Film Stories with Simon Brew

In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by writer/director Dean DeBlois. He's the co-writer and co-director of the original How To Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch films, and after writing and directing the second and third Dragon movies, he's now done the same with the live action remake. Why did he do it? We get into that, as well as live action films that he's come close to making before. Plus, he talks about losing his father, Ireland, and what he's up to next. How To Train Your Dragon is in UK cinemas from 9th June 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legend of 1995's Waterworld suggests that it was a huge flop and a criticial disaster. The truth? It was neither. But it was one of the toughest Hollywood productions of the 1990s, and its story continued even after the arduous shoot was complete. In this episode, Simon goes through the origins of the film as a low budget idea, right through to the emergence of a longer, alternate cut to the film: The Ulysses Cut. The second half of this episode is given over to Len Wiseman, who talks to Ryan Lambie about Ballerina, a lost moment in an OAP's home, Die Hard, getting fired from ILM, and working with Roland Emmerich. Please like, subscribe and all of that stuff. Support us at www.filmstories.co.uk/support. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Multi-Oscar-winning editor, sound designer, writer and editor Walter Murch joins Simon for a very special episode of Film Stories. Walter's just released his latest book, Suddenly Something Clicked, and it's packed full of advice, plus stories from his extensive career. In this long chat, the pair talk about the Droid Olympics, The Conversation, Francis Ford Coppola nearly poisoning him (!), and an unusual project with Mike Leigh. There's a lot more too... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The summer of 1989 gave Warner Bros an enormous box office hit with Batman - but not far behind it came Lethal Weapon 2, a sequel turned around in a couple of years, and bringing back most of the key creatives. Not writer Shane Black, though. His much darker idea for the sequel would be rejected, and the tone would duly shift. Plus, we'd get a lot more Joe Pesci as a result. In the second half of this episode, Michael Cera joins us for a chat. There's his work on Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme for a start, but also, some of the lower-profile independent films he's made, and his own plans to direct. Quite a packed episode, this one... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mia Threapleton, in her teens, was obsessed with Moonrise Kingdom, and wanted to work with Wes Anderson. Fast forward to now, and she's the standout of his new film, The Pheonician Scheme. In this long interview, she talks about working with Wes, about how dyslexia affects how she processes a script, and why she keeps being stuck on trains when she gets important phone calls. The Phoenician Scheme is in cinemas now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The future of the Mission: Impossible movies was up in the air after the third film, with Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise parting ways. It took some bridge building to get a fourth movie going, and even then, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol would bring with it changes. Plus, a contingency plan to replace Tom Cruise as the figurehead of the franchise going forward... Pixar meanwhile, around the same time, was working on an animated movie called Newt, that to this day remains the only time it announced a film, and then abandoned it. Both stories are told in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a very special episode of Film Stories, Simon is joined by writer, director, actor and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, for a conversation about his film career. In the wide-ranging chat, taking place as God Bless America arrives on the Studiocanal Presents streaming channel in the UK, Bobcat tells us about his approach, The Muppets, and why he writes reviews of cat biscuits on Amazon... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The behind the scenes stories of two films some time in the making come together in this episode, starting with 1993's Jurassic Park. A film made at a point when Steven Spielberg's box office touch was being questioned. A movie that, had a battle for the rights gone the other way, could have been made by one of Tim Burton, Joe Dante or Richard Donner. As it was, Universal and Spielberg made the movie, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger-headlined Last Action Hero was set to go head-to-head with it. 2019's Booksmart meanwhile took ten years to get made, even though its budget was well under $10m. First time director Olivia Wilde had quite the pitch to earn the job behind the camera - but then had a battle to get audiences to the movie once she'd made it. Stories of both are told in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Martin Campbell is guest of honour in the latest episode of Film Stories. He's just directed his new film, Cleaner, starring Daisy Ridley, and he talks Simon through that, as well as the challenges of independent filmmaking. Plus! The pair talk about some of Campbell's other directorial work, including Casino Royale, The Mask Of Zorro, No Escape, GoldenEye, Vertical Limit, and some of the other fruitier films on his early CV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by actor Geraldine Viswanathan for a conversation about her most recent work, and her body of work. That most recent film? Thunderbolts, which also happens to feature a guinea pig. That comes up in conversation. Films such as Bad Education and Blockers are also discussed, and how she goes about choosing her films as well. Thunderbolts is in UK cinemas now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices