Armchair Commentary

Exclusive: True Tales of Unmade Movies and "Development Hell"

David Hughes mines Hollywood's depths for the untold stories behind the unmade movies (Sandman, where art thou?) and the unmade versions of movies that actually did reach the screen (like the fourth Indiana Jones film, written by Frank Darabont and meant to include Sean Connery).

In this exclusive guest post, Hughes answers the question at the heart of his acclaimed and — newly updated — book, Tales From Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made:

We often hear this phrase, ‘Development Hell’, thrown about. But what does it mean? (I should know: I wrote the book on it.)

In an ideal world, a screenwriter would write a script, and assuming it's brilliant, attract (a) a director, (b) actors, (c) finance, and (d) members of the opposite sex. In practice, these things seldom happen — especially (d). Of all the scripts that get written (fewer than 1% of those that get started), fewer than 1% get anywhere near anyone with the power to get them made; of that 1%, only 1% will actually be made. In other words, every film you see is like Rocky’s whole life — a million to one shot. Many of the rest wind up circling the drain in a place called Development Hell.

Development is what happens when everyone with an interest in an unproduced script tries to help it get to a place where it’s ready to be turned into a movie. This will tend to involve studio executives, producers, actors, and multiple screenwriters — some brought on board because they have a particular ‘voice’, others because they had a hit the previous weekend. When all of these people pull in the same direction, working together to create the best possible version of a particular story — or, in most cases, one that’s achievable for the money — development can go smoothly. When some or all of the collaborators are pulling in different directions, and this process continues indefinitely, that’s Development Hell.

So how can budding screenwriters avoid this special form of damnation? One way is to refuse to sell anything you’ve written, leaving your perfect script as words on paper, like the blueprint for a wonderful building that will never be constructed. Another way is to be so amazingly rich, you can finance your own films. Another If, however, you want to see your masterpiece on the big screen, and you don’t have the necessary millions to make it yourself, there’s a pretty good chance you will end up in the special place reserved for screenplays that started out so perfect, they just had to be rewritten. And rewritten… And rewritten… The name of this particular circle of Hell? Why, Limbo of course.

The above article has since been optioned by a major Hollywood studio, and now features a talking dog, a car chase and a more “relatable” protagonist. A new writer is being drafted in to ‘punch up’ the second paragraph, and by the time they’ve finished, everyone will forget why they liked it in the first place.

Find more Hollywood stories and exclusive guest posts at the Amazon Studios Hollywonk blog.

Trailer Park: "Carnage" and "The Ides of March"

Roman Polanski's Carnage, opening later this year, is an adaptation of the Broadway play God of Carnage, which is about two sets of parents squabbling over their sons, who have gotten in a school yard fight. The teaser trailer (not an official green band release, so there is profanity for those who want to be properly warned) is like a mash-up of Oscar Gold, and for that alone it's a must-see. Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly play one set of parents, while Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz play the other set. Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet in the same frame? My mind is going to explode.

 

 

 

I had a similar experience watching the trailer for The Ides of March a few weeks ago, directed by and starring George Clooney as a rising Presidential candidate whose press secretary (Ryan Gosling) knows something that could shatter his career. My head-exploding moment? Realizing that on top of the two mildly handsome and talented actors listed above, this also contains both Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the same movie (if this has happened before, and I feel like it should have, please let me know cause it's really bugging me). This is on my must-see list for fall. --Ellen

 

 

Can't Recall Being this Totally Excited

For a lot of guys in my age bracket Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall is a seminal movie. If you were an Arnold (pronounced Aahh-nuld) fan (go ahead and admit it, it was a different time), Total Recall was the zenith of his awesomeness. And my dad took me to see it when I was too young for an R rated movie. It came after Commando, Predator, The Running Man & Twins. It was the right movie at the right time for any action/adventure loving movie goer. Total Recall was full of humor, memorable quotes and for the era, great sci-fi design and special effects. It seemed like such a BIG movie and for at least this one movie geek, it would became one of the most referenced films ever.

So now, of course, the upcoming "re-imagining" Total Recall (2012) directed by Len Wiseman (of Underworld fame) is making me feel like a kid again. Scanning the google looking for updates or new photos, hoping for an Arnold cameo, anything to feed my excitement. Anyways.....this time around we've got Colin Farrell in the Arnie role. Which, I can get on board with. He's versatile and sometimes brilliant as is evident in the far too unwatched In Bruges. Then the cast really gets good. Kate Beckinsale in the Sharon Stone role, AWESOME! Jessica Biel as Melina, SWEET!! And to top it all off Bryan Cranston as Cohagen. AWESOMELY SWEET!!! Oh wait, as if that wasn't good enough, how bout' they throw in a little Bill Nighy, John Cho and some Ethan Hawke. MIND BLOWN!! One more bonus, Shia LaBeouf is not in it. Just a powerhouse group! What's next, Robocop with Daniel Craig? We can dream.

It's OK if you're smiling right now thinking of some mindless action fun. Let yourself go back to that place when you were younger and going to the movies was so much more exciting. We didn't need no stinkin' 3D! We just needed absurd fight scenes and enough of the F word to make us feel a little bit dangerous while we watched. Thanks Paul Verhoeven, thanks Arnie and now thank you Len Wiseman and Columbia Pictures for bringing back this classic. Yeah, I said it, c-l-a-s-s-i-c.

Andrew Garfield Melts Hearts at Comic-Con

If you haven't seen this clip circling yet, check out this little Comic-Con surprise prior to the "Spider-Man" panel, then watch Andrew Garfield, aka the new Spider-Man, get choked up at the honor of inheriting the webbed mantle. --Ellen

 

 

 

Trailer Park: "Captain America," "Immortals," "Killer Elite"

Now that Transformers: Dark of the Moon has made its impact crater upon the summer movie season, it’s time to shake off the debris and look ahead to the next wave of red meat cinema. Here’s a few of the contenders looking to put the toot, whistle, plunk and boom back into theaters. --Andrew Wright

Captain America: The First Avenger (dir. by Joe Johnston):  One of the pleasures of the new wave of Marvel Comics films (and, I’d imagine, one of the major headaches for Joss Whedon in trying to meld them all together for his upcoming The Avengers) is how each entry takes on a different style: Woozy Rat Pack improv for Iron Man, cosmic Flash Gordonish excess for Thor, and now this appealingly retro take on the Star-Spangled Avenger. As he showed with The Rocketeer, director Joe Johnston has a knack for period heroics, and the combination of a top tier cast and what appears to be mostly practical effects looks extremely promising …  once you get past that unsettling shrinkydinked effect on Chris Evans, that is. (July 22)

 

Immortals (dir. by Tarsem Singh): Director Tarsem Singh has a bit of a mixed record on film, following up the amazingly pretentious The Cell with the visually dazzling, heartfelt (and yes, still a bit pretentious) The Fall. Hopefully, this ultra-stylized (is that a shish kabob set on that one guy’s helmet?) updating of the Ray Harryhausen universe stays on his good side.  And come on, who doesn’t want to see Mickey Rourke wearing prawn armor? (November 11)

 

Killer Elite (dir. by Gary McKendrie): And now we’re talking. The Scorpions on the soundtrack, Robert De Niro beating up a multitude of dudes, and Jason Statham punching a mustachioed Clive Owen in the place where Clive Owen would least like to be punched.  Ostensibly based on a true story (and bearing no relation to Sam Peckinpah’s film of the same name), this looks like it approaches Testosterone Valhalla. I really hope that chair gets a supporting actor credit, at least. (September 23)

 

 

Happy Birthday, Johnny Depp

But what do you get the man who has everything on his 48th? After all, Depp does own his own island in the Bahamas. And his latest film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, has earned over $790 million worldwide so far. That GAP gift card is just not going to do. Instead, let’s focus on what he’s given us. 

It all started with 21 Jump Street. Yes, he’d done roles in films prior to that, including Platoon, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and John Waters’ great little film Cry-Baby, but it was his 1987-1990 role as Officer Tom Hanson that made him a star. He, along with Holly Robinson, Peter DeLuise, and Dustin Nguyen, play undercover cops who pose as high school students to bust drug dealers, gang bangers, and other nefarious students. This series is pretty funny when you rewatch, especially a moment where DeLuise teaches Depp how to pronounce the word, “vato.” 

Depp didn’t take the easy Teen Beat route to stardom. He almost typically chooses the oddball role, and it’s where he does some of his most memorable work in films such as Edward Scissorhands, Benny & Joon, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Blow. 

One of his best oddballs is Plan 9 From Outer Space director Ed Wood in Tim Burton’s film of the same name. Depp is absolutely fearless as a cross-dressing filmmaker who’s convinced he’s making a masterpiece. Co-star Martin Landau, who plays Bela Legosi, won an Oscar for his role, proving that Depp is a generous co-star.

Leonardo DiCaprio found that out, too, when he co-starred as Depp’s mentally challenged younger brother in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Depp’s work in the film is among his best. His role isn’t as flashy as DiCaprio’s, but he holds the ensemble together, and makes the film feel real.  And he proves that he doesn’t need an eye patch or a funny accent to make a character work.

The same is true for Donnie Brasco, in which Depp plays an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates the mob. The 1997 film, which co-stars Al Pacino, is one of Depp’s underrated gems.  

OK, he’s made a lot of good films, but some of us have had our fill of the Pirates franchise. But there is hope. Depp stars in the upcoming The Rum Diary about a down-and-out reporter in the Caribbean (he just can’t get enough of the place). He’s also set to star in Martin Scorsese’s film Hugo Cabret and as the vampire Barnabas Collins in the big-screen version of Dark Shadows.

And one last tidbit for the 21 Jump Street fans, he even has a cameo in the upcoming 21 Jump Street film, which stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. 

And that cameo is proof that, even with 50 on the horizon, Johnny Depp is an actor who never stops giving.

What is your favorite Johnny Depp film and what gift would you give him for his 48th birthday? -- Paige Newman

 

The World According to Terrence Malick

As if it needed any greater pedigree than simply being a Terrence Malick film, The Tree of Life arrives in theaters as winner of the 2011 Cannes Palme d'Or, the top honor from the world's most renowned film festival. Malick has directed only five films in 38 years, and The Tree of Life has had critics stumbling over themselves to describe its collision of the cosmos, spirituality, philosophy, and the deeply personal nature of familial love. Most everyone admits it's a tough nut that defies easy interpretation, demands repeated viewings, and may even be (gasp!) flawed in some fundamental ways. But the mantle of genius is sticking strong to Malick and The Tree of Life, along with its ruminative themes on the natural world and existential questions about who we are, why we're here, and where we're going after we've moved beyond our experience of the known.

All five of Malick's films have aspired to the realm of poetry. Because of the mystique that has grown up around him -- he stays resolutely out of the public eye and does not comment about his work -- the grand master label has become a given. He surrounds himself with a trusted creative team, and actors lucky enough to be chosen to share his vision have waxed rhapsodic about his process. In a recent interview with the New York Times' Dennis Lim, The Tree of Life's star Brad Pitt said that Malick fosters an atmosphere that allows for serendipity in capturing both elegiacal imagery and the aesthetics of personal interaction. "He finds perfection in imperfection, and he's always trying to create the imperfection," Pitt told Lim. Pitt said that working with Malick was "liberating but exhausting," and that he gave his actors free rein to answer "this actor’s quest of always trying to be in the moment, which is a bit precious but very true."

 

Others have observed that Malick uses his scripts as a starting point, but that they become less important than capturing moments that arise unexpetedly when shooting begins. Famous for laboring over his work both during shooting and in post production, Malick relies heavily on editing and sound design to shape his films. His intention has been expressed as a desire to capture emotion on film in a way that few directors have ever been able to do.

The Tree of Life certainly follows his obsession with nature and the beauty of living things, be they the branches of a tree or the churning vapors of a distant galaxy. In 2005 he brought the gaze of 17th century explorer John Smith (Colin Farrell) to the exotic shores of North America with The New World. His 1998 interpretation of The Thin Red Line, James Jones' novel about the World War II South Pacific battle on Guadalcanal strove for similar themes of the awesomeness, splendor, and sometimes horror found in the details of life so many of us pass by without a second glance.

Another device revered by Malick is the use of observational voice-over from his actors that intertwine with the spectacle of his images, sometimes in seemingly random ways. Malick is a Harvard educated Rhodes scholar who taught philosophy at MIT, so it's not surprising that he should be interested in bringing his idealistic view of the world to bear in his art. He uses the internal monologues that revolve in his characters heads to give voice to his own existential wonder. In The Thin Red Line, the virtual who's who of male Hollywood stars -- Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel, et al -- mingled their voices to achieve a higher grace than that of a traditional war movie. The New World and The Tree of Life are also filled with voices of actors musing to themselves and to us, whether their thoughts relate to Malick's narrative or not.

The 20 year gap closed by The Thin Red Line was preceded by what is nearly universally hailed as Malick's golden achievement. Days of Heaven is a breathtaking and heartbreaking glimpse at life in the farmlands of the Texas panhandle in the early 20th century, starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, and Sam Shepard. Golden is also an apt descriptor of the visual style as filming took place almost entirely during "the golden hour" just before sunset, giving every scene its distinctive and entirely natural burnished glow. Malick was awarded the directing prize at Cannes for Days of Heaven in 1979.

Malick's first feature, Badlands was made on the cheap in 1973, but remains the prototype from which all his themes evolved -- the haunting voiceover, the wonderment or sense of dread provoked by environment, and a reliance on the just-so-ness of natural light. Performances by the very young Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as an indifferent serial killer and his teenage lover remain powerfully affecting, as does the striking imagery of the American West.

Perhaps in an effort to make up for lost time, Malick has already shot his as yet untitled sixth film which is set in present day Oklahoma and stars Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams. But it's unlikely we'll see the film in time for next year's Cannes Film Festival, and maybe not even the year after that. For Terrence Malick, neither films nor life are things to be rushed, and each appear to hold eqaul importance in his ethos as one of the great artists of our time.--Ted Fry

First Trailer: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

Watch it now!

Iron Man 3 Director Shares "The Big Secret" of Screenwriting

Writer/director Shane Black, an action hero to screenwriters everywhere, served as a guest judge for the Amazon Studios April awards – and took some time to answer a few questions for us (and dodge a few about Iron Man 3).

             Shane Black’s voice, so deliberate and enunciated, takes on a conspiratorial tone. I hold my breath. “Here’s what people don’t know,” he says. “Here’s the big secret.” It’s not about Iron Man 3, the blockbuster sequel he’ll be directing for release in 2013 (he can’t say much about that). This secret is about screenwriting. “I don’t just say this for me, I’ve heard this from many people,” he said. “You write a script. It’s very difficult, but then you finish it. You think if you write, say, seven more, you’re cruising, everything’s great.”

            Yeah, that sounds about right. Especially when you’ve written scripts like Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight and The Last Boy Scout, as Black has. “But each one is more difficult. If you’ve written nine scripts, the tenth is going to be even harder,” he says. Wait, what? “Maybe it’s just that you know more about writing and you’re not satisfied with less. But it never gets easier, only more grueling with every script. I’ve never had an easy one.”

            Can’t help it; heavy sigh. Some secret! “That’s not to say it was all misery,” he continues quickly. “Difficulty doesn’t mean it was a miserable process. Difficult means you had to burn brightly and pace around 1,000 times and go through 10 reams of paper, but you get it. … I think it’s important to feel like you’ve really smashed at the envelope, flailed away at all the corners until you’ve exhausted the pool of ideas that exist for a project you’ve chosen, even if you don’t use most of them.”

            He seems to still be in envelope-smashing mode for Iron Man 3, which he will be writing (with Drew Pearce) as well as directing. The movie is a reunion of sorts with Robert Downey Jr., who starred in Black’s directorial debut, the snappy neo-noir Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.  

            Black can’t get all plot-specific, but he can talk about what excites him about Iron Man, which he describes as a “distinctly entrepreneurial story” about someone who’s a genius, who makes wonderful machines, “a guy who can kick your ass, but also has a reason for doing it that he thinks is justified.” The story is a “coming of age for a rich guy, a pampered guy, who has to get back to his grassroots.”

            As much as that though, or more than that, it’s a story about science, and how it can unite humanity. Lately, particularly post-Fukushima nuclear meltdown, science and its seeming gifts have been more divisive and painful. Black is excited by the space-age vibe of scientific discovery: “Iron Man is something for the 16-year-old boy with a copy of Popular Science under his arm and a dream. … Optimism combined with real-world kickass sentiment.”

            And then there’s the chance to work with Downey again, to “encounter someone who is a brilliant talent, decent guy, a friend, see where he’s at and get reacquainted creatively,” he said. “I have utmost respect for this guy. I have never worked with anyone who is just so effortlessly good.”

            It’s odd to think that in the mid-2000s, when Kiss Kiss Bang Bang came out, Downey was considered less than a sure thing as a leading man. But a superhero franchise and Sherlock Holmes reboot later, and perceptions have changed for Downey. And Kiss Kiss Bang Bang certainly changed perceptions of Black. “The most rewarding thing was that I don’t think people realized that I had weird taste,” he said. “Everyone just assumed that I was trying to make big-budget movies, but I really wanted to try some new things.”

Read more at the Amazon Studios blog. -- Steph, Amazon Studios

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"Titanic" Coming to 3D: Will You Watch?

Paramount and 20th Century Fox announced today that James Cameron's Titanic will be re-released in 3D on April 6, 2012, to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the ship's sailing.

Like most of the world, I watched this back in 1997 in the theater (3rd row, it was pretty crowded even on a Monday night), and even in 2D I remember feeling like I was actually bobbing in the water with the passengers, out in the vast, pitch-black ocean. While Titanic has its many, many detractors, the conversion to 3D will be an intriguing one given that the only film that has made successful use of 3D since it hit the mainstream is Avatar, also directed by Cameron.

How will the epic scenes play out in 3D? The boarding of the ship, the submarine exploration, "I'm flying!" and of course, the entire last hour of the film. Would you watch it again in 3D? What other older films do you think might actually benefit from a 3D conversion? --Ellen