Verbal Diorama

Before Barbenheimer, there was The Dark Mamma. Two polar opposite movies going head-to-head at the box office, and both ending up huge successes in very different ways.
The film adaptation of Mamma Mia! was never planned to be Universal's big summer 2008 hit, in fact it wasn't until test screenings that they realised what a gem they had on their hands.
Mamma Mia! would not beat The Dark Knight at the box office, but it would blaze its own trail, for a jukebox musical based on a running stage production, showing that stories by women, about women and for women could also do big business.
But first, they had to persuade the producers of the stage musical to sell the film rights, and that took two things - Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson and the musical Chicago...
And then... they got Meryl!
Episode originally published on: 2nd November 2023
Mentioned in this episode:
From the Archive
There's no new episode this week, so I thought you might be interested in revisiting this slightly older, but no less brilliant episode. Just bear in mind, this episode is several years old, it may not sound quite as polished as newer episodes, and new information may have come to light in recent years with regards to the making of this movie (please see above for the original date of release)

Please enjoy this time capsule of an episode. Thanks for listening!

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You better hold on tight spider monkeys. It's the history and legacy of a teen cultural phenomenon of the late 2000s. The movie that made vampires sparkly, and teen heroines even more clumsy and awkward than regular teen girls.
From the six months it took mother-of-three Stephenie Meyer to conceive, write and publish the novel Twilight, to a first, slightly botched attempt to get it made by MTV Films, to the actual making of the movie, directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Melissa Rosenberg; the experiences and voices of women were instrumental in getting Twilight made as faithfully to the original book as possible.
But despite a passionate existing fanbase, and some hot new up and coming actors in the roles, that didn't mean the course of movie true love would run smoothly...
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About Verbal Diorama
Ear Worthy 2024 Best Movie Podcast Winner | Golden Lobes 2025 Earworm Award Nominee | Ear Worthy 2025 Best Movie Podcast Nominee | Golden Lobes 2026 Earworm Award Nominee
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Thank You to Our Patreon Supporters
Current Patrons: Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat, Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam, Jack, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Danny, Stu, Brett, Xenos, Sean, Ryno, Philip, Adam, Elaine, Aaron and Steve.
Thank you for supporting Verbal Diorama.
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Four years before Star Wars, and two before Jaws, came the story of a single mother in Washington, D.C., fighting to save her little girl from the devil, and it created its own cultural phenomenon. People waited in line for six or seven hours to see it, fainted in the cinemas, became physically ill, wept, and had to leave.
Based on the bestselling book by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist was groundbreaking in many ways.
It exposed people around the world to the question of evil in a new and terrifying way. The inclusion of the Catholic church, and actual Jesuit priests, in the production also set a precedent.
It changed cinema. It legitimized horror, becoming more than just a medium to scare people, but to actually make them think, and question their own faith, or lack thereof.
Based on the real story of the exorcism of a fourteen-year-old boy in 1949, The Exorcist was a horror film without major stars, that had a tumultuous production, a director who legitimately scared his cast and crew, that had gone well over budget, and was allegedly cursed.
This is the story of how The Exorcist became one of the rare horror movies that became part of the national conversation and consciousness.
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⭐ Leave a 5-star review on your podcast app
💰 Join the Patreon for bonus content and early access
☕ Send a tip to support the show
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Twitter: @verbaldiorama
Instagram: @verbaldiorama
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Email: verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com
Website: verbaldiorama.com

About Verbal Diorama
Ear Worthy 2024 Best Movie Podcast Winner | Golden Lobes 2025 Earworm Award Nominee | Ear Worthy 2025 Best Movie Podcast Nominee | Golden Lobes 2026 Earworm Award Nominee
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Thank You to Our Patreon Supporters
Current Patrons: Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat, Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam, Jack, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Danny, Stu, Brett, Xenos, Sean, Ryno, Philip, Adam, Elaine, Aaron and Steve.
Thank you for supporting Verbal Diorama.
Mentioned in this episode:
Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon
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Infinite space. Infinite terror.
From the depths of space, and the depths of hell (not sure which is more terrifying, to be honest!) comes a cosmic science fiction Lovecraftian horror, all about the existential dread of space, and that your imagination is scarier than anything you could ever see.
1997 was the year if you were a doomed ship. The biggest was hit by an iceberg, quite famously. But as far as movies go, Event Horizon was far more doomed.
Arguably one of Paul W.S. Anderson's best movies, starring the late, great Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne, among a stellar supporting cast, Event Horizon looks and feels unlike any other science fiction movies of the 90s, and beyond, but it could have been even more graphic.
After an extreme reaction from test audiences, Paramount were not happy with Paul W.S. Anderson’s original cut, demanding a sweeping edit to dial back the nastiness and the runtime be cut to around 90 minutes. Much of the extreme gore, sexual references and mutilation was removed, but gone too were a string of tension and story-building scenes.
And thanks to a salt mine, we will likely never see a director's cut...
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Loved this episode? Here's how you can help:
⭐ Leave a 5-star review on your podcast app
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I would love to hear your thoughts on Event Horizon
Twitter: @verbaldiorama
Instagram: @verbaldiorama
Facebook: @verbaldiorama
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Email: verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com
Website: verbaldiorama.com

About Verbal Diorama
Ear Worthy 2024 Best Movie Podcast Winner | Golden Lobes 2025 Earworm Award Nominee | Ear Worthy 2025 Best Movie Podcast Nominee | Golden Lobes 2026 Earworm Award Nominee
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Thank You to Our Patreon Supporters
Current Patrons: Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat, Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam, Jack, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Danny, Stu, Brett, Xenos, Sean, Ryno, Philip, Adam, Elaine, Aaron and Steve.
Thank you for supporting Verbal Diorama.
Mentioned in this episode:
Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon
Patreon

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Shaun of the Dead is remembered now as a genre landmark; the film that made "rom zom com" a real category and launched the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, but its road to the big screen was anything but assured.
Fresh from Spaced; a landmark cult British TV comedy about young people living, working and partying in North London (when that was something young people could afford to do!), Spaced was written by 20-somethings Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson about 20-somethings, directed by 20-something Edgar Wright, and after Season 1 Episode 3 "Art", an idea festered, like a gaping zombie wound, and they were dead set on doing a zombie movie.
Despite the success of Spaced, it would be a difficult sell. Commissioned by Film4, but saved by WT2, Shaun of the Dead paid loving homage to the seminal zombie classics from George A. Romero, and all they wanted was for Romero to see the movie and give it his blessing...
Support Verbal Diorama
Loved this episode? Here's how you can help:
⭐ Leave a 5-star review on your podcast app
💰 Join the Patreon for bonus content and early access
☕ Send a tip to support the show
📱 Share this episode with fellow film lovers
Get In Touch
I would love to hear your thoughts on Shaun of the Dead
Twitter: @verbaldiorama
Instagram: @verbaldiorama
Facebook: @verbaldiorama
Letterboxd: @verbaldiorama
Email: verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com
Website: verbaldiorama.com

About Verbal Diorama
Ear Worthy 2024 Best Movie Podcast Winner | Golden Lobes 2025 Earworm Award Nominee | Ear Worthy 2025 Best Movie Podcast Nominee | Golden Lobes 2026 Earworm Award Nominee
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Thank You to Our Patreon Supporters
Current Patrons: Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat, Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam, Jack, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Danny, Stu, Brett, Xenos, Sean, Ryno, Philip, Adam, Elaine, Aaron and Steve.
Thank you for supporting Verbal Diorama.
Mentioned in this episode:
Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon
Patreon

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy