick scholars have joined forces for this hugely impressive study of the filmmaker's final masterpiece. Examining the film from every conceivable angle, they offer unique insights into its form and themes - and also, more broadly, into Kubrick's working methods, his personality and his place in 20th century culture." -- Peter Krämer, author of BFI Film Classics on Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and co-editor of Stanley Kubrick: New Perspectives "Through obsessive research and details within details worthy of the man they chronicle in Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film, film scholars Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams prove decidedly that the last movie of a great film director not only sums up their career but defines and illuminates it with clarity. This is a must-read for admirers of Stanley Kubrick and his work and the cinema itself." -- Vincent LoBrutto, author of Stanley Kubrick: A Biography "As recounted in a new book by Robert Kolker and Nathan Abrams (an essential resource for anyone interested in the film's development and production), Eyes Wide Shut was a project that Kubrick had been seriously contemplating for decades." -- MidCenturyCinema "Loved it. I thought I knew everything about Eyes Wide Shut but discovered much more. I think it's the most significant book on a single film since Stephen Bach's Final Cut ." -- Matt Thorne, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Brunel University London

Robert P. Kolker, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, taught cinema studies for almost 50 years. He is author of A Cinema of Loneliness, The Extraordinary Image: Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and the Reimagining of Cinema , and editor of 2001: A Space Odyssey: New Essays and The Oxford Handbook of Film and Media Studies. Nathan Abrams is Professor in Film at Bangor University in Wales. He is founding co-editor of Jewish Film and New Media: An International Journal, as well as the author of The New Jew in Film: Exploring Jewishness and Judaism in Contemporary Cinema and Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual.