Film Stories with Simon Brew

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a comedy classic, and a blockbuster hit! Monty Python's Life Of Brian was days away from its cast and crew flying off for shooting when the rug was pulled from beneath it. And when it did finally get made, its problems were far from over. For The Perfect Storm meanwhile, Warner Bros wanted Mel Gibson and wasn't sure about Mark Wahlberg - plus Steven Spielberg gave the idea of directing the movie very little shrift! 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. 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, Simon is joined by writer/director Gil Kenan. They talk through Gil's career, from his early breakout success with Monster House to the commercial disappointment of City Of EmberI And the story is brought right up to date with his new film as director, A Boy Called Christmas, and as co-writer, Ghostbusters: Afterlife... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two films long in the planning - but with a fair few bumps on the way. Ridley Scott was eventually lured back to the Alien saga with 2012's Prometheus. Even then, he originally found a different director - and two different writers each took it further away from the original. The Wallace & Gromit film, The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, was the start of the end for a major deal between Aardman and DreamWorks Animation - and Aardman was willing to take the film elsewhere anyway. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two movies that film studios had reluctance over - for different reasons! Anchorman was a film that many passed on, and there were concerns that Will Ferrell was a big enough name to lead a studio comedy. Plus, the movie needed big changes in post-production. Red Notice was a huge movie star package that originally was sold to Universal and Legendary following a Hollywood bidding war. But in the end, there were reasons why it ended up with Netflix. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a pair of movies brought to life by big movie stars. Leonardo DiCaprio beat Brad Pitt to the rights to The Wolf Of Wolf Street. The film would eventually attract a too good to be true independent investor. And yikes, would it prove to be too good to be true. Fighting With My Family happened when Dwayne Johnson was in a London hotel room, and channel hopping. He happened upon a wrestling documentary - and got in touch with his Tooth Fairy co-star. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a pair of hit movies, one made very quickly, one made under a veil of secrecy. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey followed its predecessor by less than two years. It landed a young first time British director, the company behind it was in financial trouble, and there were reasons it could go so leftfield. 2019's Yesterday ended up on the slate of Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle, and involved a bumper deal for The Beatles songs. But its origins lay elsewhere... 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two hit movies, one that proved far more stressful to make than the other. It was the failure of Warner Bros' 1997 blockbusters that led to it gambling on Three Kings. The film's Gulf War subject matter already caused unease: and then came a very, very trouble production. Dodgeball meanwhile was a film virtually every studio passed on, as its writer was insistent he got to direct it too. Even when Ben Stiller got interested, it'd mean a hefty pay cut to get the film off the ground. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two difficult blockbuster productions. The Last Boy Scout brought together writer Shane Black, producer Joel Silver, director Tony Scott and star Bruce Willis. Four heavyweights, lots of arguments, and a film that needed saving in the edit. The Beach's problems came as much before filming meanwhile: the $50m film led to director Danny Boyle and actor Ewan McGregor having a long-running falling out. Things went downhill a bit from there. 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. 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, Simon traces the story of Locksmith Animation. Of how it came to life in 2014 with ambitions to make major animated films in the UK, and the seven year, very bumpy path to Ron's Gone Wrong. Simon is joined by four of the Locksmith team: Sarah Smith, Peter Baynham, JP Vine and Octavio E Rodriguez. Between them, they chart the challenges of different studio partners, of making a film on difficult internet connections, and a whole lot more... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, how Apollo 13 originally had Kevin Costner in mind, and the thriller that came out of a collapsed Stephen King movie. Apollo 13 was made at a point where practical filmmaking was more logical than relying too much on visual effects. And for the cast, that meant 13 days of particularly intense filming. Breakdown came out of a film that didn't happen, and was equally practical. But that didn't stop the studio wanting to add ten minutes to the start of the film. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices