[thanks Rob for giving me the next blog title]
So here it is, 4:47AM and I am awake cleaning up a mess of dog sh-t! My dog, Buster was barking like crazy so I went downstairs to shut him up (I promise, not violently), and I was met halfway with the most atrocious stench. Seems Buster has a bad case of the runs.
Can you say, “Putrid?”
So Buster goes out, I begin cleaning and then I just needed to take a break, smoke a cig. I turned on my MacPro and started surfing the Internet. I ended up on IMDB for some reason and instinctively began thinking about what my next film move is going to be. What script do I work on and launch into pre-production? I have to be very strategic here. You may very well know of a thing called, “the sophomore jinx.” That’s that second film, album, script, book, etc that sucks after the first one was great. Obviously the jury is still out on Broken Hearts Club, but like always I am looking 3, 4, even 7 steps ahead.
So now indulge me for a second as I take a round-about tangent-like way to make my point. The writer of The Things We Lost In The Fire, starring Halle Berry, Benicio Del Torro and David Duchovny quickly became a sought-after dood after this first script was sold and made into a film. Who wouldn’t relish the opportunity to see Halle Berry recite your most emotional content from one’s battle with blank white pages? Shortly after the film was made this gentleman now has at least four scripts in development. That means four scripts bought and sold, all based on a new market value, which is based the the writer’s recent success. Follow me?
Now, as a writer myself, I’d bet he didn’t immediately write those scripts. He already had them. The scripts were in his file box of, “stuff I’ve written but will probably never sell.” But when one script sells, everything a writer has written becomes more valuable.
Hence, the sophomore jinx. Just because one script, film, or song has sold and done well doesn’t mean all previous work is equally commercially viable. So, do I pick a script from pre- Broken Hearts Club days or do I pick something more current?
So I make like a salesman and say, “let’s put it down on paper and see what it looks like.” I choose Die Mauer, now called, The Wall.
An astronomy scientist discovers that his fear of the dark is tied to his ability to release supernatural creatures through ‘the wall’ each time he steps into the dark. Now he must find a way to seal the wall without ever stepping into darkness.
I chose The Wall for several reasons; 1) it was written post- Broken Hearts Club, a period of time when my writing was at its best. 2) it’s a 180-degree change from a romantic comedy, 3) the script has a high degree of action, which is my first love in screenwriting and directing. 4) making a horror/thriller after a romantic comedy immediately crushes any propensity to be typecast as a certain kind of writer or director. and lastly, 5) I like the script.
So here’s where it gets weird. I start thinking that I need to definitely bring in some well-known talent so I can make this film with OPM, other people’s money. I consider starting with a low studio budget of $10,000,000. What actors can I get for that? Let’s go to IMDB and see what’s cooking.
I start reading articles and looking at in-production lists. I come across David Keith, who’s just been cast in a film, Way of the Dolphin shooting in the Bahamas. I like him. He was the dood in An Officer and a Gentleman who swallowed the engagement ring he wanted to give to his girl. He’s a working actor, a journeyman. But then I am reminded of Esai Morales from NYPD Blue. I’ve always been fond of him since he did that flick Bad Boys with Sean Penn two decades ago. I also know that many TV actors are very interested in making the transition to film.
Then, Mila Kunis from “That 70’s Show” comes into mind. She recently did Forgetting Sara Marshall with Kirsten Bell, who’s another candidate but doesn’t exactly fit the role of the whimsical psychic in The Wall. I like Mila. She smart, talented, sexy, waifish, and still girl-next-doorish. So I have some candidates but now I need the primary male role. I start thinking like Quentin Tarrantino — I think about pulling some old school dood out of obscurity and into the spotlight. Kind of like what he did with Pam Grier and Robert Forster in Jackie Brown. Who can I choose who has a name that everyone knows, who fits the type of a late 20’s nerdish scientist? And I think, Macaulay Culkin!!
And here’s where it becomes stranger than fiction. I look up some photos of Macaulay and I find a photo of him and Mila! I read the attached article and wham — those two have been dating for like six years! That lil mo-fo cooks for Mila every night! WTF?
Hmmmm, I wonder if they’d like to make a horror/thriller film together and help me avoid the sophomore jinx?
