25 Things You Didn’t Know About Pulp Fiction
16. The Jack Rabbit Slim's Set Cost $150,000
By far the most expensive single aspect of shooting Pulp Fiction was creating the set for the instantly iconic 50s-styled diner Jack Rabbit Slim's.
Though it might seem like Tarantino simply found a diner and had his production designers dress the set appropriately, the diner was actually built from scratch in a Culver City warehouse, to the cost of $150,000. For the exterior shot of the diner, Tarantino used a Glendale bowling alley, Grand Central Bowl.
For context, the cost of creating the diner was more than John Travolta's salary for the movie, said to be around $140,000.
After the film's success and the popularity of the sequence, Harvey Weinstein considered creating a Jack Rabbit Slim's restaurant franchise for real, until Tarantino reminded him that he wrote the scene as a jab at chintzy themed diners. Oops.