Telling the story of Hollywood one movie at a time. Behind-the-scenes stories sourced direct from cast/crew or 3+ verified sources. Podcast + daily posts. 🎬
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In 1976, The Shootist was released. Film editor David Webb Peoples was writing screenplays in his spare time and the Johnn Wayne film inspired him to write an honest neo-western that dissected the genre whilst honouring its classic tropes.
When he was 17 years old, aspiring Australian writer Stuart Beattie took a cab from Sydney airport. That journey gave him the idea of a murderous maniac entering a normal drive’s taxi. He turned this into his first screenplay, called The Last Domino.
In the late 1990s, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan had two titles under his belt. Drama Praying With Anger and comedy Wide Awake had been largely ignored by the box office. Shyamalan was looking for a hit, and started thinking about a film about a boy who can see ghosts.
After the success of Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes in 2001, there were plans to make a sequel that picked up where that film left off. Due to some unfavourable critic and audience feedback, and creative differences with Burton, the project was shelved.
The Fugitive was based on the 60s TV show of the same name. Producer Arnold Kopelson loved the show, and had been trying to get an adaptation off the ground since the 80s. A number of screenwriters wrote unsuccessful drafts, including Walter Hill.
In 1971, filmmaker George Lucas was at the Cannes Film Festival with his new film, THX-1138. He met the Head of United Artists – David Picker – who asked Lucas for movie ideas. Intrigued by a 60s-set coming-of-age drama, Picker agreed to pay Lucas $10k to pen a script.
After the huge success of the 4th Mission: Impossible film – Ghost Protocol – a follow up was inevitable. Paramount hired Drew Pearce to pen the script in 2013. He was then replaced in 2014 by Will Staples to carry out major revisions.
In the 1980s, writer James Jeremias read Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire, featuring a 200 year old in the body of a 12 year old girl. A fan of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, Jeremias thought ‘what if the reason Peter could fly and came out at night was that he’s a vampire?’
Deliverance was based on James Dickey’s debut novel of the same name from 1970. Dickey was a poet, an ex-lawyer, teacher, ad-man and WWII veteran. Dickey claimed that a lot of what happens in the novel were based on real events.
In the 1980s, screenwriter Peter Rader saw the Mad Max series and was inspired to write a post-apocalyptic adventure of his own. Taking further inspiration from the Old Testament and Homer’s The Odyssey, he came up with an idea of a future Earth submerged under water.
Paramount were so pleased with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation that they greenlit a follow up before the movie was released in 2015. They announced Tom Cruise was returning as Ethan Hunt and Christopher McQuarrie as writer/director.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood started life as a novel. Tarantino referred to the project as his ‘Magnum Opus’ and developed it over 5 years. Over time, QT realised it would work better as a screenplay.
In 1994, writer Robert Rodat received a gift from his wife: Stephen Ambrose’s D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II. He was interested in writing a script and, visiting Tonawanda cemetery in New York, came across a monument that inspired him further.
In 1992, student filmmaker Christopher Nolan and girlfriend Emma Thomas took a trip across the English Channel – a recreation of the Dunkirk evacuation route. Nolan said it took 19 hours, freezing cold, and very tough, but it did give him an idea…
In 2005, American Prometheus was published. Written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, it told the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was director of the Manhattan Project, and known as “The father of the atomic bomb.”
After the success of The Dark Knight in 2008, Warner Bros wanted Christopher Nolan to complete the trilogy. Nolan hadn’t planned a third film and said "How many good third movies in a franchise can people name?” He said he would do it, but only if he could get a good story.
After the success of Batman Begins, Warner Bros were keen on Christopher Nolan directing a sequel. Two factors convinced Nolan to return:
With the success of Alien, 20th Century Fox were keen on a sequel but it was delayed until 1983. At that time, James Cameron was sending his script for The Terminator to studios to find writing work. Fox read it and liked it.
Nolan first pitched the idea of Inception to Warner Bros after his third movie, Insomnia, in 2002. He had an 80 page treatment about ‘dream-stealers’, and WB loved it. To keep creative control, Nolan said he’d show them a finished script in a couple of months.
In 1979, police officer-turned-author Roderick Thorp wrote Nothing Lasts Forever, inspired by a dream he had of armed assailants chasing a man through a building. Inspired by The Towering Inferno, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to adapt it for the big screen.
