Film Stories with Simon Brew

It's a Kevin Costner double bill in the latest episode of Film Stories - and whilst the films are very different, there is a link between them.1987's No Way Out is actually a remake, something its director - Roger Donaldson - wasn't actually aware of. One of the very best thrillers of the 1980s - especially if you don't know its twists and turns - its release actually ended up being held back to see if another Costner-headlined movie would prove more successful first.Yet it was the ultimate success of No Way Out that finally led to Bull Durham getting off the ground, after a hell of a challenge to raise the money for the movie. Not the only challenge, either: an executive at Orion Pictures was causing problems, and there was a casting demand that wasn't going away...Both films are covered in this episode. Both films are also making their UK Blu-ray debut this month, and you can find details on the releases at store.filmstories.co.uk---Film Stories print magazines can be found at store.filmstories.co.uk---Find Simon on Twitter and Bluesky at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ah-ha! Two of the most acclaimed British directors of the 2010s take centre stage in this episode, albeit with very, very different films.Christopher Nolan originally envisaged his dreamy heist movie Inception as a low budget feature. But just after he'd made Insomnia, he got 80 pages into what he felt the film should be and hit a stumbling block. Two Batman movies and The Prestige later and he finally began to crack it - and things built from there.It was a lengthy journey too to bring the dark British comedy Sightseers to the screen, a road that began when Alice Lowe and Steve Oram started working on the two lead characters in an Ealing comedy club. And - with a helping hand from Edgar Wright - their work would come to the attention of a fast-rising director by the name of Ben Wheatley...The stories of both films are told in this episode. ---Film Stories print magazines can be found at store.filmstories.co.uk---Find Simon on Twitter and Bluesky at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, director Oliver Parker joins Simon for a long chat about his latest film, and his career. The new film is The Great Escaper, starring Michael Caine and the late Glenda Jackson. They natter about how the film came to be, and the challenges involved in making the film. They also recall when Parker managed to get Othello down to just over two hours, and running times in general. Plus, in a not entirely expected turn, they end up chatting too about Clive Barker, and the plans once upon a time to bring Hellraiser to the stage!The Great Escaper is in UK cinemas on October 6th 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an unscheduled week break (sorry!), the Film Stories podcast returns with the stories of two superb modern fantasy films.Guillermo del Toro's Oscar-winning The Shape Of Water owes a debt to a 1950s horror, and an original idea that came to someone in their teenage years. When it came time to make the film? The budget was always going to be tight, but del Toro faced two different funding options for two different ways to make the film.Juan Antonio Bayona's A Monster Calls, meanwhile, had a relatively swift journey to the screen, although the push to work with practical effects wherever possible did have an impact on the making of the film. Casting proved a challenge, too...Stories of both are told in this very episode...---Find Simon on Twitter and Bluesky at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

R-rated movies from major studios. R-rated comic book movies from major studios. R-rated comic book movies that don't even mention the name of the umbrella franchise in the title. These were not the norm when Hugh Jackman and writer/director James Mangold somehow talked 20th Century Fox into what became Logan. Yet ironically, as the mainline X-Men franchise stumbled, it was the R-rated entries that were delivering...Also delivering? The revival of Evil Dead on the big screen with Evil Dead Rise. It took ten years and a four season TV show in-between to bring the franchise back to cinemas, even if at one point the plan was to go straight to streaming. And it was an upcoming director who was given the responsibility...Stories of both are told in this episode. Please don't forget to subscribe and leave a glowing review. You're lovely. Ta.---Find Simon on Twitter and Bluesky at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been over a decade since the debate first ignited: is Tom Cruise the right person to play the character of Jack Reacher? The answer came originally in the form of a 2012 movie, although the first big screen outing for Lee Child's famous character had been in development for well over a decade by that point. In the end, Werner Herzog was recruited too. But it was the choice of director that would have a lasting impact on Tom Cruise's career.The film Once though had barely any expectations on it, even for a cinema release. A few screens in Dublin, maybe? And when Cillian Murphy left the film, it looked like the tiny budget would fall away anyway. What happened next? Well it was that rarest of movie fairytales...---Find Simon on Twitter and Bluesky at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the latest episode of the Film Stories podcast, a war movie, a boxing movie, and a few problems in the making of both.1963's The Great Escape was a film that director John Sturges couldn't initially get off the ground, and he needed his success with The Magnificent Seven to make it happen. When it did? It wasn't the easiest of productions, with a lot of chopped down trees, and a star who wasn't happy with his part in the film.Sylvester Stallone wasn't initially chomping at the bit to make Rocky III meanwhile, but when he opted to make the movie, his script would reflect the difficulties he was facing himself at the time. Then there was the small matter of finding the actor to play his opponent: Clubber Lang...---Find Simon on Twitter and Bluesky at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast is fully back up and running again, and this time, we turn our attention to the return of Hannibal Lecter. 2001's Hannibal was the long-awaited return of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter to the big screen, following 1991's The Silence Of The Lambs. But the original director didn't return. The original screenwriter didn't return. One of the two Oscar-winning stars didn't return. And a chance meeting in Malta - as Ridley Scott was shooting Gladiator - was what helped push things forward.The gestation of I, Daniel Blake was a little more straightforward, as writer Paul Laverty and director Ken Loach went about their familiar process: this time, though, they'd be making a film with fairly quick ramifications. What's more, casting a lead actor who was just on the verge of jacking it all in...---Find Simon on Twitter and Bluesky at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a longer than originally planned gap (due to a dodgy voice!), the Film Stories podcast returns from its summer snooze. And what better way to start than with not one T2, but a pair of them.First up? Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a film that cost its makers $15m just for the rights to. That, and enormous cheques to writer/director James Cameron, and leading man Arnold Schwarzenegger. All well and good: but they didn't actually have a lot of time to make the actual film.The passing of time was one thing T2 Trainspotting had fewer worries about, arriving over 20 years following the original film. One of the key hold ups? A long-running falling out between director Danny Boyle and leading man Ewan McGregor...---Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two films that were - in the end - turned around to very tight deadlines. One slightly more expensive than the other!The challenge with 2015's Spectre was to follow up the most successful James Bond film of all time. Skyfall had grossed over $1bn: but its director, Sam Mendes, wasn't keen originally to return for Spectre. And when the film did get filming, star Daniel Craig was covering the fact that he had a broken leg.Less high profile drama followed 1996's When Saturday Comes, but the Sean Bean-headlined football drama still faced some uphill challenges of its own...This is the last Film Stories episode before a summer break. In true James Bond style, Film Stories will return...---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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices