Sneakers (1992) and Romeo + Juliet (1996)

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, an ensemble film with a reluctant director, and a Shakespeare take that made its studio nervous.

Sneakers took years to simply write - and then when it came to finding a director, the man who took the job on had suggested John Badham first.

Romeo + Juliet meanwhile needed Leonardo DiCaprio to fly himself to Australia just to keep the studio interested - and then the shoot itself was rocked by a kidnapping.

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

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