The account on classic and hit films. Details provided in our making of stories is direct from cast/crew or 3+ sources. Check out our podcast @ATRMPodcast 😁
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Following the huge success of the first film in 1986, Tom Cruise was first approached about a Top Gun sequel in 1990. He declined at the time. The first film had received some criticism for promoting warfare and Cruise said it would be “irresponsible” to make a sequel.
When Alejandro Jodorovsky’s ill-fated Dune project collapsed in 1976, effects supervisor Dan O’Bannon was left homeless. Living with his writing pal, Ronald Shusett, they came up with the idea for a science fiction/horror film. One which would change their lives forever.
George Lucas originally wanted his old pal Steven Spielberg to direct ROTJ. As Spielberg was a member of the DGA he had to decline as Lucas had dropped his DGA membership after disagreements over the credits on The Empire Strikes Back.
George Lucas' first film was THX-1138 in 1971. It was a box office bomb but did pique studios' interests. UA offered Lucas a two-film deal. The first was American Graffiti. The second was what Lucas called “a space opera that’s a bit like a western, a bit like James Bond.”
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had always intended to make a trilogy of Indiana Jones. Spielberg said he wanted to make a 3rd to fulfill his promise to Lucas and to atone for the criticism he received for the darker Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Two weeks after the release (and success) of the first Indiana Jones film - Raiders of the Lost Ark - director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas discussed a sequel. Lucas had told Spielberg he had three parts planned. As it turned out, there was no plan at all.
In the early 70s, Stanley Kubrick felt he’d been left behind in certain genres. The Exorcist was a huge success in 1973 so Kubrick was keen on horror. He said he wanted to make, “the world’s scariest movie that would play upon nightmare fears of the audience.”
In 1976, George Lucas and Fox struck a deal where Lucas kept rights to any Star Wars sequels. So, in order to keep control over Empire, Lucas financed it himself. The initial budget was $18m. Lucas bankrolled it with money he made from Star Wars, and by taking out a loan.
Even before the original trilogy became a huge success, George Lucas had always planned for the Star Wars saga to be told across multiple movies. Having negotiated a studio deal allowing him to retain sequel rights when making the first film, he planned for a total of nine.
Two years after the release of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, writer-director George Miller had plans for a fourth film in the series. His idea was for “almost a continuous chase” – a story where Max is pursued after possibly stealing oil.
In 1983, California Magazine published an article detailing the life of U.S. Airforce pilots at the Miramar base. Hollywood producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson thought it had the basis for a great movie, and Paramount Pictures agreed to fund the film.
In 1953, author Ian Fleming published a book based on his experiences in British naval intelligence during WWII. The novel was called Casino Royale and the main character was secret agent James Bond, codenamed 007. It was a hit, and studios were interested immediately.
In the 1970s, aspiring screenwriter David Franzoni travelled across Europe and the Middle East. Coming across many ancient arenas, he read Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 book Those About to Die. It was about Roman Gladiators, and Franzoni thought it would make a great movie.
The first serious talk of an Avengers movie preceded the MCU. In 2005, Marvel Studios and Paramount struck a deal to make a series of Marvel Comics-based movies, one of which was The Avengers. Zak Penn (co-screenwriter of two X-men films) was hired to write the script.
With Spider-Man having been created by Marvel Comics in 1962, the first adaptation came in 1977, when CBS produced a made-for-TV movie. A theatrical production was on the cards a few years later when cult studio Cannon Films bought the rights from Marvel for $250k.
Following Avengers: Age of Ultron, the MCU was moving into Phase 3 of its overarching story and two Avengers movies were planned. Joss Whedon had written-directed both Avengers films to that point but, citing exhaustion (and with rumours of on-set unrest), he stepped aside.
The story of Thanos collecting the Infinity Stones to wipe out half the universe was so epic, Marvel Studios knew they needed two films to do it. Infinity War and Endgame were filmed in one 200-day production. With Infinity War making $2bn, the pressure was on for Endgame.
Having had the idea of a vengeful character called The Bride with Uma Thurman on the set of Pulp Fiction, Tarantino’s epic Kill Bill wrapped production in 2003. With the first cut coming in at 4 hours, distributors Miramax convinced QT to release it as two volumes.
In the late 1970s, amateur filmmakers George Miller and Byron Kennedy we’re looking to break into the professional industry. Working as a Doctor in a Sydney hospital at the time, Miller fleshed out an idea with Kenndy for a film set in a post-apocalyptic future.
In 1991, Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho was published. An 80s-set satire about a serial killer, film studios were interested almost immediately. Within on year, producer Edward Pressman had bought the rights.
On the back of huge success with their hit sitcom Spaced, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg were looking to break into movies. After filming a Spaced episode called Art, where main character Tim imagines he’s in zombie video game Resident Evil 2, Wright had an idea for a feature…
