The summer of 1989 gave Warner Bros an enormous box office hit with Batman - but not far behind it came Lethal Weapon 2, a sequel turned around in a couple of years, and bringing back most of the key creatives.
Not writer Shane Black, though. His much darker idea for the sequel would be rejected, and the tone would duly shift. Plus, we'd get a lot more Joe Pesci as a result.
In the second half of this episode, Michael Cera joins us for a chat. There's his work on Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme for a start, but also, some of the lower-profile independent films he's made, and his own plans to direct.
Quite a packed episode, this one...
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56:46
In conversation with Mia Threapleton - The Phoenician Scheme, dyslexia, Tesco ClubCard
Mia Threapleton, in her teens, was obsessed with Moonrise Kingdom, and wanted to work with Wes Anderson. Fast forward to now, and she's the standout of his new film, The Pheonician Scheme.
In this long interview, she talks about working with Wes, about how dyslexia affects how she processes a script, and why she keeps being stuck on trains when she gets important phone calls.
The Phoenician Scheme is in cinemas now.
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37:18
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) and Pixar's Newt (abandoned)
The future of the Mission: Impossible movies was up in the air after the third film, with Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise parting ways. It took some bridge building to get a fourth movie going, and even then, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol would bring with it changes. Plus, a contingency plan to replace Tom Cruise as the figurehead of the franchise going forward...
Pixar meanwhile, around the same time, was working on an animated movie called Newt, that to this day remains the only time it announced a film, and then abandoned it.
Both stories are told in this episode...
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58:17
In conversation with Bobcat Goldthwait | God Bless America, Robin Williams, cat biscuits, odd Amazon reviews and more
In a very special episode of Film Stories, Simon is joined by writer, director, actor and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, for a conversation about his film career.
In the wide-ranging chat, taking place as God Bless America arrives on the Studiocanal Presents streaming channel in the UK, Bobcat tells us about his approach, The Muppets, and why he writes reviews of cat biscuits on Amazon...
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59:45
Jurassic Park (1993) and Booksmart (2019)
The behind the scenes stories of two films some time in the making come together in this episode, starting with 1993's Jurassic Park. A film made at a point when Steven Spielberg's box office touch was being questioned. A movie that, had a battle for the rights gone the other way, could have been made by one of Tim Burton, Joe Dante or Richard Donner.
As it was, Universal and Spielberg made the movie, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger-headlined Last Action Hero was set to go head-to-head with it.
2019's Booksmart meanwhile took ten years to get made, even though its budget was well under $10m. First time director Olivia Wilde had quite the pitch to earn the job behind the camera - but then had a battle to get audiences to the movie once she'd made it.
Stories of both are told in this episode...
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Film Stories with Simon Brew is a podcast that looks to dig into the stories behind popular movies.From troubled productions, to rights issues, to difficulties with release to films nearly falling apart, the podcast will be looking at the stories that don't always seem apparent when watching a movie!
The podcast is hosted by Simon Brew, the founder of Den Of Geek. Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/simonbrew. Thank you!
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