Tweet
This is a very interesting story and something to possibly study if you're a writer. Back in 1991, two very different scripts were written, one as a spec by Zak Penn, and one as a rewrite by Shane Black. Both stand vigorously by their drafts. Both claim that their scripts were ultimately screwed up by a production process where each key player was trying to make a different movie (The producers wanted an action film, Arnold wanted a backstory that ultimately didn't work for the character, and the writers wanted to make the next "Wizard of Oz").
Making things kinda fun, another key player was Chris Moore, that of Project Greenlight fame.
It all started when Zak Penn and Adam Leff decided to write a screenplay spoofing the action films of the 80s. They wrote a script titled, "Extremely Violent" about an Arnold-type action star whose world was rocked by an extremely movie-savvy 17 year old who magically crossed into his movie world. They thought it would be great to have a guy who said things like, "Hey no, you can't go have a scene with your CIA contact now. Your wife is dying." Basically the action equivalent of Scream before Scream was made.
These two bastards wrote this script in college, came to Hollywood, and sold it immediately. The agent who eventually received the script and sold it for them was none other than Chris Moore, who admitted he never would've read the damn thing had a lunch not canceled on him at the last second. Moore loved this script. Loved it. He still talks about it today sadly and hopes that in five or ten years, after everyone's forgotten about it, he'll get a chance to remake it. He believes in the material that much.
After the sale, in order to actually get the thing made, they were trying to package it with the kind of group that would bring buzz to the project. Of course at that time, there was no bigger name than Shane Black. The irony here was that Penn and Leff wrote the script making fun of Black's writing style (in the same way that the movie was making fun of action films). Moore knew if he could get Black, the film would be made. So they went to him, got him the script, and Shane decided he wanted to produce it.
Now even though nobody said anything specific, everyone's hope was that Shane would rewrite it - as a script written by Shane Black was gauranteed to be made (at this time). Although Shane resisted at first (he'd never rewritten anyone) he felt very strongly about the direction he wanted the story to go. Also at this time, Arnold wasn't officially signed on. So a Shane rewrite would likely be able to get him.
Everything started off wonderfully. Shane told Penn and Leff that all of their ideas were welcome. He would send them pages, get their take, etc. After the very first exchange of pages however, Penn was livid. He felt that even in this small dose of change, that Shane had already begun to butcher and ruin his script. After a couple of meetings, things became so heated between the two that it was decided it was best if Penn and Leff were no longer involved.
Here is Penn's explanation of why the changes Shane made were terrible..."They added mobsters. They're taking the movie out of the strict action movie genre and trying to make it a parody of many different kinds of movies. Some of it's a parody of James Bond movies, some of it's a parody of action movies, and some of it's a parody of buddy camp noirish movies. It's pretty astounding to see how badly they screwed it up," Penn said, laughing.
Zack felt that Shane shifted the parody of the hero to much more of the Mel Gibson-Bruce Willis archetype. The "wisecracking, angry down-on-his-luck cop, which is a pretty enormous change and pretty much pervades every line of Arnold's dialogue. I think, frankly, that it hurts the movie tremendously, because the whole point of the movie was the counterpoint between the kid who's smart and like us, and the other character who's a fantasy character, who's an idiot, who's literally one-dimensional."
Shane shot back that Penn can say what he wants, but the reality is is that his draft is the one that got Arnold on board, and therefore ultimately got the movie made.
I love it! Two writers brawling! Who says writers aren't badasses?
I think Penn brings up a good point, and it's a lesson in how dumb Hollywood can be. The whole idea is that this action hero character is one-dimensional. He doesn't know anything because he's in a movie. You're making fun of that. But then Arnold comes along and says that he wants his character to be more fleshed out, have a backstory, have a family. Okay that's great and all, but it doesn't make sense for the story at all. But of course this is when Arnold was the biggest box office draw in the world. Who's going to say no to anything he asks for?
Anyway, both writers stand by their drafts. And both drafts are available.
Here's the spec draft: http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/La...t%20Draft).pdf
And here's the Shane Black draft: http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/Last_Action_Hero.pdf
Decide for yourself who's right.
Making things kinda fun, another key player was Chris Moore, that of Project Greenlight fame.
It all started when Zak Penn and Adam Leff decided to write a screenplay spoofing the action films of the 80s. They wrote a script titled, "Extremely Violent" about an Arnold-type action star whose world was rocked by an extremely movie-savvy 17 year old who magically crossed into his movie world. They thought it would be great to have a guy who said things like, "Hey no, you can't go have a scene with your CIA contact now. Your wife is dying." Basically the action equivalent of Scream before Scream was made.
These two bastards wrote this script in college, came to Hollywood, and sold it immediately. The agent who eventually received the script and sold it for them was none other than Chris Moore, who admitted he never would've read the damn thing had a lunch not canceled on him at the last second. Moore loved this script. Loved it. He still talks about it today sadly and hopes that in five or ten years, after everyone's forgotten about it, he'll get a chance to remake it. He believes in the material that much.
After the sale, in order to actually get the thing made, they were trying to package it with the kind of group that would bring buzz to the project. Of course at that time, there was no bigger name than Shane Black. The irony here was that Penn and Leff wrote the script making fun of Black's writing style (in the same way that the movie was making fun of action films). Moore knew if he could get Black, the film would be made. So they went to him, got him the script, and Shane decided he wanted to produce it.
Now even though nobody said anything specific, everyone's hope was that Shane would rewrite it - as a script written by Shane Black was gauranteed to be made (at this time). Although Shane resisted at first (he'd never rewritten anyone) he felt very strongly about the direction he wanted the story to go. Also at this time, Arnold wasn't officially signed on. So a Shane rewrite would likely be able to get him.
Everything started off wonderfully. Shane told Penn and Leff that all of their ideas were welcome. He would send them pages, get their take, etc. After the very first exchange of pages however, Penn was livid. He felt that even in this small dose of change, that Shane had already begun to butcher and ruin his script. After a couple of meetings, things became so heated between the two that it was decided it was best if Penn and Leff were no longer involved.
Here is Penn's explanation of why the changes Shane made were terrible..."They added mobsters. They're taking the movie out of the strict action movie genre and trying to make it a parody of many different kinds of movies. Some of it's a parody of James Bond movies, some of it's a parody of action movies, and some of it's a parody of buddy camp noirish movies. It's pretty astounding to see how badly they screwed it up," Penn said, laughing.
Zack felt that Shane shifted the parody of the hero to much more of the Mel Gibson-Bruce Willis archetype. The "wisecracking, angry down-on-his-luck cop, which is a pretty enormous change and pretty much pervades every line of Arnold's dialogue. I think, frankly, that it hurts the movie tremendously, because the whole point of the movie was the counterpoint between the kid who's smart and like us, and the other character who's a fantasy character, who's an idiot, who's literally one-dimensional."
Shane shot back that Penn can say what he wants, but the reality is is that his draft is the one that got Arnold on board, and therefore ultimately got the movie made.
I love it! Two writers brawling! Who says writers aren't badasses?
I think Penn brings up a good point, and it's a lesson in how dumb Hollywood can be. The whole idea is that this action hero character is one-dimensional. He doesn't know anything because he's in a movie. You're making fun of that. But then Arnold comes along and says that he wants his character to be more fleshed out, have a backstory, have a family. Okay that's great and all, but it doesn't make sense for the story at all. But of course this is when Arnold was the biggest box office draw in the world. Who's going to say no to anything he asks for?
Anyway, both writers stand by their drafts. And both drafts are available.
Here's the spec draft: http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/La...t%20Draft).pdf
And here's the Shane Black draft: http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/Last_Action_Hero.pdf
Decide for yourself who's right.
Anything is better than Danger Girl, which I'm currently reading.
Comment