Controversy
Lou Reed, singer-songwriter of the Velvet Underground and one of the Factory people who knew Sedgwick, hated the film. He told the New York Daily News, "I read that script. It's one of the most disgusting, foul things I've seen – by any illiterate retard – in a long time. There's no limit to how low some people will go to write something to make money."
Bob Dylan threatened to sue, saying through his lawyers that the script insinuated his responsibility in Sedgwick's drug abuse and death. Although the name of the character in question was changed to Billy Quinn, Dylan still attempted to halt the film's release. Sienna Miller defended the film against Dylan's allegations, saying in an interview with the Guardian, "It blames Warhol more than anyone, because he did abandon her...there was a friendship there, she needed help and no one helped her. It's not that Dylan drove her to heroin addiction." Consequently, producer Harvey Weinstein had to postpone the release date. Additionally, according to director George Hickenlooper, the budget was once expected to be $8 million, but ended up being less than $7 million.
Hickenlooper helmed the additional shoots and mixed the final cut of the film in New York City, where he worked in close collaboration with Weinstein. Weinstein released the picture on December 29, 2006, in Los Angeles. Because the post production schedule was so delayed, Hickenlooper continued to sound edit the film after its initial release.
Casting
Katie Holmes was set to star as Sedgwick, but it was reported Tom Cruise convinced Holmes not to do it because it would be bad for her image. Regarding the rumors, Holmes said, "I declined the role in Factory Girl based on my own decisions about the movie." The role then went back to Miller. However, Holmes had also stated that even if she did take the part, she would have had to drop out because she was pregnant when the movie was set to begin filming.
Release
Home media
The film was released on DVD by the Weinstein Company on July 17, 2007. It contains the Unrated Extended Edition of the film.
The film debuted on Blu-ray in Canada on March 8, 2011, in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. It contains the Unrated Cut.
Critical reception
Factory Girl received generally negative reviews, but Sienna Miller's performance as Edie Sedgwick was met with critical acclaim. Johnny Vaughan from Sun Online concluded that "It's Sienna Miller's star that shines brightest in this heartbreaking cautionary tale." Empire magazine described Factory Girl as "A brave bid to recreate a modern American tragedy, with a revelatory turn by its lead actress." Mick LaSalle from San Francisco Chronicle said "Miller gets old and used up before our eyes, and we not only see it, we see what it means to experience it. This is a movie about power, and its spectacle is that of a woman losing all of it."
Stella Papamichael wrote for the BBC: "In all it's an unconvincing portrait, and as the Dylan clone says, "Empty, like one of those cans of soup...". Trevor Johnston for Time Out wrote "One wonders whether the documentary format would have better served the material than this ill-focused drama. Since real-life family and observers chime in over the end credits, perhaps the filmmakers were thinking the same thing." In The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave the film two out of five stars and said; "Edie Sedgwick's story is sad, but never appears important or interesting." Jim Lewis of Slate felt the film didn't do justice to Warhol's artistic accomplishments and concluded, "Factory Girl isn't just a bad movie, it's a 90-minute insult to the culture it pretends to be capturing."