Film Stories with Simon Brew

Steven Spielberg's 1991 movie Hook was supposed to be his perfect project. The director compared to Peter Pan, making the story of Peter Pan never growing up? What could go wrong?

Well, plenty. In this episode of Film Stories, Simon Brew charts the tale of how Spielberg lost control of Hook's production, how it became tied up with a major Hollywood acquistion, and why unexpected competition in the winter of 1991 didn't help its cause either.

Plus: why was Spielberg himself not keen?
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After 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron's interest in making a third Terminator movie seemed to wane. However, that didn't stop others trying to take things forward.

And whilst Arnold Schwarzenegger would, for many years, insist that he'd only make T3 with Cameron, a string of underwhelming box office performers started to have an impact for Arnie.

That said, just securing the rights to Terminator caused no end of challenges, and would drive a wedge between James Cameron and two of his friends. And that's just part of the story...

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Robert Zemeckis' 1997 film of Carl Sagan's Contact is a remarkably grown-up science fiction movie for a summer blockbuster. Starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey, it took nearly 20 years to bring the story to the screen - and along the way, Mad Max director George Miller was hired and fired too. It's quite a story, told by Simon Brew in this latest episode.

Plus! Oscar-winning filmmaker David Frankel chats to James about The Devil Wears Prada 2, and the short film that earned him an Academy Award...
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It's pretty well known that originally, Steven Spielberg was interested in directing a remake of Cape Fear, and that Martin Scorsese held the rights to what became Schindler's List. That the two then swapped projects. Yet that's just part of the story.

In this episode of Film Stories, Simon Brew digs into Scorsese's dislike of the project when he first came to it. Of Robert De Niro's tattoos. Of Nick Nolte not being recognised at the premiere of Goodfellas. And he uncovers a useful lesson in booking your location right near an airport...

Patreon: www.patreon.com/simonbrew

www.filmstories.co.uk
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June 1990 saw Disney spend big on a summer movie, at a point when that was the last thing it was inclined to do. But 1990's Dick Tracy - specifically the way it was promoted - was hugely influenced by Warner Bros' success with Batman the year before.

Dick Tracy though by that time had already taken around 15 years to come to the screen - and the aftermath of it would lead, bizarrely, to the creation of the film Jerry Maguire.

If you like this podcast, please do like and subscribe. Simon Brew is on tour with Film Stories too. Go to www.filmstories.co.uk/live-events for more information.
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