In this episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, the difficult journey back to Middle Earth, and the first animated film from DreamWorks.Following the success of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, it seemed straightforward that at some point, The Hobbit would make it back to the screen. But the path there would prove far more difficult than originally thought, thanks to legal issues, financial issues, and a late change of director.With Antz, the first animated film from DreamWorks had a lot of pathfinding to get through just to get made - and then its release date was moved forward, meaning it was a race against time to get the film completed, before Pixar's A Bug's Life stole its thunder.---Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriesSupport this podcast: www.patreon.com/simonbrew.Find our print magazines at store.filmstories.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, the continued attempt to find box office life in the Terminator films, and a modestly-priced movie that demonstrated the power of a trailer.For the third attempt to make a new Terminator trilogy of movies, the plan this time was more straightforward: bring James Cameron back to the series, and give him a big chunk of creative power again. With Deadpool director Tim Miller also on board, hopes were high - but problems were mounting.The simple concept of a bear taking a lot of cocaine meanwhile became fuel for a very R-rated studio film - even if there was some dispute about the title for a while...---Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriesSupport this podcast: www.patreon.com/simonbrew.Find our print magazines at store.filmstories.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hollywood royalty joins the Film Stories podcast for this special episode, as writer, producer and director James L Brooks.The starting point for the chat is a film that Brooks has produced, the long awaited screen adaptation of Judy Blume's Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. And then they get chatting about making movies, about the 1994 box office disappointment I'll Do Anything, a brief drive by As Good As It Gets, and a few hints as to the film he's workong on next. Are You There God, It's Me Margaret is in UK cinemas now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two very big blockbuster films, one of which had more joy finding an audience than the other.1996's Independence Day came together at surprising speed, with creative duo Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin wary that Mars Attacks! was on the way too. And there was the small matter of getting the film's Superbowl trailer right as well.Battleship was to be the first of up to six pictures based on board games and Hasbro properties at Universal, but at one stage, the studio's new chairperson had a choice: accept a $30m write-off, or carry on with the picture.---Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriesSupport this podcast: www.patreon.com/simonbrew.Find our print magazines at store.filmstories.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a pair of 2014 releases: one of which sent a movie star grey, the other sending its director to movie jail.Collateral marks one of the darker leading roles in Tom Cruise's career. But for a while, the film was actually set to feature Russell Crowe and Adam Sandler in its lead roles. Furthermore, the spark for the movie came when its writer was in his late teens.The idea of bringing the hugely successful TV show Thunderbirds to the screen in a bigger budget movie had been around for a while. But when Spy Kids and the Harry Potter movies went big, so did plans for Thunderbirds - even if it didn't involve the people who created the show in the first place.Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriesSupport this podcast: www.patreon.com/simonbrew.Find our print magazines at store.filmstories.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.