In The Shadows Of The Lamp...

Coulda, shoulda, woulda...







Sometimes projects and people fall off into the margins...

Pixar is a company that has had a hit every time that it has stepped up to bat. What fans probably don't realize, is that along the way, projects have been canceled or retooled, and people have either fired/replaced or quit. It's the nature of the business. It's the fingerprint of Hollywood. You can question many decisions that people in this business, Suit and Creative alike, have done, but you can't question the unparalleled success that the Lamp has achieved. Every studio would love to have that track record.

So, it's with surprise that the Mouse (via the Disney-Pixar Facebook page) has released a bunch of production art from the aborted film "Newt," that was to mark Gary Rydstrom's feature directorial debut. I think this art is fabulous and makes you wonder what kind of film it would have been. Is it me, or do you get a "Rikki Tikki Tavi" vibe when drinking in these lovely images? Oh, what might have been! Sometimes jewels are unearthed and sometimes they're buried.

There are lot of interesting things that you don't see, that are in the shadows around the Lamp...

Who's Looking After "The Beaver," Anyhow...

The most talked about unfilmed/unproduced script in Hollywood could be on its way to being made...

If you remember, last year I posted "The Black List" which was a gathering of the top ten scripts circulating around that had yet to be filmed. The number one on that list was a script called "The Beaver."

The Beaver is written by Kyle Killen, one of Hollywoods new "It" writers and tells the story of Walter Black, a depressed toy manufacturer. Walter loses his family and his business, then in a moment of desperation he creates a hand puppet named The Beaver. The Beaver talks to him in a chatty British accent and suddenly, Walter's personality is transformed. Through the puppet, Walter is able to do and say things he felt were never possible in the ridged structure that his life had been set up in. Everything goes well, even great at first, but then, through a twist, things turn horribly ugly as the puppet wants to take charge and refuses to let Walter move on. It's been pitched as a darly comedic "Liar Liar." Many people have been attached from Steve Carell to recently Jim Carrey (pending directorial approval). Jay Roach was originally attached to direct, but he too has moved on to something else.

Now, apparently Jodie Foster has moved into the director's chair and she has a powerful reason why. Mel Gibson. She took the script to him and he loved it and attached himself to it. Funding hasn't been approved yet for the 18-19 million dollar film (Chicken feed in this town, really). But with Gibson's box office record it shouldn't be too hard to gather the funding for this offbeat, small film even with Mel's recent history of battling his inner demons.

Developing...

Forgotten Mouse Tales 8...

We haven't done one of these in a long while, so I guess it's about time to explore some more of what the Mouse left behind.

Again...

Where The Money Is

Walt Disney Pictures and Scott Free Productions(as in Ridley and Tony) purchased this spec from screenwriter Max E. Frye for 375,000 versus a cool million right before 1996. The story was a spy thriller that's a dark comedy about a bored young nurse who discovers a retired bank robber living in her nursing home. As they become friends, she persuades him to rob a bank to put some thrills into his life and her own.

Eden 

A contemporary adventure with elements of fantasy about a group of explorers searching for the locations discovery of the birth of humanity. Ronnie Christensen's script was bought by the Mouse for $400,000 versus $750,000 in the middle of 1995 and hasn't been found since...

The Rottens

The most rotten family in America moves into a small town and causes trouble deliberately. Their son becomes a huge disappointment when he becomes an upstanding citizen. Gee, I really don't know why this one failed to make it though... Uh hmm. The comedy, written by Dan Mazur and David Tausik was fetched for $ 150,000 versus $225,000 in early 1996.

Postal Police

Two guys that continually watch 1970's cop shows get jobs working for the Los Angeles postal police after trying for seven years to get into the LAPD and failing the entrance exam. As postal cops, hilarity ensues... Frank Antonelli and Jeffrey Berman's screenplay was picked up by the Mouse and Wind Dancer Films for a low six figure versus a high six figure price that was not disclosed in late 1997.

Joe In Accounting

A script about a CEO(who happens to be female) that starts to date a very low ranking employee to stop him from blowing the whistle on the company and naturally, she falls in love with him. Riiiiight. Only in Hollywood do fairy tales like this happen... still it could turn out to be a clever script. It does happen. This romantic comedy script by Andy Marx and Tony Peyser was bought by Disney for a low six figure in early 1998 and well, I don't think much has happened since.

Helmstar

A story set in the Dark Ages that follows a group of Vikings. It involves sword and sorcery with the Norsemen winding up in uncharted territory. Gavin Scott(Small Soldiers) sold this as spec script for a mid six figure versus a million dollars. Lisa Henson was in charge of developing the project. I don't know if the script was any good, but I always love a script that has Vikings in it...

Tricks Of The Trade

Four brash business school graduates who can't find employment, team up with the mob to help their business affairs. Accidentally, the grads put the bad guys on the internet, and as I say... hilarity ensues. Rich Taylor and Jeffrey Goldberg wrote the script which Jerry Bruckheimer picked up for the Mouse in late 2000.

Captain Kidd

A High seas adventure of the infamous pirate, who began his sea-life as a merchant marine in the 1600's. After being mistreated, he took to a life of crime but was a hero to many of his subordinates, treating them fairly and giving them an honest split of the booty he stole. This script by David Weisberg and Douglas Cook was bought for close to a million for Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer to produces as a co-production between Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Scott Free Films in 2000. Ridley was tapped to direct and Jerry would produce. Of all the projects in this post, the one I would have loved to have seen gotten made was this one.

The Superconducting Super Collider Of Sparkle Creek

A tale about a romance between a small town Wisconsin sheriff and the theoretical physicist whose team has built a particle accelerator beneath the unsuspecting town. Nothing like science to make you fall in love, eh? John Kamps and David Koepp(Indy 4, Jurassic Park, ect.) sold this script for 2.5 million versus 3 million in early 2001. Disney made a preemptive strike, purchasing this with Koepp attached to direct. What's happened lately? Nothing. Nada...

Unfinished Business: The 5 Best Scripts Hollywood Never Made...

Question: "How many Development Executives does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

Answer: "Does it have to be a light bulb?"

- An old Film Industry joke about Development Executives.


Not all of the movies we see that suck started out that way. A film can take literally decades to gestate before going before cameras with the right team... or wrong team leading it. Hollywood is filled with giant egos, all wanting to take credit for something to validate a reason for having the title above their office door...

I've had quite a few people e-mail me over that past year or so whenever I talk about scripts or films. Many have asked me about other scripts I've read that I love. I thought I'd make a short list of several of the scripts I've read and put together what I believe are the best five scripts that Hollywood hasn't filmed. Granted, this is based on my own personal taste and if you don't like my taste you may not like these scripts. I originally thought I'd do a top ten list, but felt that it might be too many in one post. I'll instead focus on these five. If there's enough interest I'll add to the list with another five.

So without further ado...


Captain Blood - Screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh

PITCH: Think "Gladiator" set in the age of pirating. A swashbuckling epic that took the great 1935 film by director Michael Curtiz starring Errol Flynn into a much more gritty realization. Unlike "Pirates," there are no cursed, ghost pirates or giant, mythic sea creatures... only cursed men and high seas action. A doctor named Peter Blood is sold into slavery and put to work in Port Royal. Spanish pirates attack the unprepared Port Royal, Blood and other prisoners escape while the pirates attack is happening and take their galleon with them. The Pirates are quickly captured by the British. They set a path for a prisoner island filled with many more like themselves and then begin a pirating career on the open ocean that leads Blood back toward justice and redemption against the man responsible for his fate.

STATUS: Dead and buried. This was in development before Disney or anyone else thought about turning "Pirates of the Caribbean" into a film. The movie was to star a very career hot, at the time, Alec Baldwin. It went through various revisions and Frank Darabond did the later versions. Not a bad person to do a rewrite of your work, if you ask me. With the box office bomb "Cutthroat Island" in the mid 90's, pirate movies became "persona non grata" and the film languished for a while before Suits had it walk the plank...


Nevaland - Screenplay by Kevin Lewis & Troy Scott

PITCH: Think of "Peter Pan" meets "Romeo & Juliet"(the Leonardo Decaprio film version) with the action from "The Fast and the Furious" thrown in. This modern day retelling of the classic story by J. M. Barrie is set in contemporary New York during Christmas time. It's an enchanting love story about a young girl named Wendy from the New York burrows that meets a young, edgy party bad-boy named Peter who is on the run from some gang members working for a night club owner with one hand, one hook and a vendetta against him. He takes Wendy into his world which involves nightclubs, wild chases and a romantic night filled with romance and adventure on the island of Manhattan. Get it? As Long Island is a motiff for Neverland? A truly great read. A clever reinvention that's fast, fresh and perfect for todays market.

STATUS: Development Hell. I particularly loved the cast that was attached or rumored to be with this script. Samuel L. Jackson was connected with the Hook/Nightclub Owner character and if you've read the script he would've been dead-on. There was talk of Hayden Christensen as the Peter character, Rosario Dawson as the daughter of a rival nightclub owner named Lily, and Rachel Lee Cook for a punker pal of Pete's nicknamed Tink. Oh well...


Sherlock Holmes and the Vengeance of Dracula - Screenplay by Michael B. Valle

PITCH: Think literally Sherlock Holmes meets Dracula. Everything that "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" got wrong, this script got right. It takes two classic characters from the turn of the century, that occupied a similar place and has them meet. Taking place in 1891, it involves a great deal of characters from both books and has Holmes investigating a series of murders as Dracula has made it back to London. Holmes, a man of absolute logic has to come to grip with the fact that the criminal he's hunting doesn't correspond to his "elementary" view of the facts. Many of the characters that populate the novels of each book are here... including that "Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarty" as well. I love, love, love this script. There is not a day goes by when I go to a theater that I don't wish I was setting down to watch this on the silver screen.

STATUS: Dead. But like Dracula, I pray it rises from the dead. I just don't hope some fool does a unneeded rewrite like happened on "I Am Legend" that winds up taking a great script and turning it into a good one. Chris Columbus was at one time attached to direct this. It languished for the last four or five years before dropping off the buzz meter. Sigh...


Smoke and Mirrors - Screenplay by Lee Batchler & Janet Scott Batchler

PITCH: Think "Raiders of the Lost Ark" meets "Lawrence of Arabia" meets "Casablanca." Nice huh? It's a deeply rich, action/romance that involves a famous French magician Jean Robert Houdin(a real person, btw) who is enlisted by his government to go the French colony of Algeria to expose a local shaman that is terrifying people with his magic. He takes his young, lovely wife with him and encounters a handsome French Legionnaire that has a fancy for his wife. If you'd like to read more about the film/script check out this article I wrote last year called: Development Hell: Disney Style.

STATUS: Dead. Worse that dead, really. Dead and gone... It was a script designed to star Sean Connery. If you've read it, you'll understand that only a few people could do this roll. With Connery retired it's harder to find someone with his charisma that could fill this roll. It was on the verge of being made in the mid to late 90's and then fell back into oblivion and hasn't been seen or heard from since...


Thor - Screenplay by Mark Protosevich

PITCH: Think "Conan" meets "The 13th Warrior" set in the world of "Lord of the Rings." Wow... pretty cool, huh? The adaption of the Marvel Comics character throws away the version where he's a mild, normal man who's a disabled doctor that becomes the Mighty Thor after finding a stick and follows closer to Walt Simonson's take on the hot-headed Norse god(comic book geeks will know what I'm talking about here). In this story which takes place in an unnamed world populated by Norsemen, Thor and his brethren do battle with the Ice Giants. His brother Loki discovers a long lost secret and plots the downfall of his brother, clearing the way for his plot to seize Asgard. Primal, Macho action here. Young boys will be eating this up...

STATUS: Languishing. Marvel Comics still hasn't decided to greenlite the film. Matthew Vaughn is attached to direct it and is waiting to hear from the Marvel Suits. It is truly an epic film and will take an epic budget. I pray that they don't decide to go for a rewrite like they did with a fabulous "Fantastic Four" script by Michael France and Chris Columbus in favor of the sitcom style mediocrity that the final film turned out to be. Will it get made as is? Or will the tinkering of development executives destroy what would be a huge blockbuster for Marvel? Only the gods know...

Forgotten Mouse Tales 7...

And now it's time for another look down memory lane to the projects the Mouse had planned on making into films but got too scared to actually go through with it. This being October and Halloween coming up, I guess this will be an appropriate start...

Bell, Book and Candle 

A comedy written by Andrew Stengel that Miramax was going to make for the Mouse about a witch that enchants her neighbor because she despises his fiancée. Sounds like she's jealous of her broom, doesn't it? It's based on the classic 1958 film and was rewritten a few years ago by Leslie Megahev.


Rich Girl 

A romantic comedy from writer Aline Brosh McKenna and producer Debra Martin Chase described as a sophisticated interracial romantic comedy along the lines of "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?"  Now, we know there haven't been enough of these films. Where is Ashton when you need him? The story was based on a pitch by Chase for Walt Disney Pictures.


Regulators

An action film that focused on the world of surfing and gangs by writer Tristan Patterson. Jon Shestack was to produce the film for Walt Disney Pictures. Originally sold as a pitch and then the script was written and forgotten about...


Antonius

Originally conceived as an animated project for Walt Disney Pictures about a leopard in ancient Egypt who becomes a freedom fighter. The screenplay was by Tom Firestone and Martin Meunier. Interestingly the writers were discovered from a posting they did on a website.


Tim Allen Project (Untitled)

A wealthy man who comes across an unusual character who ends up having a positive influence on his life and character. Actor Kevin Pollack brought the idea to Tim Allen and they developed it together. Pollack wrote the script. Allen's company, Boxing Cat Prods. has a first-look deal at the studio and was to produce for Walt Disney Pictures... then nothing. I guess "The Santa Clause 3" and "Wild Hogs" got in the way? Either way, someone got a nice treat since they paid in the mid-six figures for the story.


ate of the Blade

The story of an adopted teenage Asian American girl grows up in a white middle-class San Fernando Valley family, is the sole surviving descendant of a Samurai clan of Japan and discovers an ancient demon is stalking her. I don't know if anyone has ever read Frank Miller's Ronin, but this has shades of that story which is set in a futuristic Los Angeles. The Mouse paid in the mid-six figures for this action-comedy by writer Analisa LaBianco, based on a comic book by Pat Lee and Chris Sarracini for Walt Disney Pictures.


The Fool's Errand

Another animated film for Walt Disney Pictures by David Steinberg about a court jester who goes on a mythical journey to return peace to his kingdom. The pitch was sold to the Mouse and then it magically vanished...


Stern-Weiss Project (Untitled)

This script by J. David Stern and David Weiss was a live-action tale of the deconstruction of the world of fairies and sprites. Producer Robert Simonds was to produce. Years has gone by and not a Faerie to be seen...


Tempting Fate 

This comedy by Lisa Mohan and Alex Stayden was bought for Touchstone Pictures in the upper six figures. The story is about a marketing exec whose life is turned around when he is the victim of downsizing. When his wife files for a divorce, he has to sell his house and go to work as a temp. At the first day of an assignment he meets a female ad exec who thinks that he's a client before realizing that he's her new secretary, and they fall in love. This project was bought originally in 1999 and has been jestating in development hell for almost a decade. Just another day in Hollywood.

Well, that's it for this time. Many of these projects will never see the light of day and from the sound of some of them... I'm kind of glad about that. I wonder where the brilliant executive that bought these is now working. Employed at McDonald's or taking tickets at Knott's Berry Farm?

Until next time...

Forgotten Mouse Tales 6...

Here we are with another collection of stories that wound up getting lost along the way to the movie theater...

Summerland

This children's fairy-tale based on a fantasy novel by Michael Chabon("Wonderboys') about baseball and the battle between good and evil in a world where fairies and werefoxes exists was snapped up for a mid-six figures to be produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Miramax. The project will be produced by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. Michael Chabon was to have adapted his own book for the screen. The deal was put together in early 2001 before the novel was completed based on a three page synopsis and two sample chapters.


Crush

This screenplay written by Tristan Patterson for Producer Jerry Bruckheimer follows an elite force that focuses on solving criminal-on-criminal homicides in the San Francisco area. Can you say "CSI: the movie"? This project is supposed to currently in the process of being rewritten... I smell a mystery? Should we call out the investigators to solve it?


Wait Listing Wally

A comedy spec script by Toni Kotite that Walt Disney Pictures for a low-six figures. The story concerns a Midwestern family guy that sabotages families that are on a waiting list for a prestigious private school he wants his five-year old son to be enrolled at. Hilarity ensues...

Jenno Topping and Betty Thomas will produce through their Tall Trees Productions for Disney.


Until The Sea Shall Free Them

Based on the true story of a rundown merchant marine ship that sank off the coast of Virginia in 1980, with the loss of 31 out of 34 men. In the subsequent investigation, the ship's first mate was held accountable for the tragedy. At first compliant, he ultimately becomes a reluctant hero, defying the shipping industry and pressure from his community to stay quiet.

Bought for the Mouse in the mid-six figures. The script by Lewis Colick, adapted from Robert Frump's novel will be produced by Rachel Pfeffer.


His and Hers

The story of a interracial couple who fall in love and get married. But the two formerly single parents discover that trying to bring their families together is not as easy as it may have seemed. Sounds like someone has been watching "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?".

The script by Shonda Rhimes will be produced by Tracey Edmonds and Bridget Davis for Walt Disney Pictures... or at least it was... who knows now.


The Gumshoe Chronicles

Written by Dean DeBlois for Walt Disney Pictures, this tale of a Loch Ness-like monster in Key West, and a circle of kids that uses more Boy Scout technology than high-tech gadgets in order to trap it. A 21st Century "Goonies"? What's that you say? Sigh... never-mind. Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders will produce through their overall writing deal which allowed Sanders and Debois to write, direct and produce animated and live-action films under their Stormcoast Pictures banner. They were to receive multiple seven-figures on all films that get made. How many have been made yet?


Traitor

A thriller by Jeffrey Nachmanoff about a topical, politically relevant story dealing with international terrorism and U.S. traitors was to be produced by Mandeville Pictures' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman for Touchstone Pictures based on an original idea by Steve Martin. Could Political Correctness have shut it down... no one knows. Or do they? Hmmm...


James Kearns Project

The story centers on Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Robert Capa from 1943 and D-Day, and his love affair with an Englishwoman during WWII. Walt Disney Pictures paid six-figures for this project which is based on two books whose rights Disney picked up: Slightly Out of Focus: The Robert Capa Story,"... yawn. I'm sorry... what? Did someone say something?


Well, that's it. Some really good ones, some interesting ones and a few that don't register on your "interest radar". Such is the case in Hollywood, where money and talent sometimes collide to make great films and sometimes totally get lost on the way to the screen... even for the Mouse.

Forgotten Mouse Tales 5...

Time for another look at what the Mouse has bought and forgotten. Sometimes stories get snapped up almost because there's a "I've got to have it first" mentality in Hollywood. This affects practcally every studio in Southern California and even Disney is not immune from this behavior...

The Greatest American Hero 

Walt Disney Pictures had Stephen J. Cannell ready to produce this pitch, writen by Paul Hernandez, a super-hero fantasy based on the 80's televison series about a mild mannered teacher that finds a suit left by some form of aliens. He looses the instruction manual for how to operate the suit and the hilarity begins. Didn't they do this with "Condorman" already? Oh right, it was bad... wasn't it? Actually, I was a fan of this show as a little kid. With the right script and cast it could be a gem... just a suggestion to the casting agents, Steve Carell anyone?


The Three Pigs 

Walt Disney Feature Animation was supposed to make this retelling of the classic story that features the Pigs who take their book apart to confuse and keep the wolf away, build a paper airplane and fly off on a fairy tale adventure of their own. On their journey, they meet up with the cat and the fiddle and a dragon, cutting across many different levels of culture. The story was base on David Wiesner's best-selling children's book.


Modern Day Pirate Project

Not satisfied with rulling the seas of a period film, Walt Disney Pictures paid Daniel Taylor a mid-six figures for this modern-day story about pirates in the South China Sea. Jack Sparrow's great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson perhaps? Andrew Gunn and Ann Marie Fanderlin were to produce.


Untitled Danny Cannon Pitch

Jerry Bruckheimer was to produce this film, to be written and directed by Danny Cannon about a man is hired to protect a woman, during which time something goes wrong and the duo find themselves on the run. That sounds like something I've never seen before... where oh where did they come up with that original plot I wonder? Hmmm...

Bartimaeus Trilogy 

This story by Jonathan Stroud, to be made by Miramax, was the first installment of a book deal he made called "The Amulet of Samarkand" is about an ancient djinni(a genie) named Bartimaeus who is summoned by a disobedient young wizard to steal a magical amulet from a powerful magician. If the book was a success there was going to a trilogy of books... and if the movie was a success then a trilogy of film as well. Obviously.


Providence

A comedey written by Jeff Nathanson about two young filmmakers given $3 million by a mysterious benefactor to make a film in Providence, Rhode Island. When they go to shoot their movie they discover that they have been unwitting players in an FBI sting operation. Based loosely on a true story. Nathanson would direct the film. David Permut and Larry Brezner were attached to produce for the Mouse.


Sweet Hush 

Disney paid a mid-six figures for this tale of a widowed, female head of an Appalachian apple-growing empire who is pitted against the White House when her only son comes home from Harvard after having secretly married the president's daughter.  Disney bought the film rights to this novel by Deborah Smith. Deborah Martin Chase was to produce this for Walt Disney Pictures.


Tripod

Walt Disney Pictures paid 1 million dollars for the rights to this film, based on a sci-fi series of young adult books by John Christopher is about a young boy who resists aliens' attempts to brainwash him after the earth's apocalypse. Don Murphy is producing for Disney through his Angry Films production company.

Development Hell: Disney Style...

I figured I'd take a page from some of the previous posts I did with the "Forgotten Mouse Tales" theme and talk about some projects the Mouse bought, developed and let languish or just downright die on the vine...

"Development Hell" - media jargon for a film, tv show or screenplay that gets mired in studio politics or process and never actually is made.

There have been many, many movies that died before there was ever a frame of film shot. Sometimes, even the ink wasn't dry on the page when the project was thrown into limbo, never to be heard from again. Today, we'll talk about one such project that Disney tried to get made in the 90's. A personal favorite of mine...

Smoke and Mirrors.

Think of it as Raiders of the Lost Ark mixed with the epic nature of Lawrence of Arabia and the romance of Casablanca. Not a bad combination, eh?

The script was by the husband and wife writing team of Lee and Janet Scott Batchler, a renown pair of screenwriters in Hollywood whose most famous work people have seen would be "Batman Forever". Now if you didn't like that movie, let's not blame the Batchlers since a movie goes through so much Intrusion and constant studio politics that what winds up on the screen may bare little resemblance to what's seen on the page. They're also supposed to be responsible for one of Hollywood's greatest never produced screenplays known as "Nemo" which I've never been able to find a copy of.

Anyways, in the early 90's the Batchlers wrote a script called "Smoke and Mirrors". It was the story of a famous handsome, middle aged, French magician named Jean Robert Houdin(the real man Houdini named himself after, btw) and his much younger, lovely wife, Colette(who's also his assistant). It's a period pic set in Paris in 1855 and Houdin is a master illusionist. He's known throughout Europe for his abilities to mesmerize an audience. The French government enlist him to go to the French colony of Algeria to debunk an evil tribal Sorcerer that is terrorizing the natives and creating chaos for the French authorities. When they arrive there Houdin and his wife encounter a young, handsome French Legionnaire that has eyes for his wife. From there an epic battle takes place between Houdin and the Sorcerer that is sewn into a truly sweeping romance filled with action and heart from the first page to the very last.

Sound good?

Well, the Walt Disney Studios thought so... as did every other major studio at the time. A bidding war ensued and Disney's Hollywood Pictures emerged as the winner of a script that had Sean Connery attached to play Houdin... trust me, the part was written for him. He would've been amazing in this part. The role of the young Legionnaire was rumored to be going out to Tom Cruise and every hot actress in Hollywood wanted to play Colette.

So what happened? Hollywood... that's what happened. Egos and greed have a way of mixing and then strangling so much in Hollywood and the Mouse is not immune. All the major studios wanted it, but Warners was the biggest competition. Disney came out the winner by paying one million dollars for the script, and this was the early 90's when a million dollars meant something... ehem. Frank Marshall was quickly attached to direct. It's preliminary budget was set up at 60,000,000 dollars, which would be well over a hundred today... and all this happened in less than three weeks. Light speed in Studio terms... It seemed like a go, but then fate and Suits interceded.

They took a script that was so great they paid a staggering amount of money for and well... they rewrote it. So much for being perfect. Connery even wanted another pass taken on the script. More rewrites and time passed... Frank Marshall dropped out... More rewrites and millions more dollars... Sean Connery dropped out... More rewrites and more money sucked down into a drain the Suits used to justify it as being "their" ideas that would make it a great movie until momentum died down... and then it just died. The Studio lost interest and the project was put into turn around.

A movie that truly would have been an amazing epic was thrown away... it's astounding how much money gets washed down the development drain in Hollywood simply to fix perfectly good scripts. Having read this back then and waiting to see it made into a film with Connery, I can say that nothing needed to have been changed. It was a wonderful read and the only thing Disney should have been concerned about was getting it ready as soon as possible so Frank or someone else could have called "action!".

But that's the weird way things go in Hollywood. Even at the Mouse... sometimes entertainment companies loose track of the fact that they're supposed to entertain. Vanity, often gets in the way...