Tales From Development Hell (47 page)

TRAIN WRECK

Page 121
:
“It was sort of like...” and all other Steven de Souza quotes, AI. “It was a sci-fi action thriller...” and all other Jim Uhls quotes, AI.
Page 122
:
“Sometime in 1988...” is from H. R. Giger’s Film Design by H. R. Giger, London: Titan Books, 1999. “I have come close...” Ridley Scott, ibid. “he told me to just...” ibid. “If somebody is telling me something...” H. R. Giger, AI. “Shortly thereafter he telephoned...” is from H. R. Giger’s Film Design by H. R. Giger, London: Titan Books, 1999. “I never got engaged and I never got paid...” and all remaining Giger quotes, AI.
Page 123
:
“a mutant professional fighter...” and all other Jere Cunningham quotes, AI. “I had worked with Roland...” and all other Dean Devlin quotes, AI. “I met Roland and Dean...” and all other Tab Murphy quotes, AI.

WHO WANTS TO BE A BILLIONAIRE?

Page 135
:
“I had lots of people calling me up...” and all other David Koepp quotes, AI. “Who else could have taken on the censors...” is from ‘Howard Hughes: Tales of a Priapic Producer’ by Peter Bart, Variety, 23 September 2001.
Page 136
:
“the greatest night in show business...” Charles Chaplin, ibid.
Page 137
:
“He had seen me in Return to October...” and all other Terry Moore quotes, AI.
Page 138
:
“I was caught up in a rushing stream...” Clifford Irving, quoted in interview with Mr Showbiz, April 1999. “That’s a vast project...” Brian De Palma, quoted in ‘Brian De Palma’, uncredited, ET Online (
etonline.com
), 30 July 1998.
Page 140
:
“Leo’s been phenomenal to work with...” John Logan, quoted on BBCi Films, uncredited, circa 1999. “Hughes was childlike in many ways...” Charles Higham, quoted in ‘Imagine: Leo as Howard Hughes’, uncredited, New York Post, 30 June 1999. “Leonardo has all of those qualities...” Michael Mann, quoted in ‘Who’s Hughes in H’wood’ by ‘Mr Showbiz,’
mr.showbiz.go.com
, 24 October 1999. “Hughes’ formative years...” Michael De Luca, quoted in ‘New Line Spruced Up’ by Michael Fleming, Variety, 25 February 2000.
Page 141
:
“Much of what has been written about him...” Alan Ladd, Jr., quoted in ‘Howard Hughes Biopic’, uncredited, Variety, 23 March 2000.
Page 142
:
“Ten years ago, we would have said...” Scott Alexander, quoted in ‘Hughes Intrigue Continues’ by Michael Fleming, Variety, 13 January 2000. “As writers, the problem is...” Larry Karaszewski, ibid. “No one has worked harder to bring the story...” Pat Broeske, quoted in interview with
Inside.com
, February 2001. “As a result of these discussions...” and other details of the Evans lawsuit, ibid. “feature film or telefilm...” is from ‘Helmer Friedkin to take on Hack’s Hughes’ by Army Archerd, Variety, 6 September 2001.
Page 143
:
“I’ve been fascinated by Hughes...” William Friedkin, ibid.
Page 144
:
“It was the extreme nature of his story...” Christopher Nolan, quoted in interview with S.F. Chronicle, reported on
www.christophernolan.net
, 17 May 2002. “It’s about the extremes to which one man can live...” Nolan, quoted in ‘Nolan on Hughes Project’ by ‘Lenny,’
www.christophernolan.net
, 2 June 2002.
Page 144
:
“It is the sort of great unmade Hollywood movie...” Nolan, quoted in ‘Wide Awake & Living in a Dream’ by Rob Blackwelder, Spliced Wire (
www.splicedwire.com
), circa 2002. “Jim was born to play Hughes....” Nolan, quoted in ‘Chris and Carrey Tackle Legendary Howard Hughes’, uncredited, The Calgary Sun, 24 April 2002. “Hughes is like everyone else...” Jim Carrey, quoted in ‘Hughes Grant’ by Liana Bonin, Entertainment Weekly, circa 2002. “Mann apparently agreed to step aside...” is from ‘Helmers Ganging up on Hughes’ by Michael Fleming, Variety, 24 January 2002. “I was never, like so many others...” Martin Scorsese, quoted in Variety report by Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith, circa February 2003.
Page 145
:
“There’s no sense of any kind of race...” Nolan, quoted in ‘Howard Hughes Biopic Update’, uncredited, The Z Review (
www.thezreview.co.uk
), 29 August 2002.

PERCHANCE TO DREAM

Page 147
:
“The Sandman movie has nothing to do with me...” Neil Gaiman, quoted in Cinescape, 16 August 1999.
Page 148
:
“Looking back, the process of coming up...” Gaiman, from the afterword to The Sandman: Preuludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman et al., New York: DC Comics, 1991. “to read The Sandman is to read something more...” Mikal Gilmore, quoted on dustjacket for The Sandman: The Doll’s House by Neil Gaiman et al., New York: DC Comics, 1995. “To make it film-shaped...” Gaiman, quoted in The Sandman Companion by Hy Bender, New York: Vertigo Books, 1999.
Page 149
:
“After turning in a draft that we felt...” Ted Elliott, quoted on Coming Attractions (corona.bc.ca), circa May 1998. “Since its inception, Terry and I...” and all other Elliott quotes are from Word Play (
www.wordplayer.com
).
Page 150
:
“[Elliott and Rossio] had been paid a king’s ransom...” and all other Roger Avary quotes are from
Avary.com
(
www.avary.com
)
Page 151
:
“one of the best I’ve read in quite some time...” ‘Widget’, quoted on Coming Attractions (corona.bc.ca). “I watched Sandman, my great epic comics opus...” Gaiman, quoted in the BBC Radio production Development Hell, produced by Neil Rosser, 2011.
Page 154
:
“I read the graphic novel...”; “Basically, it was clear from the start...”; “The reply was basically...” William Farmer, AI.
Page 155
:
“Where The Sandman movie is concerned...” Gaiman, quoted on Ain’t It Cool News (
www.aintitcool.com
) circa 1998. “When all was said and done...” Farmer, AI. “Mistake number one...”; “Rose Kendall is the daughter...” ‘Moriarty’, quoted on Ain’t It Cool News (
www.aintitcool.com
)
Page 156
:
“The horrible line...” Farmer, quoted on Comics 2 Film (
www.comics2film.com
). “Well, of course the hospital...”;
Page 157
:
“Gaiman never, ever cheated us...”; ‘Moriarty’, quoted on Ain’t It Cool News (
www.aintitcool.com
). “the worst one yet...” Gaiman, quoted in interview with the Philadelphia City Paper (
www.citypaper.net
). “not only the worst Sandman script...” Gaiman, quoted in interview with Andy Mangels, reported on Ain’t It Cool News (
www.aintitcool.com
). “Films carry with them...” “It was very obvious...” Gaiman, quoted in ‘Development Hell’, ibid.
Page 158
:
“If any of you are waiting for Mr Gaiman’s...” Farmer, quoted on Coming Attractions (corona.bc.ca). “mixed feelings” and all other Farmer quotes, AI.
Page 159
:
“I think right now they’re licking...” Gaiman, quoted in interview with Andy Mangels, reported on Ain’t It Cool News (
www.aintitcool.com
). “They always have ideas for casting...” Gaiman, quoted in interview with Cold Print (
www.cold-print.com
).
Page 160
:
“I was approached by Brian Manis...” and all other David J. Schow quotes, AI.
Page 162
:
“I couldn’t quite see why they got him...” Gaiman, AI. “for another [version of the] movie...” Gaiman, quoted on Universo HQ (
www.universohq.com
) “the strange, sad, development hell...” Gaiman, AI. “I just desperately hope that it’s a good movie...” Gaiman, quoted in interview with Cold Print (
www.cold-print.com
). “My own hope is that some time in my lifetime...” Gaiman, AI.
Page 163
:
“My assumption...” and all other Gaiman quotes are from ‘Development Hell’, ibid.

CRISIS ON THE HOT ZONE

Page 165
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“We had Redford, Ridley Scott...” and all other Richard Friedenberg quotes, AI. “He mentioned Ebola...” Richard Preston, quoted in ‘Crisis in the Plot Zone’ by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 24 March 1995.
Page 166
:
“I want people to know...” and all other Arnold Kopelson quotes are ibid.
Page 167
:
“Fox and I had won...” and all other Lynda Obst quotes are from Hello, He Lied by Lynda Obst, New York: Little Brown, 1996.
Page 168
:
“I had just finished Contact...” and all other James V. Hart quotes, AI.
Page 172
:
“I got the scripts on my desk the same day...” Wolfgang Petersen, quoted in ‘Crisis in the Plot Zone’ by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 24 March 1995.
Page 173
:
“an eleventh-hour, page-one...” and all other Tom Topor quotes, AI.
Page 180
:
“It was like a train wreck...”; “When the Fox project exploded...” Preston, quoted in ‘Film Clipped’ by Richard Corliss, TIME, 5 September 1994.
Page 182
:
“extreme creative conflicts...”; “an old poker buddy”; “every draft by every writer”; “Ted Tally contributed...” Robert Roy Pool, quoted in ‘Crisis in the Plot Zone’ by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 24 March 1995. “I’m just sitting there laughing...” Preston, ibid.
Page 183
:
“ripped off” and all other Pool quotes are from a letter printed as part of ‘Inside Outbreak Fever’, uncredited, Entertainment Weekly, 21 April 1995.
Page 184
:
“It’s a great script...” Scott McGehee, quoted in Variety, 2 July 2002.
Page 185
:
“watching people break and enter...” Preston, quoted in “Crisis in the Plot Zone” by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 24 March 1995.
Page 186
:
“I would have loved to work with Jodie...” Ridley Scott, quoted in Ridley Scott: The Making of his Movies by Paul M. Sammon, London: Orion, 1999. “It’s not like Alien...” Preston, quoted in ‘Film Clipped’ by Richard Corliss, TIME, 5 September 1994.

FALL AND RISE OF THE DARK KNIGHT

Page 187
:
“I told them I’d cast...” and all other Darren Aronofsky quotes, AI. “I remember when I was...”; “Batman and Robin were always punning...” Bob Kane, quoted in ‘Bob Kane, 83, Cartoonist Who Created Batman’, The New York Times, 7 November 1998.
Page 188
:
“a definitive Batman movie...” Michael E. Uslan, quoted in ‘Batman’ by Alan Jones, Cinefantastique, November 1989. “The first treatment...” Tim Burton, quoted in Burton on Burton edited by Mark Salisbury, revised edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2000.
Page 189
:
“The success of the graphic novel...” Burton, quoted in ‘Batman’ by Alan Jones, Cinefantastique, November 1989. “I tried to take the premise...” Sam Hamm, quoted in ‘Batman’ by Taylor H. White, Cinefantastique, June 1989. “In my mind I kept...” Burton, quoted in Burton on Burton edited by Mark Salisbury, revised edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2000.
Page 190
:
“I see what they’re doing...” Hamm, quoted in ‘Batman’ by Taylor H. White, Cinefantastique, June 1989.
Page 190
:
“When I was hired...” and all other Wesley Strick quotes, AI.
Page 192
:
“The Joker is coming...” Jack Nicholson, quoted in various sources from As Good As It Gets press conference, circa 1997. “He’s not Batman...” Jon Peters, quoted in interview with Beth Laski, Cinescape Online, 9 October 1998. “If there is another, I’d do it...” George Clooney, quoted in interview with E! News Daily, 19 September 1997. “I felt I had disappointed...” Joel Schumacher, quoted in Variety, 9 January 1998.
Page 193
:
“If your only memory...” is from the introduction to Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, New York: DC Comics, 1990.
Page 197
:
“It’ll have to be dark...” Keanu Reeves, quoted in interview with TV Times and reported on Empire Online, 1 October 1999. “pure fiction...” Ben Affleck, quoted in Comics 2 Film (
www.comics2film.com
), 29 December 1999.
Page 197
:
“I know that it’s one of the possible options...” Paul Dini, quoted in interview with Cinescape Online (
www.cinescape.com
) by Patrick Sauriol, 5 November 1999. “Boaz is co-writing the script...” Dini, quoted in interview with Comics Continuum (
www.comicscontinuum.com
), circa 2000.
Page 198
:
“You do the movie cheap...” Clooney, quoted on the Internet Movie Database, 8 September 2000. “unless we put Batman and Superman...” Peters, quoted in interview with Beth Laski, Cinescape Online, 9 October 1998.
Page 199
:
“I very much liked Walker’s original...” ‘Jett’, quoted on Batman on Film (
www.batman-on-film.com
), reported on Coming Attractions (
www.corona.bc.ca
), 26 January 2003. “It is the clash of the titans...” Wolfgang Petersen, quoted in ‘WB Finds Helmer for Batman vs Superman’ by Dana Harris, Daily Variety, 8 July 2002.
Page 200
:
“We have a script...” Petersen, quoted on
MTV.com
circa 2002. “No, that’s Bateman...” Christian Bale, quoted in an interview with Movie Hole (
www.moviehole.net
), 15 August 2002. “I did, and it was amazing...” Peters, quoted in ‘In This Superman Story, the Executives Do the Fighting’ by Laura M. Holson, The New York Times, 15 September 2002.
Page 201
:
“In reintroducing...”; “I wanted some objectivity...” Alan Horn, ibid. “a Batman origins movie...” Horn, quoted in The Hollywood Reporter, circa December 2002. “He told me that his original idea...” Christopher Reeve, quoted on
Comicon.com
, 20 January 2003. “I swear I heard the flapping...” Peters, quoted in ‘In This Superman Story, the Executives Do the Fighting’ by Laura M Holson, New York Times, 15 September 2002.
Page 202
:
“My own movie agent...” quoted in Supergods by Grant Morrison, London: Jonathan Cape, 2011. “All I can say is that...” Christopher Nolan, quoted in ‘Batman Captures Director Nolan’ by Michael Fleming, Variety, 27 January 2003. “I said, ‘If I do this...’” David Goyer, quoted in ‘Batman – The Journey Begins,’ a documentary for the Batman Begins DVD, circa 2005.