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Posted: |
May 13, 2022 - 10:44 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In LADYHAWKE, “Philipe Gastone” (Matthew Broderick), a thief, escapes from the dungeon at Aquila, sparking a manhunt. He is nearly captured when “Captain Navarre” (Rutger Hauer) befriends him. Navarre has been hunted by the Bishop's (John Wood) men for two years, ever since he escaped with the “Lady Isabeau” (Michelle Pfeiffer) after whom the Bishop has lusted. Navarre and Isabeau have a curse that the Bishop has placed on them that causes Navarre to be a wolf during the night and Isabeau to be a hawk during the day. Navarre insists that Philipe help him re-enter the city to help him kill the heavily guarded Bishop.
Back in March 1981, Richard Donner was set to direct the film for the Ladd Company. At the time, Czechoslovakia was chosen as the location, and Donner was flying that month to Prague to scout locations. But by August 1981, unspecified pre-production problems had caused a delay in production. In November 1982, Daily Variety reported that Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros. would co-produce the picture, taking over from the Ladd Company. Filming began on 2 August 1983, near L’Aquila, Italy. A release date of summer 1984 was expected, but additional delays occurred.
Richard Donner originally wanted to cast Rutger Hauer as the evil captain of the guard while casting a younger actor, Kurt Russell, as Navarre. Hauer wasn't interested in that role, but expressed interest in playing Navarre. When Russell dropped out a few days before principal photography began, the part was handed to Hauer. After getting the role of Navarre, Hauer surprised Donner by driving from the Netherlands to the film's Italian location in a semi-trailer and cab that Hauer had converted into a mobile home.
Donner had also considered Dustin Hoffman for the role of Gaston, Mick Jagger for the role of Bishop, and Sean Connery for Navarre.
It was reported that unspecified troubles during production were resulting in an estimated $10 million cost overrun. However, Richard Donner stated that filming was going smoothly, and that he would be less than $1 million over budget. Production ended in mid-December 1983, 3 days over schedule. But the film did not premiere until April 1985. The $17 million film grossed $18.4 million in the U.S.
Andrew Powell’s controversial score was released on an Atlantic LP. It was re-issued on CD in 1993 by Genoa in Italy. GNP Crescendo released an expanded version of the score in 1995, and La-La Land released the complete score in 2015.
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Posted: |
May 14, 2022 - 12:36 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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A group of young misfits called THE GOONIES discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate's long-lost treasure. When the house of “Mikey” (Sean Austin) and big brother “Brand” (Josh Brolin) is slated to be confiscated by an evil developer, the pair commence a search for the pirate gold of One-Eyed Willy to get the money necessary to stave off foreclosure. Their friends include “Chunk” (Jeff Cohen) and “Data” (Ke Huy Quan). Kerri Green is “Andy,” the girl Brand likes, and Martha Plimpton is “Stef,” Andy’s best friend.
Heather Langenkamp auditioned for the role of Andy. Executive producer Steven Spielberg and director Richard Donner felt that she had given a great audition and was the right physical type for the role. However, she was 20 years old at the time. The script described her as being 17 years old, and both Spielberg and Donner felt that Langenkamp was too old for the role.
Sean Astin, Steven Spielberg, Richard Donner, and Ke Huy Quan on the set of THE GOONIES
During filming, Martha Plimpton made a bet with Richard Donner that she would stop biting her nails. Donner paid up several years later, while they were doing the DVD commentary.
The cast was not allowed to see the pirate ship before the scene was shot, as Donner wanted to catch their genuine reactions at the size and scope of it. When they did see it, Josh Brolin was so surprised that he exclaimed "Holy shit!" The scene had to be re-shot.
Donner unintentionally started giggling when they filmed the scene in which Chunk starts crying, when the ice cream gets taken from him by “Jake Fratelli” (Robert Davi). It was kept in the film. If you listen carefully, you can hear the director giggling off-screen, when Jake takes the plastic spoon off Chunk and Chunk starts to cry.
Steven Spielberg instructed the cast members to act cold and distant toward Donner on the last week of filming, which puzzled him. Shortly after filming wrapped, Donner went to his beach house in Hawaii, ran into a frenzied neighbor who took up his entire day. When he arrived home, the entire cast was there to celebrate with a cookout. Spielberg flew them over to Hawaii on the promise that they not speak a word of the surprise to Donner, which prompted them to act the way they did on the last week of filming.
Richard Donner made a cameo appearance in the film, portraying the town’s sheriff. As souvenirs of the shoot, Richard Donner kept both One-Eyed Willy's head and a model for the ship.
Dave Grusin’s score for the 1985 film claimed only a single track on the Epic Records song-track CD. Varese Sarabande released the complete score in 2010 and re-issued it in 2019. The $19 million production was the #9 film at the U.S. box office, grossing nearly $64 million.
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Posted: |
May 14, 2022 - 4:08 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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LETHAL WEAPON marked Shane Black’s first produced screenplay. Black wrote the film when he was twenty-three years old, and stated that the original version had more elaborate action sequences, including “the Hollywood sign going up in flames, helicopters crashing and heroin coming down like snow on Hollywood Boulevard.” Director Richard Donner later toned down the action due to budget concerns and also made the story more sentimental. Donner commented that he modeled the film’s violence after old-fashioned westerns, with characters getting shot by bullets instead of showing more grisly deaths. Donner stated, “I like to turn my head away in suspense, not in disgust. I think audiences feel like I do.”
From the early pre-production stages, Donner wanted the final fight sequence to be unique, yet also to make a strong statement about the characters involved. Donner studied John Wayne films in preparation for LETHAL WEAPON, and noted that RED RIVER (1948) provided inspiration for the final fight sequence. Coincidentally, assistant director Willie Simmons had an avid interest in unusual forms of martial arts, and he invited several practitioners to the set to demonstrate for Donner. The result was the hiring of three technical advisors, each a master of a particular martial arts style. Cedric Adams was the first expert brought in. "Adams thought the best possible way to show just how lethal Riggs really is - is to show his mastery of a form of martial arts never before seen on-screen," said Donner. Adams taught the actors the movements of Capoeira. A second technical advisor, Dennis Newsome, brought jailhouse rock to the fight sequence. The third technical advisor was Rorion Gracie, who specialized in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The filming of the final fight was spread over four complete nights, shooting from dusk till dawn, resulting in an edited sequence that would last several minutes on-screen.
Donner instructed costume designer Mary Malin to dress the mercenary characters, including “Joshua” (Gary Busey) and “The General” (Mitchell Ryan), in suits and ties, wanting to avoid the stereotypical look of militant war veterans in “traditional camouflage gear.” For lead characters, homicide detectives “Roger Murtaugh” (Danny Glover) and “Martin Riggs” (Mel Gibson), Donner asked weapons specialist Michael Papac to select “old-fashioned solid weaponry” that police detectives would use in everyday life.
Richard Donner and Mel Gibson on the set of LETHAL WEAPON
The score for the 1987 film, by Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton, was released on a Warner Bros. LP. An expanded CD of the score was released by Bacchus Media Group in 2002. The $18 million film was a big hit, coming in as the #10 film at the U.S. box office, and racking up a $120 million worldwide gross.
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Posted: |
May 15, 2022 - 10:37 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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SCROOGED is a modern-day retelling of “A Christmas Carol,” in which selfish, cynical television executive “Frank Cross” (Bill Murray) is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Richard Donner directed and co-produced this 1988 comedy-drama. Donner initially had reservations about turning “A Christmas Carol” into a comedy. "It's a thin line. But you have two of the most irreverent writers in the world [Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue]. You have the most irreverent humorist since W.C. Fields [Murray]. And you say, 'Let's go!' There's a thin line you walk, but the line is broken--hopefully--in the end of the picture when you see a man evolve out of a situation."
Donner wasn't convinced that Robert Mitchum would agree to the small part of “Preston Rhinelander,” Frank’s boss. So, he invited the actor to meet with Bill Murray. Donner recalled, "[Murray] came in and we never got a word in edgewise. He's so wonderful with stories, and we didn't want to talk. The minute you get around Bill, you're swooning. Everybody is."
Nevertheless, Bill Murray and Donner reportedly did not enjoy working together, creating a lot of tension on-set. When asked by film critic Roger Ebert if he had any disagreements with Donner, Murray replied: "Only a few. Every single minute of the day. That could have been a really, really great movie. The script was so good. There's maybe one take in the final cut movie that is mine. We made it so fast, it was like doing a movie live. He kept telling me to do things louder, louder, louder. I think he was deaf."
For his part, Donner noted that Bill Murray ad-libbed most of his lines. In a 1988 interview with the Philadelphia Daily News, Donner discussed Murray's penchant for improvisation and described the experience of directing Murray as follows: "It's like standing on 42nd Street and Broadway, and the lights are out, and you're the traffic cop."
Bill Murray and Richard Donner on the set of SCROOGED
Filming began in December, 1987. With Christmas approaching, Donner asked if the production could have Christmas Day off. But Paramount Pictures executives refused, insisting that filming should continue on Christmas Day. However, Donner outwitted them. At the end of the day on December 24, 1987, he officially fired the entire cast and crew. Two days later, on December 26, he officially re-hired everyone. The break allowed the cast and crew members to spend Christmas with their families.
Richard Donner’s cameo in this 1988 film was as a worker in the control room at the end of the movie. None of Danny Elfman’s score appeared on the song-track CD released by A&M Records. Elfman’s score was released by La-La Land in 2011. The $32 million production was the #13 film at the domestic box office with a $60.3 million gross.
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Posted: |
May 16, 2022 - 12:28 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Originally, Richard Donner re-teamed with Joel Silver to produce, but not direct, a sequel to LETHAL WEAPON. However, Donner decided to direct LETHAL WEAPON 2 after reading a draft of the script written by Jeffrey Boam, who replaced Shane Black after Black’s script was deemed “too grim” by Warner Bros. In Black’s version, “Martin Riggs” (Mel Gibson) was killed in a climactic battle with his arch-nemesis. Boam, who contributed some scenes to the original LETHAL WEAPON, was brought on the project after Black left amicably, and Black later commented that Boam’s script was “pretty terrific.”
Boam wrote two different drafts of his re-write; one of which was a hard-boiled action script, and one which had more comedy. He was told to mix both versions of his re-written script, and to make a new draft from that. He still ended up having to constantly re-write the script before, and during filming, mostly because Richard Donner always wanted to improvise new things while filming, or add something more, or different to the scene.
Danny Glover and Mel Gibson only agreed to reprise their roles after Donner was confirmed as director. During production, Donner was shocked when Gibson confided that he was drinking five pints of beer for breakfast. Despite his alcohol problems, Gibson was known for his professionalism and punctuality.
In the film, Joe Pesci played “Leo Getz,” a witness in a high-profile drug case who requires protective custody by Riggs and Murtaugh. Leo's "okay-okay-okay" schtick was based on Disneyland employees giving directions to guests at Fantasyland. Originally, Leo was going to be an oily, effeminate character, but Joe Pesci didn't want to play him that way. He pitched the idea of making Leo all-too-eager to please, complete with "okay-okay-okay" ad libs, to Richard Donner. Donner laughed and said, "Do that! Do that!"
The $28 million production was the #4 film at the domestic box office and had a worldwide gross of $228 million. Michael Kamen’s score for the 1989 film was released on a Warner Bros. CD.
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Posted: |
May 16, 2022 - 4:41 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In RADIO FLYER, screenwriter David Mickey Evans tells a semi-autobiographical story of two boys — eleven-year-old "Mike" (Elijah Wood) and his eight-year-old brother, "Bobby" (Joseph Mazzello) — who move from New Jersey to California in 1969 to start a new life with their divorced mother, "Mary" (Lorraine Bracco). Mary soon marries a man (Adam Baldwin) who calls himself the “King.” Things go well until the stepfather starts drinking and beating Bobby.
Warner Bros. was eager to purchase David Mickey Evans’s script as a vehicle for director Richard Donner. However, Stonebridge Entertainment countered with an offer that would allow Evans to make his feature directorial debut, and together with Peter Guber and Jon Peters, got the project approved at Columbia Pictures. Evans was paid $600,000 for the script and all additional rewrites, and $500,000 to direct.
Principal photography began 16 June 1990, but was quickly brought to a halt over what were referred to as “creative differences” between Evans and Stonebridge producers Michael Douglas and Rick Bieber, who were dissatisfied with the dailies. Columbia then offered Warner Bros.’ original choice, Richard Donner, $5 million to step in as director and “effectively start from scratch.” Evans and Donner remained on good terms as Evans completed rewrites at Donner’s request to “lighten up” the story. Donner’s wife, Lauren Shuler-Donner, received $1 million to serve as producer, while Douglas, Bieber, and Evans shared executive producing credit.
Elijah Wood, Joseph Mazzello, Richard Donner, and Lauren Shuler-Donner on the set of RADIO FLYER
Donner’s revamped feature began filming 3 October 1990. Flying sequences were shot using Zor-Optics, which Donner had developed for SUPERMAN. During two days of location shooting in Palmdale, CA, script supervisor Nancy Banta Hansen and transportation driver Simone Fuentes were killed when their van was broadsided by a one-ton truck. Fuentes is not credited onscreen, but an acknowledgment reads: “This film is dedicated to Nancy Banta Hansen and Simone Fuentes, whose professionalism and humor we miss.”
Columbia tested several alternate endings to the film in which Tom Hanks appears in his uncredited role as adult “Mike.” Donner took a day off production of LETHAL WEAPON 3 to shoot the final ending. Donner’s script, cast, and crew overhaul of the film had pushed the original $15 million budget to roughly $31 million. Columbia’s marketing costs added an additional $10 million to the film’s expenses.
The film suffered from poor reviews and worse box office, grossing just $4.7 million domestically. Hans Zimmer's score was released by Big Screen Music.
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Posted: |
May 17, 2022 - 12:41 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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LETHAL WEAPON 3 found “Martin Riggs” (Mel Gibson) and “Roger Murtaugh” (Danny Glover) pursuing former LAPD officer “Jack Travis” (Stuart Wilson), who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.
In the first first two drafts of the script by Jeffrey Boam, the character of the Internal Affairs officer was written for a man, and was actually just as lethal and crazy as Riggs, which made him his match. Riggs had a different love interest in those drafts. He was actually having an affair with Murtaugh’s oldest daughter “Rianne” (Traci Wolfe), which explains a couple of parts in the finished film where Murtaugh suspects that Riggs and Rianne are having an affair. Those parts are only bits left from the original drafts where the two of them were a secret couple. It was director Richard Donner's decision to change the script, which included changing the Internal Affairs officer into a woman, “Lorna” (Rene Russo), and turning her into Riggs' love interest; bringing back Joe Pesci as “Leo Getz” (in the original script it was explained that Leo moved to New York, and all of the scenes with him were written in afterwards); toning down some of the bigger action parts of the script; and deciding not to develop the villains and instead focus more on the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh. Screenwriter Boam didn't really like Donner's changes, but he accepted them without much argument.
Winona Ryder was the first choice for the role of Lorna, but co-producer Joel Silver felt that Ryder was too young for the role. Against Silver's wishes, Donner offered her the part anyway. She turned it down, due to her being busy shooting BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1992), and because she had no interest in doing action movies. Joan Cusack, Linda Hamilton, Laura Dern, Brooke Shields, Geena Davis, and Kirstie Alley were also considered for the role before Rene Russo was cast.
Richard Donner was an animal-rights and pro-choice activist, and placed many posters and stickers for these causes in the film. Of note are the t-shirt worn by one of Murtaugh's daughters (the actress' idea), an eighteen-wheeler with an anti-fur slogan on the side, and a sticker on a locker in the police station.
Michael Kamen’s score for the 1992 film was released by Reprise Records. The $40 million production was the #4 film at the domestic box office and racked up a total worldwide gross just shy of $322 million.
Following the film's massive box-office success, Warner Bros. planned to give Mel Gibson, producer Joel Silver, and director Richard Donner brand-new black Range Rovers as thank-you presents. However, Warner Bros. chairmen Bob Daly and Terry Semel only told Donner that they were invited to a celebratory lunch (the Range Rovers were going to be a surprise gift) and Donner wanted to invite Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, and screenwriter Jeffrey Boam to join them. So, the studio had to race around Los Angeles to purchase black Range Rovers for each new lunch guest, and presented them to the entire happily stunned group when the meal was over.
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Posted: |
May 18, 2022 - 1:35 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions made 1994's MAVERICK, in which “Bret Maverick” (Gibson), needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief (Jodie Foster). Foster's character's gracelessness in the film stems from the first scene she shot, when she waited for Mel Gibson to help her down from a stagecoach. Instead, he took her parasol and walked away. She tried to get down alone, and flopped to the ground. Director Richard Donner liked it so much that he kept the shot in the film, and staged more scenes of Foster stumbling, being dumped through windows, etc.
Corey Feldman claimed in a Yahoo interview that Donner originally intended for Feldman to play “Johnny Hardin,” but this was vetoed by Mel Gibson after an audition. The role went to Max Perlich and Feldman was given the role of a bank robber instead.
The steamship "Lauren Belle" is named for producer Lauren Shuler-Donner, wife of Richard Donner. She also appears as the bathhouse maid. “Zane Cooper” (James Garner) calls her "Mrs. D" as she is leaving.
Donner had actors from some of his earlier films (Danny Glover, Margot Kidder) make cameos in MAVERICK. Randy Newman's score was issued on a Reprise Records CD at the time of the film's release. Atlantic Records released a CD of songs. The $75 million production was the #12 film at the U.S. and worldwide box offices and finished with a $183 million worldwide gross.
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Posted: |
May 19, 2022 - 10:36 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In ASSASSINS, professional hit-man “Robert Rath” (Sylvester Stallone) wants to fulfill a few more contracts before retiring, but unscrupulous ambitious newcomer hit-man “Miguel Bain” (Antonio Banderas) keeps killing Rath's targets.
Mel Gibson was initially interested in acting in and directing the film. He mentioned to his friend Richard Donner that it was a really great script. Then, when Gibson got heavily involved with BRAVEHEART (1995), Donner was talked into directing the film by co-producer Joel Silver, who really wanted him on the project. However, Donner didn't get along with Silver during the making of the film.
Richard Donner and Vilmos Zsigmond filming ASSASSINS
Michael Kamen originally composed the score. Richard Donner felt Kamen's score was heavy, dreary, and made the film feel slow. Donner felt the film needed something fast and slick-sounding, but he didn't want to let go of Kamen as the two were close friends and had worked together on many films, most notably the LETHAL WEAPON pictures. Donner even tried to give Kamen a chance to recompose the score, but Kamen had already begun work on DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (1995) for director John McTiernan. Donner then went to Mark Mancina, who provided him with the score he wanted. Due to time constraints, Mancina couldn't come up with a main theme for the film, as he only had five weeks to produce the score for final approval in order to meet the film's original June 1995 release date (which was later pushed back to October 1995). Two of Kamen's tracks are still in the film, for which he is credited. The score has not had an official release.
The $50 million production tanked at the U.S. box office, grossing just $30 million. Despite the movie’s underperformance, Richard Donner said he was very proud of the film, and singled out the performances of Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas, although he acknowledged that the film would have worked better if he swapped Stallone and Banderas in their roles.
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Posted: |
May 20, 2022 - 10:06 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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CONSPIRACY THEORY stars Mel Gibson as an eccentric New York cab driver, “Jerry Fletcher,” convinced that every event, object and coincidence warns of conspiracy, and that he is the target. Julia Roberts co-stars as “Alice Sutton,” a bright Justice Department attorney who thinks that he is a kind of sweet nut, until he shows her that she too is the target of a deadly conspiracy. Patrick Stewart plays CIA psychiatrist “Dr. Jonas,” an enigmatic doctor who pursues them in a run for their lives.
This was the second collaboration between director Richard Donner and screenwriter Brian Helgeland. The pair met when Donner was driving through the Warner Bros. gate, and saw Helgeland holding a sign that said "Will write for work, for money". Donner got out of the car and asked him about the sign. Helgeland replied that he was a screenwriter, and was looking for work. Donner decided to give Helgeland a chance, which led to the two of them working first on ASSASSINS and then on this film.
Richard Donner, Brian Helgeland, and script supervisor Sioux Richards discuss the screenplay for CONSPIRACY THEORY
After the MPAA rated the film [R], Richard Donner tried to get them to change the rating to [PG-13]. Although the film has a few violent moments, it seemed fairly tame in comparison to many R-rated movies of the time, since it featured no sex, nudity or strong language. The "F" word is never said once. However, the appeal failed because of some violent tension between Mel Gibson and Patrick Stewart's characters, and it was ultimately released with the [R] rating, much to the disappointment of Donner.
Donner made his cameo appearance in the film as one of Jerry's cab passengers in the opening credits. Carter Burwell’s score for the 1997 film was released by TVT Records. The $75 million production was the #18 film of the year at the U.S. box office, but it only broke even domestically. Overseas earnings pushed the film’s total worldwide gross to $137 million.
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Posted: |
May 21, 2022 - 11:01 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In LETHAL WEAPON 4, with personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD detectives “Riggs” (Mel Gibson) and “Murtaugh” (Danny Glover) must contend with a deadly Chinese triad leader (Jet Li) who is trying to free his members out of prison and onto American soil. Joe Pesci's “Leo Getz” wasn't slated to be part of the film until director Richard Donner and producer Joel Silver recruited Pesci to reprise his role.
In the opening scene, Murtaugh strips down to create a diversion. That scene is believed to be a comedic version of the same scenario from the movie RICHOCET (1991) where Denzel Washington's character, who is also a cop outside at night shooting at bad guy, strips down to his undies to gain the criminal's trust, only to shoot him with his back-up gun tucked between his spine and his fruit-of-the-loom tag. Richard Donner was watching old cop movies from the early 90s when looking for inspiration for the fourth movie in the franchise and stumbled across Denzel's work and thought it would be entertaining to put a funny twist on the same sequence. He knew it would fit perfectly with the characters/story he had to work with.
Donner asked Jet Li to slow down during action sequences, because he was moving faster than the camera shutter speed, and it wasn't registering on film. LETHAL WEAPON 4 was the sixth and final film that Donner made with Mel Gibson.
Rene Russo, Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, Joe Pesci, Jet Li, Richard Donner and Joel Silver at an event for LETHAL WEAPON 4
Many gun owners and National Rifle Association (NRA) members were displeased with the overt anti-gun messaging in the film, and actively boycotted it. Clear examples of this are the protagonist calling the active shooter an "NRA spokesman" within the first few minutes of the film, as well as the two prominent anti-NRA and pro "assault weapons" ban posters in the police department's lobby. Richard Donner made clear in a Variety interview that the messaging was intentional, claiming "I do it in almost every picture of mine". Many accounts also claim that Danny Glover was complicit in requesting that the message be pushed.
Michael Kamen’s score for the 1998 film has not had a release. The film cost a reported $140 million to produce. Although it was the #10 film at the U.S. box office, it didn’t cover its costs domestically. International receipts, however, pushed its total worldwide gross to $285 million.
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Posted: |
May 22, 2022 - 12:13 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In TIMELINE, a group of archeologists (including Gerard Butler, Frances O’Connor, Ethan Embry, and Rossif Sutherland) have made an amazing discovery at one of their dig sites: evidence that “Professor Edward Johnston” (Billy Connelly) is stuck back in the year 1357 and requests help to get home. His son, “Chris” (Paul Walker), demands answers, and gets them when representatives of a secret scientific research team usher him and his fellow archeologists to a remote base. It seems there has been an accidental “worm hole” opened during research for a “human fax machine,” and the professor got stuck where he didn’t belong. Chris and the gang are recruited to head back in time with a company man (Neal McDonough) to retrieve the professor before he’s lost to history forever, with only 8 hours in which to accomplish this mission.
The film was based on a novel by Michael Crichton, who took the unusual step of offering up the movie rights for free, provided the movie entered into production immediately. Crichton had a back-end deal set up on the basis that his script be used for the film. But instead, screenwriters Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi were brought in to write the script.
Richard Donner on the set of TIMELINE
TIMELINE was originally slated to be released in the fall of 2002. However, Paramount Pictures was not happy with producer-director Richard Donner's cut. When Donner was forced by the studio to re-cut the movie, he asked composer Jerry Goldsmith to edit down his score to the re-cut version of the film, which also prompted a change in release date by the studio to March 2003.
Paramount, particularly studio head Sherry Lansing, was again unhappy with Donner's second cut of the film, which had completely eliminated a prologue explaining the disappearance of Professor Johnson, which was essential to the Michael Crichton novel and the movie's backstory. (Goldsmith had scored the sequence as a cue called "The Dig," with the musical recording slate number of 1M1.)
Donner was forced to re-cut the film once more, and it was again delayed to an unspecified date. Again, Goldsmith was asked to return to the project. At this point, however, Goldsmith's health was deteriorating due to cancer, and he had recently begun to score LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION (2003) for his friend Joe Dante, a project which required the assistance of composer John Debney for additional music, and would also be Goldsmith’s last score, as he died on July 28, 2004.
Donner liked the score that Goldsmith had written, and he really wanted Goldsmith to stay on, but he could not. Paramount then hired composer Brian Tyler, who had written the music for the studio’s THE HUNTED (2003), which Paramount had released in the March 2003 slot in place of TIMELINE. Tyler scored almost all of the identical scenes that Goldsmith originally scored, and the scores recorded by Goldsmith and Tyler are the same length, at one hour and fourteen minutes. The final cut of the film was one hour and fifty-six minutes from its original two hour and sixteen-minute length, with the prologue remaining absent from the final cut.
Varese Sarabande released Tyler’s score along with the November 2003 film, and issued Goldsmith’s score about a year later. The $80 million film was a bomb, grossing just $44 million worldwide.
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Posted: |
May 23, 2022 - 12:27 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Aging alcoholic cop “Jack Mosley” (Bruce Willis) is assigned the task of escorting witness “Eddie Bunker” (Mos Def) from police custody to a courthouse 16 BLOCKS away. There are, however, chaotic forces at work that prevent them from making it in one piece.
The film's writer, Richard Wenk, stated that he originally conceived of the project with himself as writer and director and, before shopping it around to anyone else, first approached Richard Donner because they had struck up a good relationship when Donner really liked his rewrite of a script for LETHAL WEAPON 4 (1998), even though that script was not used. Wenk said that upon hearing his pitch for his new film, Donner "liked it so much that he didn't want me to direct it; he wanted to direct."
Bruce Willis and Richard Donner on location for 16 BLOCKS
16 BLOCKS was Donner’s twelfth film distributed by Warner Bros. Klaus Badelt’s score for the 2006 film has not had a release. The $52 million production was a modest earner, with a $66 million worldwide gross.
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Posted: |
May 24, 2022 - 10:20 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In addition to co-producing a number of his own films, Richard Donner was a producer or executive producer on many other well-known films, including THE FINAL CONFLICT (1981), THE LOST BOYS (1987), DELIRIOUS (1991), FREE WILLY (1993), BORDELLO OF BLOOD (1996), ANY GIVEN SUNDAY (1999), X-MEN (2000), and X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (2009).
Richard Donner was great friends with Mel Gibson, once calling him “The most exciting thing that's come into my life as an actor and a friend. He's a very special human being.” On another occasion, Donner remarked that “Mel Gibson is God's gift to a director, but he tells the worst jokes in the world.”
Although he had great affinity for one star, and directed his cousin Steve Kahan in 14 films, Donner still noted that “I have a bust of Abraham Lincoln in my office, and it's not because of the greatness he did for our country, but it's because that whenever I look at it, I have to remember an actor killed him.”
Farewell, Richard. Thanks for all of the great films.
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Thanks for sharing, folks. 