I'm really confused by Hollywood screenplay writing. Why do so many movies have shit scripts? Why couldn't they have paid a writer with a good track history? The writer's cost is a tiny fraction of the overall budget, yet it makes up a massive proportion of the impression on the viewer. Hell, aren't there enough starving writers in Hollywood that they could throw out a pitch and hire the best screenplay put forward among multiple independent writers? My close friend moved back down to LA this year to pursue a career of writing and directing movies. The impression I got from discussing it with him was that there are plenty of brilliant writers down there and it's a cut-throat world to make a living...yet I also feel that it's normally the shit that floats to the top.But movies don't work like that any more, at least, not at that scale. So while they were out hammering on the screenplay set designers and storyboardists and character designers and this whole army of people started working on Oblivion even though they didn't quite know what it was about yet. One of them was a buddy of mine, who told me "man, what we've seen so far ain't so good." Lo and behold, shortly before Christmas two years ago Disney told everyone to go home because the script was terrible and they were putting the whole project on hold.
So. Let's say you have a brilliant idea. Let's say you write the perfect script. Let's say everyone you've ever shown it to says it's perfect and needs no changes. Now let's say "is it so brilliant that it needs no changes before we spend one Hundred MILLION DOLLARS on it?" I'll bet you can find something to tweak. I'll bet everyone else can find something to tweak, too. In fact, I'll bet every person with any authority to tweak is going to tweak, just so they can continue to have the authority to tweak. So what you end up with is the story that managed to survive being tweaked by every single person who touched it. And oh, by the way, if you refuse to tweak, it's no longer your script. Screenwriters will literally rewrite lines that don't need rewriting because if they don't rewrite enough lines, they won't get credit. And if they don't get credit, they won't get residuals (money). Assistants will literally suggest changes that don't need to be changed because they want to remind their bosses that they have a 'fresh look." Studio heads will greenlight movies their predecessors killed and kill movies their predecessors green-lit just to prove they're studio heads. Take a script. Throw it on the ground in the middle of the parking lot. Now take out a megaphone and announce that everyone with a designated parking spot (and half the people in general parking) on the Warner Brothers lot are invited to come piss on it. Everything that hasn't washed away from being pissed on throughout the entire development process (and I AM LEGEND was in "development" from 1979 until 2007) is your script. There's your movie.I'm really confused by Hollywood screenplay writing. Why do so many movies have shit scripts?
Ah, so less bad starting script, more bad ending script. Makes sense, though you'd think someone would pay attention when the end result is continually shit. Or does it not really matter that much, in the final profits? Jebus, that makes it well older than me.and _I AM LEGEND_ was in "development" from 1979 until 2007
| Makes sense, though you'd think someone would pay attention when the end result is continually shit. Or does it not really matter that much, in the final profits?| Blade Runner and Porky's both came out in 1982. Blade Runner made $33m. Porky's made over $100m. Which one had a sequel? This is a fun toy. See for yourself.