Little Shop of Horrors (2021 film)

Little Shop of Horrors is a 2021 musical horror film directed by Greg Berlanti, based on the musical comedy of the same name written by Howard Ashman with music by Alan Menken, which in turn was based on the 1960 film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman. The film stars Haley Joel Osment, Idina Menzel, J.K. Simmons, Jim Carrey, and Mark Hamill as the voice of Audrey II, with Destiny's Child as the three urchins and cameo appearances from Jack Black, Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, Alan Tudyk, Ellen Greene, Rita Moreno, and others.

Like other adaptations of the play, the film follows Seymour Krelborn (Osment), a passive, nerdy man working for a florist shop owned by Mr. Mushnik (Simmons), who becomes a celebrity on the filthy town of Skid Row when he discovers a strange flytrap-like plant lovingly dubbed "Audrey II". Unfortunately for Seymour (and all of mankind), this plant needs human blood to grow, and when it begins to demand more blood than one man can give, poor Seymour is forced to commit murder. Meanwhile, Seymour's secret crush, Audrey (Menzel), is in an abusive relationship with sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello (D.D.S.) (Carrey), and while Seymour's meek demeanor prevents any dominate action on his part, all it takes is a little push from the plant and Seymour serves revenge in a dish best served bloody.

The most notable difference between this film and other adaptations of the play is the downplaying of its comedic elements and a larger emphasis on genuine horror. For example, the song "Now (It's Just the Gas)" is removed from the film (although the song was included on the film's soundtrack album, released two days after it opened in theaters, as performed by Haley Joel Osment as Seymour and Jim Carrey as Orin Scrivello; "Ya Never Know", another song cut from the film, is also included on the album) and the scene where Orin suffocates to death from his laughing gas is replaced with Seymour becoming so incensed over Orin insulting Audrey that he grabs a chainsaw (which he found in the tool shed behind Mr. Mushnik's florist shop) and goes straight-up Leatherface on the screaming dentist (off-screen, of course) before feeding his bloody remains to Audrey II, justifying the crime to Mr. Mushnik as being for Audrey's sake. This was to make Seymour less sympathetic than most portrayals for actively committing murder, and thus making his consumption by Audrey II near the end all the more well-deserved. Some of the dialogue and song lyrics are rewritten (for example, "He knows your life of crime" from "Suppertime" to "He knows about your crime"), Seymour omits "...and so am I!" when referring to Audrey II as a monster during the climax, and a sequence is added during Patrick Martin's appearance where Seymour flashes back to the events of the film, realizing in horror that the plant had a plan to take over the world, and that he had helped it grow in power. Unlike the theatrical version of the 1986 film, the movie ends with the song "Don't Feed the Plants", as in the stage version, where Audrey II succeeds in conquering the world.

The film was produced by Berlanti Productions and Marc Platt Productions, and released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 21, 2021. The film was primarily shot on-location at the Bowery, known as New York's Skid Row; and at Central City East, the Los Angeles Skid Row, to accurately depict the Skid Row featured in the show. Scenes taking place inside the florist shop, as well as the "Somewhere That's Green", "The Meek Shall Inherit" and "Don't Feed the Plants" sequences, were filmed on the soundstages of Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, with the latter having to be shot outside due to the size of the Audrey II puppets. The film received mixed reviews, with the direction, acting (particularly the performances of Osment, Menzel, Simmons, Carrey and Hamill), songs, special effects, and overall presentation praised, with criticism largely directed at Seymour's change in characterization starting from the end of the first act; most critics argued that Seymour is not supposed to be an intentional killer.

The film cost around $200 million to make and received an R rating from the Motion Pictures Association of America for scenes with graphic violence and mild language. The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray on January 14, 2022, with bonus features including a sing-along option, interviews with the cast and crew, the making-of documentary "Feed Me!: The Making of Little Shop of Horrors", and five shorts depicting the creation and execution of Little Shop's special effects ("Moving the Plant" features footage of Audrey II's puppeteers at work, "The Dentist Meets His End" sees how Seymour killing Orin was pulled off, "From Mushnik to Mush" explains how the crew simulated Mr. Mushnik's head being bitten off by the plant, "The Final Battle" shows the workings of the climactic battle between Seymour and Audrey II, and "Taking Over the World" details the making of the "Don't Feed the Plants" ending number).

The following year, a different cut of the film, entitled "The Horror Cut", was released on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray (the latter two contains both cuts of the film). This version of the film, rated NC-17 and advertised with the tagline "The cut they didn't want you to see...and you'll wish you never did." is even darker and gorier than the regular cut. While most of the film is the same as in the regular cut, there are many shots and even scenes that ae completely different from the ones featured in the final version. In order; at the very beginning of the film, Earth is in a blood red color instead of being missing. During "Dentist!", instead of putting a bear trap over a waiting patient's head, Orin Scrivello completely rips off his jaw. The "Suddenly, Seymour" sequence is refilmed and reorchestrated to make it seem creepier, as if Seymour is psychologically manipulating Audrey to fall in love with him rather than just expressing his genuine love for her. After Audrey dies, the gun Seymour uses to try to kill himself fires a harmless blank rather than jamming. During the climax, as Seymour tries to get his chainsaw, Audrey II wraps one of its vines around Seymour's body and lifts him up to its head. Then, in the film's most nauseating scene, the plant eats a screaming Seymour in three bites: first, the plant chomps Seymour's head, face and brain matter into mush, then it devours his body during the second bite, before it finally chews his lower half while slurping the guts hanging out of its mouth as if they were noodles. After it's finally consumed Seymour, the plant laughs maniacally as the camera zooms into its disgusting, blood-squirting mouth as the screen turns red. That's when the "Don't Feed the Plants" number plays, with its beginning and end shots entirely redone. During the start of the song, Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon are dressed as demons as they explain how Audrey II took over the world. Near the end, the camera zooms out from the plants and into the sky until it pans out to the blood red Earth from the beginning of the film. As the song ends, without warning, an entire legion of roaring and cackling Audrey II plants, each one a different size, appear for one final jump scare before they lunge at the camera, the sounds of crunching, slurping, cracking bones and squishing flesh being heard for a few seconds after.

Ten Audrey IIs, all of varying sizes, were built for this film by Jim Henson's Creature Shop (the Los Angeles shop designing the animatronics, and the New York shop handling the puppet construction and fabrication), based on puppet designs for the original musical by Martin P. Robinson. Robinson was directly involved with the creation of the puppets, overseeing the building process and even serving as principal performer for Audrey II, leading a team of 12 of his fellow puppeteers from the Jim Henson Company (he also coordinated the puppeteers' performances, served as a creative consultant, performed plant 1, worked the crane lifting the head of plant 8, and performed the lead plant in "Don't Feed the Plants"). To ensure that no jealousy or conflict occurred between them, each performer took turns operating the mouth, while the others controlled the tongue, vines, and leaves. For example, Robinson was lead plant performer for the song "Grow for Me", Karen Prell performed the plant's mouth during "Feed Me", David Rudman lip-synced to "Suppertime", Joey Mazzarino performed the mouth in the "Suppertime" reprise, and Kevin Clash was head puppeteer in the climax. The "Don't Feed the Plants" number featured three puppets of the plant at its largest size, all reused for several shots to illustrate the idea of a large plant army taking over Earth, with the main performers controlling the mouth of each plant, swapping puppeteers from shot to shot. The three massive plants required 330 puppeteers to control all of their parts.

Plot
The movie begins with the current Warner Bros. logo. The logo disappears and, after the daytime sky turns to night, we zoom through outer space until we reach the solar system. However, Earth is completely missing, replaced with a wide, smoky gap between Venus and Mars. Narration is heard throughout:

"On the twenty-first day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence. And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places..."

The scene changes to a shot of a florist shop with the words "Little Shop of Horrors" printed on the front door. Three street urchins (Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon) introduce the film, as they tell of forthcoming horror ("Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors"), much to the disbelief of everyone they encounter. We are introduced to Seymour Krelborn, a pathetic orphan living in a gritty New York neighborhood called "Skid Row", and Audrey, a beautiful but meek woman with a tacky fashion sense and no self-worth. Both desperately wish to escape the city but can't because they're poor and down on their luck ("Skid Row (Downtown)"). They work at the florist shop, run and owned by the grumpy but well-meaning Mr. Mushnik, one that's run-down and on the verge of bankruptcy. Seymour has recently bought a new, weird-looking plant, but doesn't know what it needs to grow. Suddenly, a man stops by the store and notices the plant, asking Seymour where he got it. Seymour reveals ("Da-Doo") that he was walking by a florist shop run by a Chinese man the other day, when an eclipse of the sun occurred. As it did, a new plant suddenly materialized in the shop, and while even the Chinese man had no idea where it came from, he offered to sell it to Seymour for a cheap price. Seymour, who has a secret crush on Audrey, names the plant after her: "Audrey II".

In his bedroom underneath the shop, after Mushnik gives him a week to nurse the plant back to health, Seymour laments to a dying Audrey II that he has tried numerous ways to make it grow, all to no avail, and wonders aloud what the plant needs ("Grow for Me"). During the song, while filing Mushnik's taxes, Seymour gets a paper cut and his finger bleeds. This attracts Audrey II's appetite, and Seymour realizes that's what the plant needs to grow; he reluctantly agrees to feed it a few drops of blood (though he admits having a bad feeling about it). Sure enough, once Seymour exits the room, Audrey II does indeed grow. The plant soon becomes a popular tourist attraction on Skid Row, revitalizing Mushnik's business and making Seymour the hottest celebrity in town, much to Mushnik's pure delight. Meanwhile, Audrey returns with a black eye and her arm in a sling, and despite concern from Ms. Geffen, her neighbor, she is too afraid to leave her abusive boyfriend. That said, Audrey does have feelings for Seymour, and secretly wishes to live a modest life in the suburbs and start a family with him ("Somewhere That's Green"). Unfortunately, her lack of self-esteem prevents her from believing she even deserves this lifestyle.

Meanwhile, Mushnik decides to renovate the shop using all the money they've made from Audrey II being displayed in the window, and asks Seymour to help him. Audrey arrives late again, her injuries still remaining. Mushnik angrily demands to know who she's been dating, and in the next scene, we get the answer: Orin Scrivello, a shameless sadist who rides around on a Harley, gets off on bringing pain and suffering to those around him, and has a job as a dentist ("Dentist!"). His mere presence intimidates anyone who sees him, including Seymour, who calls him "a disgrace to the oral care industry. And the motorcycle industry." Orin, while respectful of Audrey II's success, tells Seymour to take the plant and get out of Skid Row, explaining that Seymour could "go big on Wall Street" with a plant like Audrey II. Mushnik then realizes that the plant (and Seymour) is the sole reason why his shop has been doing good business as of late, and he offers to adopt Seymour as his "son" and have him as his business partner. Seymour happily accepts ("Mushnik and Son").

Alone in the shop, Seymour reflects on his newfound fame, and thanks the plant for helping him achieve local recognition and revitalizing business in the shop ("Sudden Changes"). As he leaves for a bite to eat, however, the plant starts dying again, and as Seymour tells it that he needs to heal his finger, he hears cries of, "Feed me!" Audrey II reveals itself to be able to talk, refusing Seymour's offer of chopped sirloin from the local butcher shop, and insisting it must be fed blood. The plant promises Seymour everything he's ever dreamed of, including fame, fortune, and Audrey, the girl he loves, if he continues to feed it ("Feed Me (Git It)"). Throughout the song, Audrey II plays genie and transports Seymour to the driver's seat of a 1960s' Cadillac (with the plant in the passenger's seat), the set of Tonight Starring Jack Paar (using archive footage of said show with Seymour and Audrey II, both black-and-white, inserted into the shot), a diner table seated next to Hedy Lamarr (a digital recreation of the late actress), a fancy restaurant (filmed at Sardi's in Manhattan), and an actual bedroom at New York's Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Shots are also filmed of Audrey II as a genie (similar in design to the Disney character) and a stereotypical African slave (with Seymour dressed as Aladdin and a slave owner, respectively); Seymour dressed as King Tut (identical to Steve Martin's SNL costume) with Audrey II as his subject, and Seymour dressed similarly to Orin Scrivello and riding a Harley (with Audrey II as his passenger). Seymour, though tempted by these offers, refuses, afraid that he may have to start killing people and feeding them to the plant just to keep it alive, and showing clear disgust at the notion that anyone could deserve such a fate, as the plant claims. Audrey II directs his attention to Orin, who continues to berate and abuse Audrey outside. Inside Audrey's apartment, Orin attempts to rape her and smothers her cries for help. This is the last straw for a now incensed and vengeful Seymour, who declares, his voice filled with raw rage, that the dentist has more than enough blood to feed the plant, encouraged by the ravenous Audrey II, its voice displaying complete disgust by what it's just seen.

After Orin finishes with a masochistic patient named Arthur Denton, who wishes for "a long, slow root canal", Seymour barges through the door, armed with a chainsaw. This terrifies Orin, who tries to reason with Seymour and demands he drop the tool, and even promises to quit his job and leave Skid Row, never to return. Seymour contemplates letting Orin live, until the misogynistic dentist calls Audrey "a pathetic slut with a lotta ass but no balls." This insult pushes Seymour over the edge, as he grinds the dentist into chunks as he screams for mercy. Outside, Ms. Geffen witnesses Seymour committing the murder and runs off to phone the police. Soon after, Seymour drags the pieces of Orin's body outside, leaving a heavy trail of blood, and into Mushnik's, where Audrey II gleefully consumes its meal, complete with slurping, nauseating sounds of bone crunching and flesh squishing, and blood flying out of the plant's mouth, before laughing maniacally. Desperate to cover up the murder, Seymour disposes Orin's dentist uniform into an oncoming garbage truck and washes his hands of any blood stains. However, he forgets to clean the blood off the florist shop floor and the chainsaw.

The next morning, Seymour wakes up to find the police at Audrey's house, asking her about the dentist's disappearance; they suspect that "foul play" was involved. Audrey confesses to Seymour that while she's happy that Orin is finally gone, she also feels guilty, because deep down, she wished the day would come. When asked by Seymour why she was willing to put up with Orin, Audrey reveals she was once a stripper at a nightclub, wearing crude, tacky attires, and believes she deserves no better man than Dr. Scrivello. Seymour tries to convince Audrey to put her relationship with Orin in the past, telling her that there are nicer guys willing to do anything to please a girl like Audrey, subtly revealing his own feelings for her ("Suddenly, Seymour"). At the end of the song, Seymour and Audrey share a passionate kiss.

After this, the two say goodbye and Seymour returns to the shop to take a nap in his room. Suddenly, Mr. Mushnik emerges from the shadows, unintentionally scaring Seymour, and reveals that Ms. Geffen, a frequent customer at the shop, had told him that she had witnessed Seymour murder Orin. While Mushnik claims he refused to believe it at first, he started noticing something was up when he discovered the trail of blood on the road connecting from the dentist's office to his shop, something that Seymour tries to pass off as a huge paint spill; followed by little red dots all over the floor in the shop, which Seymour refers to as stains of wine that he didn't clean up well. Mushnik then asks Seymour what he calls the big, red splatters on Mushnik's chainsaw. It's at this moment that the voice of Audrey II appears in Seymour's head, telling him that he must get rid of Mushnik now, or else he will lose Audrey's love and his new reputation will be ruined ("Suppertime"). Mr. Mushnik exasperatedly asks Seymour how he could do this, and Seymour tries to justify the murder as being for the sake of Audrey. This causes Mr. Mushnik to suspect that Seymour's crush on Audrey, something Mushnik himself has very much known for years, was his motivation for the crime; after all, Seymour named the plant after her, she was dating the dentist, and Mushnik actually caught a glimpse of them kissing a few minutes ago. When asked if he was jealous of Orin because the dentist had everything Seymour didn't and wanted to have (including Audrey), Seymour dismisses the dentist as an irredeemable scumbag who is now in Hell, "the one place where he can finally face justice for his years of causing pain to everyone else," and even boasting that he "did Skid Row a favor!" In response, Mushnik decides to report Seymour to the police, telling Seymour that while it hurts to turn him in, he insists it's best that Seymour go to prison before he can kill again. Seymour, in turn, claims that ever since he found Audrey II, he's come to the realization that there are a lot of people in the world, including Dr. Scrivello, deserving of death. Mushnik lambasts this as a horrible sentiment, to which Seymour, echoing the plant, bitterly remarks "But it's true, isn't it?" Before Seymour exits, Mushnik asks what he did with the rest of the murder evidence. Seymour lies, claiming he hid them inside the plant (when he dumped them into a garbage truck), and leaves the shop as Mushnik looks down Audrey II's gaping trap. The plant suddenly bites off Mushnik's head, chomps on it for a few seconds, and swallows it whole, before it uses its tongue to pick up the rest of Mushnik's body and eat it, all complete with the sounds of crunching bones and squishing flesh, and large amounts of blood squirting out of Audrey II's mouth. As he's being eaten, the defiant Mushnik angrily screams, "Seymour Krelborn! You son of a--!" before being bitten into pieces inside the plant, leaving a bloody aftermath surrounding the smiling Audrey II's pot. Outside, Seymour watches Mushnik's consumption with a deathly glare on his face.

Outside, Seymour is greeted by journalists, salesmen, businessmen, network executives, talent agents, television producers, financial investors, magazine publishers, news reporters and photographers, all promising Seymour TV appearances, magazine photo ops, lecture tours, licensing deals, and even more fame and fortune ("The Meek Shall Inherit"). In a dream sequence, Seymour, at first, is interested in their offers (even hoping he'll become richer by keeping the plant around), but then tries to talk himself out of it, realizing that if he gave in and signed their contracts, he'd have to "keep on doing all these bloody, awful things" to preserve the plant, and begins to have nightmares about himself turning into Audrey II. Seymour initially decides to destroy Audrey II for good, activating up a cigar lighter as if to incinerate the plant, but then worries that if he did so and became broke and unemployed again, without the plant, Audrey may not love him anymore (symbolized by Audrey running through Seymour as if he were a ghost, hugging the plant instead of him). Against his own will, but feeling he has no other choice, Seymour begins signing contracts left and right as he agrees to publicize and monetize his plant, effectively selling his soul to the Devil.

As Seymour begins writing a script for a lecture tour, Audrey II (which now barely fits inside the florist shop) begins squawking for more blood. Seymour becomes annoyed with the plant, particularly about why it won't eat other types of meat, like roast turkey or smoked salmon, instead of just human blood. The plant complains about not being fed since eating Mr. Mushnik a week ago, to which Seymour tells it to wait a few more days until Time Magazine arrives to interview him next week, then, in his words, the plant will "never go hungry again." Audrey walks in on Seymour rambling about Audrey II, and smacks him back to his senses, then asks when Mr. Mushnik will return from "visiting his long-lost stepdaughter in Cincinnati." Seymour asks Audrey if she would still love him even if he had never bought Audrey II to begin with, to which Audrey reassures that she'd love Seymour no matter what. Smiling on the outside but depressed inside, Seymour promises Audrey that they'll soon be out of Skid Row and into the house and lifestyle she's always dreamed of, before asking her politely to leave the shop so he can pull himself together. Audrey obliges and runs off into the night. All alone in the shop now, Seymour tells himself that he's decided that once Time takes a photo of him and Audrey II, he will destroy the plant.

Audrey II resumes demanding to be fed. Having just about had it with the "vegetable", Seymour offers to pick up "a nice medium rare" for it to eat. The plant refuses, insisting once again it must be fed blood, but after finding out that it's Seymour's last offer, it bitterly answers "It better be fresh." Seymour runs off, but not before telling Audrey II not to even think about dessert. After he leaves, the plant gets angry about not getting dessert, and decides to get some payback on his owner. Worried about Seymour, Audrey walks around aimlessly in her apartment. Suddenly, the voice of Audrey II telepathically appears in her head ("Suppertime (Reprise)"). As she returns the shop, she discovers the plant in its default position, with only its voice and moving trap providing clues to her as to its sentience. Audrey II tells an overwhelmed Audrey to water it quickly, as its "branches" are beginning to "dry up". However, this is all a ruse, for as Audrey returns with a watering can, the plant reveals its full sentience and prepares to eat her, even revealing to her with twisted glee that Mr. Mushnik and "that motherfucker you call 'Doctor'" (Orin Scrivello) are "right inside!" In the spur of the moment, Audrey II wraps some of its vines around the mouth of a screaming Audrey, and uses some others to pick up the shop's telephone to call Seymour, telling him, "The dessert came to me!", punctuated by a stomach-churning crunch. A horrified Seymour returns to the shop to find Audrey in the plant's trap, and forcefully pulls her out while Audrey II unleashes its most terrifying laugh, exclaiming mockingly, "No dessert, huh, Krelborn?!" Despite Seymour's attempts to save Audrey, the damage is done: Audrey has lost most of her blood from the experience, and she knows she'll die soon. As her dying wish, Audrey asks Seymour to feed her to the plant, happy that "finally, [she]'ll be somewhere that's green." ("Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)") This time, Seymour doesn't have to feed Audrey to the plant himself, for as he places her head down, Audrey II catches her head with its lower lip and gently pushes her back towards its mouth, not closing the trap until she's completely inside. After this, the plant lowers its head and sniffles while shedding a "tear".

Seymour grabs a shotgun from the back of the shop and steps outside, prepared to commit public suicide. He pulls the trigger, only to find the weapon jammed. Patrick Martin, V.P. of Licensing and Marketing at World Botanical Enterprises, approaches the despondent Seymour, who tells Martin to go away and leave him alone. The determined Martin tells Seymour, who tries to argue that he's not interested, that he has a business proposal for him; WBE has sent Martin to ask for Seymour's permission to sell miniature Audrey IIs, made from leaf cuttings of Seymour's plant, in stores across America, while also paying Seymour 30% of the profits from every Audrey II sold. The horrified Seymour flashes back to the events of the film as Martin continues his sales pitch in the background, confident that all American households will soon own an Audrey II, and that they can even sell the cuttings all over the world (Martin specifically mentions England, Mexico, Germany, France, Japan, China, and the USSR). Martin further ensures that "with the right advertising, this could be bigger than hula hoops!" and asks Seymour if they have a deal, to which Seymour, horrified by the implications, silently runs away. Martin doesn't see this as a problem; since plants are considered to be in the public domain, they can sell the Audrey IIs no matter what.

Seymour returns to the shop to confront the plant, which has now grown so tall that it has smashed through the roof, leaving its head and a quarter of its neck towering over the shop. Having found out about the plan to sell hundreds of millions of plants everywhere, Seymour realizes that Audrey II has been plotting world conquest. The plant confirms Seymour's suspicions and taunts him by thanking him. Calling Audrey II "a monster" and berating it for eating "the only thing [he] ever loved", Seymour concludes that the plant must be destroyed now. He uses a machine gun, a large pack of rat poison, a butchering knife, a pickaxe, a flamethrower, and a stick of lit dynamite to off Audrey II, all with no success. Finally, a desperate Seymour whips out the chainsaw with which he killed Orin Scrivello. "You made me kill the dentist with this...and now...it's time you got your just desserts!" A very poor choice of words, for as Seymour runs into the plant's trap, it gobbles him up, then burps out the chainsaw. Patrick Martin soon returns, looking for Seymour in the shop, with no success, although he does spot the bloodied chainsaw. Still insistent that he doesn't need Seymour's help, Martin directs his co-workers to start taking leaf cuttings and loading them into their moving truck. The camera pans out of the shop and up towards the night sky, with the Moon shining bright amongst the stars.

After this, we pan back down and see Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon standing in front of a large supermarket, as they, through song ("Don't Feed the Plants"), reveal that similar plants across the United States began to attract other "unsuspecting jerks" and "sweet-talked" them into feeding them blood, just as the original Audrey II did with Seymour, until they were big and powerful enough to rampage through whole cities, devouring everyone in sight. As they sing, we see an enormous crowd of shoppers stampeding into the supermarket to buy an Audrey II as if it were a Cabbage Patch Kid; the scene eventually escalates into an all-out brawl, complete with plants being tossed around like hot potatoes. The scene then fades to a movie theater, where a film entitled "It Came from Beyond the Moon" is playing; specifically, a scene featuring the U.S. army battling a giant Audrey II as it wreaks havoc on New York City, while the three girls sing about the plants growing to epic proportions (thanks to all the "jerks" who kept feeding them their blood) and beginning "what they came here to do": to eat Cleveland, Des Moines, Peoria, New York, and everywhere else. As the words "THE END" appear on the movie screen, the girls burst through the screen and shout "And where you live!" before enormous plant vines burst through the walls and drag several moviegoers out to their doom, while Audrey II can be heard laughing evilly outside. The scene then changes to shots of what is implied to be hundreds of millions of Audrey IIs, each having grown hundreds of feet tall, destroying New York City, Los Angeles, Orlando, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas; Washington, D.C., and other American cities. Eventually, we get shots of the plants destroying cities around the world, like London, Toronto, Sydney, Mexico City, Berlin, Glasgow, Paris, Dublin, Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow, Jerusalem, and Madrid. The voices of Seymour, Audrey, Mr. Mushnik, and Orin warn that no matter what the plants persuade you with to be fed, whether it be fame, fortune, love, material possessions or cheap thrills, you must not give in to temptation or fall for promises that sound too good to be true. At one point, Patrick Martin steps out into the city, stands in horror at what his actions have caused, and pays the price by getting eaten alive by an Audrey II. The scene soon makes frequent cuts between wide shots of enormous Audrey IIs demolishing cities and eating helpless civilians, newscasts reporting deaths in the millions, and militaries around the world being called in to battle the ever-growing Audrey IIs (the plants have now become too hardy to kill, and in wide shots, their vines and roots squash the army to death like giant monster feet). The cuts between the three scenes become more and more rapid until just before the final line, when the song ends with a shot of Earth combusting in a massive fireball, similar to the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars, creating the Earth-less solar system from the beginning of the film.

After this, we cut to a scene featuring a '60s-style parody of Fox News, with an unnamed anchorman claiming that the Audrey IIs were made by President John F. Kennedy and "deep state operatives" to undermine the Republican Party. He is promptly eaten by an Audrey II, which then lunges at the camera, after which the end credits roll. Songs during the credits include covers of "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" (sung by Mark Hamill as Audrey II) and "Suddenly, Seymour" (sung by Mj Rodriguez as Seymour and Ellen Greene as Audrey). As "Suddenly, Seymour" ends, a special closing logo for Warner Bros. Pictures is featured: Porky Pig (voiced by Bob Bergen) appears above the WB shield and utters his trademark "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!"

Cast
Audrey II Puppeteers Martin P. Robinson Anthony Asbury Joey Mazzarino Noel MacNeal Matt Vogel David Rudman Bill Barretta Tyler Bunch Eric Jacobson Karen Prell Kevin Clash Peter Linz Ryan Dillon

Additional Plant Puppeteers Peter Abrahamson Jacob Albarella Christian Anderson Pam Arciero Grant Baciocco Jennifer Barnhart Erwin Jake Bayan Nate Begle Sarah Berman David Bizzaro Marcelo R. Bottaro Kelsey Ann Brady Vince Broelmann Harrison Bryan Julianne Buescher Andrew A. Cano Raymond Carr Arlee Chadwick Edward Chiodo Ceili Clemens Jimmica Collins David Colston Corris John Criswell Nathan Danforth Dorien Davies Kristina Dizon Ben Durocher Emmanuel Elpenord Mary Faber Molly Fite Bryan Forrest Yanniv Frank Mark Gale Cameron Garrity James Godwin Chris M. Green Art Grueneberger Sam Koji Hale Terri Hardin Jackson Zach Haumesser Chris Heady Scott Hitz Gwen Hollander-Schrader Keri Grayson Horn Alissa Hunnicutt Morgana Ignis John Jennings Patrick Johnson Avery Lee Jones Liz Joyce James Kemp Jonathan Kidder Joe Kovacs Adam Kreutinger Erik Kuska Frank Langley Anika Larsen Vito Leanza Len Levitt Spencer Lott Rick Lyon Marta Mozelle MacRostie Brendan Malafronte Emily Marsh Ed May Paul McGinnis Ted Michaels Danny Montooth Jason Murphy Safi Nazzal Liz Oakley Brett O'Quinn Calvin Osorio Zoe Rose Palladino Chris Patstone Fergie L. Philippe Felix Pire David Quesal Rachel Redleaf Paul Rice Julio Robles Nicola Rose McEldowney Paul Rugg Keith Saltojanes Michael Sare Mike Scanlan Benjamin Schrader Tomas Seidita Benjamin Siemon Jessica Simon David Skelly Jeff Speetjens Kenny Stevenson Andy Stone Ian Sweetman Allan Trautman Jack Venturo Alex Villa Anna Claire Walker April Warren Anthony White Chad Williams Mark Bryan Wilson Chase Woolner Gretchen Wylder Teddy Yudain

Brad Abrell Latoryah Alexander Joe Annabi Heather Asch Greg Ballora Lawrence Basgall Jake Bazel Kaitlin Bellamy Carol Binion Tim Blaney Phoebe Bottoms Kate Brehm Matthew Brooks R. Lee Bryan Rachel Burson Jessica Honor Carleton Leslie Carrara-Rudolph Kristin Charney Stephen Chiodo John Cody Jeff Conover Austin Michael Costello Stephanie D'Abruzzo Matt Daniel Bill Diamond Jamie Donmoyer Jodi Eichelberger Artie Esposito David Matthew Feldman Genevieve Flati Galen Fott Bradley Freeman, Jr. Aymee Garcia Dan Garza Sam Jay Gold Cat Greenfield Chris Guerra Jenny Hann Forrest Harding Christopher Thomas Hayes Rachel Herrick Jon Hoche Patrick Daniel Holmes David Hosay Chris Iannuzzi Jason Jacoby Carl J. Johnson Sean Johnson Brian Michael Jones Kate Katz Vicki Kenderes-Eibner Kathleen Kim Mary Robinette Kowal Jim Kroupa Tim Lagasse Bruce Lanoil Michael Latini Adrian Rose Leonard Jayden Libran Paul Louis Muller Jonothon Lyons Amanda Maddock Andy Manjuck Jim Martin Cathy McCullough Jess McKay Tracie Mick-Shoemaker Kirsty Moon James Murray Sarah Nolen Sarah Sarang Oh Erin K. Orr Anney Fresh Ozar Chris Palmieri Annie Peterle Janine Pibal Steve Pollino Catrina Quintanilla Amber Reeder-Vega Jon Riddleberger Abby Roderick Emory Royston Amy Rush Liz Sanford Rob Saunders Stoph Scheer Michael Schupbach Joe Selph James Silson Lake Simons Brandon Smith Thom Stanley Anthony Michael Stokes David Strassman John Tartaglia Tony Urbano Michael T. Verdi Amanda Villalobos Russ Walko Stacey Weingarten Daniel Whitehurst Jonathan C.K. Williams Ashley Winkfield Eric Wright Matt "Lucky" Yates Michelle Zamora Dante Zuccaro

Catherine Adell Drew Allison Rachel Appelbaum Connor Asher Billy Barkhurst Aretta Baumgartner Daniel Becker Tau Bennett Ronald Binion Darren Bluestone Rickey Boyd Lindsey "Z." Briggs Jordan Brownlee Lisa Buckley Melvin Campbell Kevin Carlson Brian T. Carson Charles Chiodo Brian Clark Josh Cohen Frankie Cordero Melissa Creighton Carole D'Agostino Julia Darden Alice Dinnean Charlotte Anne Dore Nameer El-Kadi Peggy Etra David Fino Hobey Ford Thom Fountain Ora Fruchter Rob Gardner Noah Ginex Honey Goodenough Alex U. Griffin B.J. Guyer Elizabeth Hara Langston Hatch Andy Hayward Jennifer Himes Joshua Holden Cedwan Hooks Bill Remington Hubner Chris Ignacio Haley Jenkins Lynette Johnson Victoria Johnson Ulysses Jones Chris M. Kauffmann John Kennedy Donna Kimball Andy Rocco Kraft Matthew Krygier Scott Land Rob Laqui Matthew Lavin Calvin Mack Lester II Weston Chandler Long Derek Lux Lara MacLean Rowan Magee David Manley Drew Massey Samantha McDanel Megan McNerney Kathryn Molloy Alison Mork Russell Nauman Kevin Noonchester Michael Oosterom Carmen Osbahr Adam Pagdon Christine Papalexis Marc Petrosino Megan Piphus Peace Eli Presser Jared Ramirez Sebastiano Ricci Kiera Robbins Christina Rodriguez Carla Rudy Joe Sabatino Nicolette Santino Kelli Sawyer Christine Schisano Michael Schwabe Yinan Shentu Scott Silson Michelan Sisti Colleen Smith David Stephens Trey Stokes Lisa Sturz Norman Tempia Art Vega Russ Vick Liz Vitale Robin Walsh Daniel Weissbrodt Steven Widerman Noel Williams James W. Wojtal, Jr. Evy Wright Victor Yerrid Michael Paul Ziegfeld

Crew
Directed by Greg Berlanti

Screenplay by Matthew Robinson

Based on the Stage Musical Little Shop of Horrors
 * Original Production Written and Directed by Howard Ashman
 * Produced by the Workshop of the Players Art Foundation, Inc. (WPA Theatre), David Geffen, Cameron Mackintosh and The Shubert Organization

Musical Based on the Film The Little Shop of Horrors
 * Directed by Roger Corman
 * Written by Charles Byron Griffith

Produced by Greg Berlanti, Marc Platt, Sir Tim Rice

Executive Producer: David Geffen

Director of Photography: John Bailey

Edited by Gregory Plotkin

Original Film Score by Hans Zimmer

Songs from the Musical
 * Lyrics by Howard Ashman
 * Music by Alan Menken

Production Designer: Bo Welch

Costume Designer: Tom Broecker

"Audrey II" Designed and Created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop
 * Based on Original Puppet Designs by Martin P. Robinson

Additional Puppet Effects by Paul Andrejco (Puppet Heap Workshop), The Chiodo Brothers, Michael Latini and Marc Petrosino (Monkey Boys Productions)

Special Effects Supervisors: David Barclay, Rick Lazzarini, Mark Rappaport, Arjen Tuiten

Puppeteer Performance Coordinators: Anthony Asbury, Martin P. Robinson

Creative Consultants: Roland Emmerich, Ellen Greene, Alan Menken, Martin P. Robinson

Special Thanks to: Betters Homes and Gardens Magazine, Roger Corman, Annie Evans, Edward Eyth, Connie Grappo, Jonathan Haze, Brian Henson, The Jim Henson Company, Barry James, Jackie Joseph, Bill Lauch, Mickey Liddell, Cameron Mackintosh, Frank Oz, Mike Quinn, Robbie Rogers, Janis Roswick-Menken, Time Magazine, Lee Wilkof, Leilani Jones Wilmore, Mak Wilson

For Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Puppet Design and Construction Supervisor: Martin P. Robinson

Creative Supervisor, New York: Jason Weber

Creative Supervisor, Los Angeles: Peter Brooke

General Manager: Constance Peterson

Senior Production Manager: Melissa Creighton

Workshop Supervisor, New York: Ed Christie

Workshop Supervisor, Los Angeles: Jane Gootnick

Puppet Animatronics Supervisor: John Criswell

Animatronics Crew: Peter Abrahamson; Tony Acosta, Jr., Jasper Anderson, Greg Aronowitz, Greg Ballora, Christian Beckman, Adam Behr, John Biggs, Enrique Bilsland, Roland Blancaflor, Stephen R. Blandino, Jim Boulden, Evan Brainard, Bill Bryan, Steve Buscaino, Norman Cabrera, Marilee Canaga, Rob Capwell, Peter Chevako, Andrew Clement, Joe Colwell, David Covarrubias, Susan Cox, Wolfgang Criswell, Gino Crognale, Jeff Cruts, Duke Cullen, Richard Darwin, Michael Deak, Jeff Deist, Rob Derry, Alex Diaz, Robin Dufay, Jeff Edwards, Bernhard Eichholz, Mike Elizalde, Jon Fedele, Eric Fiedler, Thomas Floutz, Frederick Fraleigh, Robert Freitas, Rick Galinson, Deborah Galvez, Jake Garber, Tony Gardner, Connie Grayson-Criswell, Glen Griffin, Ted Haines, Vance Hartwell, Beth Hathaway, Richard Haugen, Eric Hayden, Jurgen Heimann, Matt Heimlich, Russ Herpich, Guy Himber, Jeff Himmel, Rob Hinderstein, Tim Huizing, Wes Humphrey, Hiroshi Ikeuchi, Lars Jangaard, Jeff Jingle, Carey Jones, Marian Keating, Luke Khanlian, Louis Kiss, Dana Klaren, Carol Koch, Steve Koch, Jim Kundig, Richard Landon, Frank Langley, Susan Laprelle, Julian Ledger, Russell Lukich, Jocelyn Lynch, Leonard MacDonald, Michael MacFarlane, Greg Manion, Bob Mano, Jason Matthews, Mike McCarty, Jake McKinnon, Tamara McKinnon-Miller, Kevin McTurk, Paul Mejias, Todd Minobe, Adrien Morot, Glenn Muravsky, Steve Newburn, Robert Newton, Greg Nicotero, Michael O'Brien, Michael Oosterom, Gary Pawlowski, Tim Phoenix, Brian Poor, Jena Prosser, Justin Raleigh, Tim Ralston, Robert Ramsdell, Sally Ray, Richard Redlefsen, Christian Ristow, Lisa Rocco, Tim Rose, Mikey Rotella, Frank Rydberg, Johnnie Saiko Espiritu, Terry Sandin, Mike Scanlan, Andy Schoneberg, Mark Setrakian, Shannon Shea, Russell Shinkle, Bryan Sides, Amber Skowronski, David Snyder, Jonathan Spence, Matt Sprunger, Trey Stokes, Bill Sturgeon, Christopher Swift, Lilo Tauvao, Mark Tavares, Norman Tempia, Jill Thraves; Mario Torres, Jr., Kevin Wasner, Chad Waters, David Wogh, Julie Zobel

Puppet Fabrication Supervisor: Rollie Krewson

Fabrication Crew: Heather Asch, Lauren Attinello, Robert H. Bennett, Carol Binion, Ronald Binion, David Bizzaro, Cheryl Blaylock, Marc Borders, Kate Brehm, Mary Brehmer, Matthew Brennan, Jamie Bressler, Matthew Brooks, Barney Burman, Rachel Burson, Michael Bush, Aida Caefer, Tamara Carlson-Woodard, Brian T. Carson, Ceili Clemens, John Cody, Gretchen Crookes, Carole D'Agostino, Nicolina Dante, Andrea Detwiler, Dawn Dininger, Melissa Doss Diwa, Rosa Douglas, Isabelle Dufour, Ben Durocher, Richard Dyar, Brad Elliott, Victoria Ellis, Artie Esposito, Henri Ewaskio, Alex "Jurgen" Ferguson, José Fernandez, Mike Fields, Bob Flanagan, Rob Gardner, Joel Gennari, Patrick Gerrety, Andrea Gilletti, Vanessa Gifford Gillis, Duncan Gillis, Deborah Glassberg, James Godwin, Allison Green, Anthony Grosso, B.J. Guyer, Brian Haimes, Tyler Hall, Elizabeth Hara, Paul Hartis, Aaron Hartnett, Deborah Hertzberg, Michelle Hickey, Jason Hines, Joshua Holden, Ann Marie Holdgruen, J. Douglas James, Lynette Johnson, Patrick Johnson, Scott Johnson, Sean Johnson, Ulysses Jones, Kate Katz, Jean Marie Keevins, Jamie Kelman, James Kemp, Ariella Knight, Joe Kovacs, Jim Kroupa, Janet Kuhl, Sarah Lafferty, Tim Lagasse, Adrian Rose Leonard, Molly Light, Spencer Lott, Kari Love, Peter MacKennan, Lara MacLean, Amanda Maddock, Laura Manns, Cathy McCullough, Jess McKay, Tom McLaughlin, Megan McNerney, Casey Miller, Tom Newby, Collette Nickola, Eric Novak, Danielle Obinger, Aina O'Kane, John Orberg, Anney Fresh Ozar, Gabriella Padilla, Anna Paniccia, Christine Papalexis, Jane Pien, Kenneth Rainey, Geoff Redknap, Mike Jay Regan, Reggie Rizzo, Tina Roland, Stephen Rotondaro, Kate Rusek, Rob Saunders, Sierra Schoening, Michael Schupbach, Tomas Seidita, Jessica Simon, David Skelly, Erin Slattery Black, Polly Smith, Keely Snook, Toria Sterling, Muriel Stockdale Grabe, Mari Tobita, Zach Tolchinsky, David Valentine, Russ Vick, Russ Walko, Robin Walsh, Stacey Weingarten, Haley Who, Simone Williams; James W. Wojtal, Jr., Scott Woodard

Trivia
Three of the songs are composed and performed differently in this film than in other adaptations. "Skid Row (Downtown)", while in the same key as most productions, is performed at a much slower tempo (before reaching normal speed during the final verse of the song). "Somewhere That's Green" is orchestrated in the key of F major, identical to "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Likewise, the final song, "Don't Feed the Plants", is arranged in the same key as the 2003 Broadway version of the song, albeit in a slower tempo, with a backup choir, and limiting the orchestration to a soft piano and somber-sounding bass violins, with bass drums and a baritone violin heard during the first half of the song. This gives its accompanying scene a more tragic feel, as it plays over shoppers barging into a supermarket to buy an Audrey II, a montage of innocent people being eaten by the plants, entire cities left in ruins from their rampage, and a discomforting shot of Earth exploding a la the Death Star as the rampaging Audrey IIs maniacally cackle.

Among the scenes cut from the film, which were included on home video releases, include the "Ya Never Know" and "Now (It's Just the Gas" sequences, alternate takes of every song from the finished film, and an alternate sequence depicting Orin Scrivello's death. In this version, immediately after he witnesses Orin try to rape Audrey, an incensed Seymour goes to the back of the shop and grabs an axe before storming out to hunt down the dentist, leaving Audrey II to sing the final part of the "Feed Me" song ("If you want a rationale/It isn't very hard to see...") by itself; Seymour only sings, "You need blood and he's got more than enough," after the plant sings "I need blood and he's got more than enough." Once Seymour reaches Audrey's apartment, Audrey II yells, "So go get it!" through the shop's window, and Seymour breaks down the door during the final two notes of the song. This immediately leads to a confrontation between Seymour and Orin, with Seymour ordering Audrey to run and hide so as to not witness what's about to happen. Just as in the final cut, Orin pleads for his life, promising to pack up and leave Skid Row forever. While Seymour thinks about whether to take the dentist as his word, Orin calls Audrey and Seymour "the biggest pussies on Earth." In response, Seymour goes berserk, tying Orin to Audrey's bed with duct tape before hacking him into pieces (complete with wall shadows of Seymour doing the deed and outside shots of blood splattering on the window). After this, Seymour takes Orin's remains (including his severed, blood-soaked head) and carries them, by hand, to the florist shop, where he dumps them into the trap of a pleased Audrey II. However, Seymour forgets to clean the axe, and little red dots had dripped all over the shop's floor and the concrete outside as he carried Orin's chopped-up body to the shop.

Before Haley Joel Osment was cast as Seymour, Justin Bieber, Daniel Boys, Zach Braff, Matthew Broderick, Michael Buble, Darren Criss, Adam Driver, Zac Efron, Taron Egerton, Chris Evans, Santino Fontana, Josh Gad, Andrew Garfield, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Topher Grace, Seth Green, Jonathan Groff, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, both Jonas Brothers, Zachary Levi, Tobey Maguire, Jack McBrayer, Dylan Minnette, Bobby Moynihan, Edward Norton, Jim Parsons, Randy Rainbow, Andy Samberg, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Justin Timberlake, Peyton Wich, Alex Wolff, and Finn Wolfhard were all considered for the part. Hader was later cast as the masochistic dental patient Arthur Denton, played by Bill Murray in the 1986 film, and Samberg was cast as Bernstein, an NBC executive who tries to give Seymour his own show during "The Meek Shall Inherit". Harris was cast as the first person to take a liking to Seymour's plant. Groff had previously played Seymour in the 2019 off-Broadway production, while Gyllenhaal played Seymour in an Encores! production of Little Shop in 2015. Rick Moranis, who played Seymour in the 1986 musical film, makes a cameo as a shabby-looking Skid Row denizen who sings that Skid Row is "where the cabs never stop" and is promptly soaked by a taxi driving on a puddle, while the man who sings, "Where the food is slop", while eating a disgusting-looking chicken dinner, is played by Jonathan Haze, who played Seymour in the original Roger Corman film. Hunter Foster, who played the role in the 2003 Broadway production, briefly appears as a man from uptown New York, and Stuart Zagnit, who played Seymour in the original off-Broadway production when it closed in 1987, cameos as a newspaper salesman.

Amy Adams, Adele, Christina Aguilera, Jillian Banks, Kristen Bell, Jodi Benson, Emily Blunt, Mariah Carey, Kristin Chenoweth, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Kirsten Dunst, Jenny Elfman, Anna Faris, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Faith Hill, Kate Hudson, Bonnie Hunt, Brie Larson, Avril Lavigne, Madonna, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Debra Messing, Kylie Minogue, Mandy Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Katy Perry, Pink, Julia Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Sarah Silverman, Britney Spears, Emma Stone, Taylor Swift, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman, Jennifer Tilly, Ashley Tisdale, Meghan Trainor, Kristen Wiig, Rebel Wilson, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead auditioned for Audrey before Idina Menzel won the role. While Ellen Greene didn't reprise Audrey from the original off-Broadway adaptation of the play and its subsequent 1986 film version, she does have a supporting role as Ms. Geffen, Audrey's neighbor and witness to Seymour's murder of Orin Scrivello (Greene is also credited as a creative consultant), while Hunt portrays a supermarket clerk during "Don't Feed the Plants", trying in vain to quell the mob of customers fighting over Audrey II's. Jackie Joseph, who portrayed Audrey in the original Roger Corman film, cameos as an uptown woman, while Marsha Waterbury and Kerry Butler (the off-Broadway understudy Audrey and Broadway Audrey, respectively) make appearances as supermarket shoppers.

Actors in contention for the part of Mr. Mushnik include Jason Alexander, Dan Aykroyd, Alec Baldwin, Ed Begley Jr., Benjamin Bratt, Clancy Brown, James Caan, Blake Clark, Stephen Colbert, Chris Cooper, Bryan Cranston, Tim Curry, Timothy Dalton, Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp, Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Englund, Colin Farrell, Will Ferrell, Harvey Fierstein, Ralph Fiennes, Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, Brad Garrett, Jeff Goldblum, John Goodman, Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrelson, Ed Harris, Dustin Hoffman, Jeremy Irons, Jason Isaacs, Tommy Lee Jones, Michael Keaton, Richard Kind, David Koechner, Nathan Lane, Jon Lovitz, James Marsters, Ewan McGregor, Michael McKean, Ian McShane, Tamuera Morrison, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Nick Nolte, Gary Oldman, Al Pacino, Joe Pantoliano, Chris Parnell, Joe Pesci, Joaquin Phoenix, David Hyde Pierce, John C. Reilly, Keanu Reeves, William Shatner, Wallace Shawn, Brent Spiner, Sylvester Stallone, Jon Stewart, Patrick Stewart, Mark Strong, Jeffrey Tambor, Patrick Warburton, Lee Wilkof, and Bruce Willis. The role eventually went to J.K. Simmons. Murray originally played Arthur Denton in the 1986 film. Wilkof, who originated Seymour off-Broadway, makes a cameo as a garbage collector (Barry James, the original West End Seymour, played the character in the U.K. release of the film). Kind cameos as a police chief who talks to Audrey after Orin's death.

Jack Black, Steve Buscemi, Steve Carell, David Cross, Tom Cruise, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Will Ferrell, Dave Foley, Will Forte, Topher Grace, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, Kevin James, Jason Lee, John Malkovich, Howie Mandel, Seth Meyers, Jim Parsons, Pedro Pascal, John C. Reilly, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Sandler, Adam Scott, Jason Segel, Jerry Seinfeld, David Spade, Ben Stiller, Jason Sudeikis, Alan Tudyk, and Steve Zahn all auditioned for Orin Scrivello before the role went to Jim Carrey. Black, who also auditioned to voice Audrey II, appeared as radio DJ Wink Wilkinson, Tudyk plays Patrick Martin, and Sandler and James were cast as Skip Snip and a moving truck driver preparing to distribute Audrey II cuttings at the end of the film, respectively. Douglas Sills, who played Orin on Broadway, appears as a shopper during the "Don't Feed the Plants" sequence.

For Audrey II, the director wanted an actor who could at least act threatening enough if not able to sing. Lori Alan, Jack Black, Brandon Boyd, Wayne Brady, Clancy Brown, Jim Carrey, Cedric the Entertainer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Common, Eddie Cooper, Lilli Cooper, Cavin Cornwall, Terry Crews, Jim Cummings, Tim Curry, Elliot Dash, Keith David, Daveed Diggs, Taye Diggs, Snoop Dogg, Brad Dourif, Danny Elfman, Donald Faison, Harvey Fierstein, Kelsey Grammer, Cee Lo Green, David Alan Grier, Neil Patrick Harris, Kevin Hart, Steve Harvey, James Monroe Iglehart, Jason Isaacs, Dwayne Johnson, Tom Kenny, Keegan-Michael Key, Martin Lawrence, Seth MacFarlane, John Malkovich, Ian McShane, Mr. T, Eddie Murphy, Gary Oldman, Ozzy Osborne, Ken Page, Jordan Peele, Billy Porter, Randy Rainbow, Amber Reilly, Ving Rhames, Kevin Michael Richardson, Chris Rock, Axl Rose, J.K. Simmons, Sam Smith, Will Smith, Wanda Sykes, Tony Todd, Alan Tudyk, Sigourney Weaver, and Stevie Wonder all auditioned for the part. Mark Hamill was eventually brought in to voice the plant, being both a talented villain voice actor and a good singer. Simmons was cast as Mr. Mushnik, Carrey won the role of Orin Scrivello, Black was cast as Wink Wilkinson, while Reilly voiced Audrey II in a 2019 production at the Pasadena Playhouse. Eddie Cooper, Ken Page, and Billy Porter have all also played Audrey II in past Little Shop productions. Keith David made an appearance during the "Skid Row (Downtown)" number, singing the bass lines.

Before Hamill was cast as Audrey II, the voices of the main puppeteers were considered (giving the plant a purposely inconsistent sound). Eventually, the voice of lead puppeteer Martin P. Robinson was used during filming and would have been used in the final cut if no suitable voice actor had been found. Robinson's Audrey II voice was used in promotional material for the film, including an interview with the character.

Actresses/puppeteers Louise Gold, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph and Colleen Smith make onscreen cameos: Gold plays an old lady begging for money, Carrara-Rudolph appears as a dental patient, and Smith as the first shopper to barge into the supermarket to buy an Audrey II. The latter two also worked as additional Audrey II puppeteers.

Roger Corman, who directed the original Little Shop of Horrors film in 1960, makes an appearance as a businessman holding a contract near the end of "The Meek Shall Inherit" number. Jonathan Haze and Jackie Joseph, who played Seymour and Audrey in said film, make cameos as uptown people who appear during the "Skid Row (Downtown)" number.

The manner in which Audrey II is designed, operated and voiced contains shout-outs to the original Roger Corman film, the stage version, and the 1986 musical film. Audrey II's design combines elements of the 1982 off-Broadway and 2003 Broadway puppet designs, both created by Martin P. Robinson, who also performed the plant in those shows and this film. From the scene where we're introduced to the plant to the moment in "Feed Me" when it asks Seymour if he believes his newfound success is a coincidence, Audrey II is operated as though it were a hinged prop, just like in the original Roger Corman film. It's only when Seymour dismisses the plant as an inanimate object, and it aggressively proves otherwise, that Audrey II is revealed to be an intricate puppet, similar to the 1986 film, but operated similarly to Marty Robinson's original stage puppets. When the plant begins to talk and demand to be fed, voice actor Mark Hamill initially does his best impression of Charles B. Griffith's voice for Audrey Jr. from the original Roger Corman film. When it starts singing and promising Seymour lots of riches, Hamill changes to a voice closer to his own (that deepens as the plant continues growing). Throughout the film, Hamill's voice switches between the Audrey Jr. impression, his iconic Joker voice and an emulation of Levi Stubbs' voice for Audrey II, before eventually using his Megatronus voice (complete with reverb effects) when the plant is at its largest size.

Ten Audrey IIs, all of varying sizes, were created for the film by puppet builders and technicians from Jim Henson's Creature Shop, based on original stage puppet designs by Martin P. Robinson, who supervised the puppet design and fabrication process for this film. The first, and smallest, plant is essentially an immobile prop, standing as tall as a coffee mug. This plant can be picked up and carried around with ease, and basically functions as an actual small plant. The second plant, built in the same size as the first plant, can be operated when on a table or flat surface by simply opening and closing its mouth on a hinge; this version of Audrey II was seen during "Grow for Me", its mouth controlled by only one puppeteer; in this case, Martin P. Robinson. The third plant is also a prop, around the size of a normal plant, with its trap moved by controlling a tiny joystick hidden inside its pot; this Audrey II is also built with a tongue, something that all subsequent Audrey II puppets in this film will include, and two small pairs of vines at the front and back of the plant, all of which are moved by radio control. This plant is seen during the WSKID radio interview scene, operated in said scene by four puppeteers; Anthony Asbury, who moves the mouth, and three additional performers, two controlling the vines, and one controlling the tongue. The fourth plant, seen at the start of the "Feed Me" scene, is another prop, built as size of a chair, this time using a modified car pedal to control its "jaw". Seven people are needed to move this version of Audrey II; one moving the head, one pressing the car pedal to move the mouth, one controlling the tongue, one operating larger vines at the front of the plant, one controlling the vines at the back, one operating vines on each side, and one controlling a small pair of petals. The fifth plant, first seen when it shouts, "Does this look inanimate to you, punk?!" during "Feed Me", is the first puppet of Audrey II seen in the film, built the same size as plant #4; to control it, puppeteer Karen Prell sits inside the plant's pot, where she inserts her whole upper body into Audrey II's head and moves the puppet's flexible mouth with her right hand, while 12 other puppeteers control its vines, pedals, and tongue with rods and RC control units. The sixth plant, used during "Suppertime", is operated by 25 puppeteers; David Rudman, who sits on its pot in a sitting position, and inserts his whole body into its head, putting his hands close together and moving them simultaneously to move the mouth, and 24 other performers controlling its other parts. This version of Audrey II stands as tall as a doorway and is the first to be capable of eating a person whole. The seventh plant is seen after "The Meek Shall Inherit"; This Audrey II, which now barely fits inside the shop set, is performed by 50 puppeteers; Joey Mazzarino, who stands on top of the pot and leans forward inside the plant costume, controlling its head and mouth by inserting his arms into holes inside the puppet, and pulling and pushing his arms together; and the other 49 performers controlling its vines, which can now form humanlike hands, operated via cable controls connected to the puppeteers' fingers; and petals, which are now controlled by the arms of two puppeteers who carefully hide behind the plant. The corners of the plant's mouth are now mechanized, so it can smile or frown on camera, as are its "lips", allowing it to bare its teeth. The eighth plant, from most of the "Suppertime" reprise, is the biggest prop plant, controlled by pulling a large lever to move the jaw; it was built the same size as plant #7, with 20 performers needed to control it. The ninth plant comes during the climax, now requiring a team of 110 puppeteers. By now, Audrey II has consumed so much blood that much of it sprays out of its mouth like saliva with every word it says. The head of this Audrey II is now big enough for a whole human to stretch and move around inside; puppeteer Kevin Clash moves his arms and whole body to control the mouth. The head is lifted off the ground by a pulley system connected from the top of the puppet to a crane operated high above the roof by Martin P. Robinson, which can be lowered should the plant be required to lower its head. The additional performers all control its vines, "hands", petals, roots, and tongue, or just to support the puppet's massive weight. This Audrey II puppet was so tall that a large hole had to be cut in the roof of the Warner Bros. soundstage so the puppet could fit and move around, and so difficult to manipulate that in order for the puppet to move more smoothly on camera, the framerate for the scene was slowed to 14 frames per second, forcing Haley Joel Osment to act onscreen in slow-motion, which was sped up to 24 frames per second in post-production. The tenth, and largest, plant was built for the "Don't Feed the Plants" finale number; three puppets of this plant were used together in each shot to illustrate the concept of a large army of Audrey II plants taking over the world. In order to fully operate the massive plants, 330 puppeteers (all led by Martin P. Robinson) were needed. When fully hoisted, each plant stood at 133 feet, as tall as the Warner Bros. water tower. The plants are so tall that the entire sequence was filmed outdoors, and so heavy that the cranes required to move the puppets' heads, which are now so big that three people have to move the mouth simultaneously from inside, had to be reinforced so they wouldn't topple over. These plants were operated in several different ways; its lips were controlled by two puppeteers working mechanical hand controls, or "waldos"; its roots were played by puppeteers in full suits who crawled, walked on their haunches, or moved around on large dollies to manually move the whole plant; its tongue was controlled by two performers moving around giant levers, one moving the tongue around and the other moving the tip of the tongue up and down; and its vines and petals were controlled by various puppeteers with rods, radio-control units, cable controls, robotic arms worn on the puppeteers' arms, modified console controllers, and modified bicycle hand brakes; on-screen operators were digitally removed in post-production. For these puppets to move smoothly, the framerate was dropped to 10 frames per second, which, again, was later sped up to 24 frames per second.

Though practical effects were mostly used for the film, using the plant puppetry, red paint splattering all over the dentist's office for blood, paint-stained pieces of an Orin dummy when he is fed to the plant, a Mushnik dummy and fake blood for the end of the "Suppertime" number when he gets his head bitten off, and a prop gun when Seymour tries to kill himself, there were some effects that involved CGI. These included digital editing to erase on-screen puppeteers and rods, CGI fire from the flamethrower (so the puppet would not suffer any real damage), and the end shot of Earth blowing up.