This "Shawshank Redemption" is the directorial work of screenwriter Frank Darabont's first feature film.
This guy is very interesting. He first entered Hollywood by writing scripts for low-budget horror films like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and TV series with horror elements.
Frank Darabont is of Hungarian origin. He was born in a refugee camp in his country and later moved to America with his parents. When he was five years old, his family moved to Los Angeles. When he was young, he watched George Lucas'
After his debut film "Five Hundred Years Later (THX 1138)", he determined to participate in the film industry.
This is significantly different from the stories of many directors joining Hollywood. For example, Cameron also jumped into Hollywood after watching Star Wars. Lucas's science fiction movie THX 1138 actually did very poorly at the box office. People who have seen it
Not many. He is probably the only one who has the idea to join Hollywood after watching it.
Because he came from an immigrant family, he could not find any good social connections to enter the film industry, so he started working as a food stall employee and usher at the famous Grauman Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
My first job in the film industry and grateful to be able to watch so many films for free.
With a stable income and a lot of time to write his own scripts, Frank Darabont has since followed the most common path for children with no background to enter Hollywood, starting as a screenwriter.
Of course, being a screenwriter is also difficult. Frank Darabonite had the same good luck as Ronald. Early in his career as a screenwriter, he met the support of an important person, the famous thriller novelist Stephen King.
After Stephen King made a movie as a director, he knew that he was not the material, but he also loved the form of movies to adapt his novels. So he was unknown in the early 1980s.
, launched his own "One Dollar Baby Project."
Specifically, Stephen King will provide young people who are still studying film in college, or who have just graduated and just started working, with an opportunity to choose one of his own short stories and then adapt it into a screenplay.
After reading those scripts, if he is satisfied, he will transfer the film adaptation rights of the novel to the young man for one dollar and support them. If they are successful, he will have a more reliable candidate.
Adapting his own heavier novella.
Frank Darabont was only 20 years old when he adapted "The Woman in the Room," but he was chosen by Stephen King to become "Dollar Baby." The short story was eventually financed in 1985 and was directly
It was made into a short film. Finally, it was edited together with the short films of five other One-Dollar Babes and became a B-level film for the video tape market. The audience bought the video tape, which is equivalent to one of the five movies, and they can watch five Stephen
A story adapted from King's novel.
Although Stephen King was not particularly satisfied with the result of "The Woman in the Room", it was already the best short film he made in his "Dollar Baby" project.
So he also admired Darabont very much, and after the movie video tape was released, he reached a verbal gentleman's agreement with him. He gave Darabont a chance to adapt any of his short novels and serve as the director to make it.
Become a theatrical feature film.
Darabont struggled for a few more years. In 1987, he finally earned a seat in the Writers Guild and some compensation for being a screenwriter for "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3." Darabont immediately went back to find Stephen King.
, asking for $5,000 to buy the rights to adapt one of his short stories, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption."
The story of "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption" is the original novel that was adapted into a movie. In order to practice his skills, Stephen King innovatively came up with a story model that is not a traditional thriller. In his
It is not very conspicuous in a large number of works.
I don’t know why Darabont fell in love with this novel. Anyway, Stephen King also accepted the gentleman’s agreement. However, he did not cash the check Darabont gave him. Instead, he framed it and sent it back to Darabont.
LaBonte also attached a note that read, "In case you need emergency use..."
Darabont, who was admired by Stephen King, could not find anyone willing to invest in the film. It was not until five years later, after he had more success stories in the industry, that he was hired by a woman at Castle Rock Pictures.
Producer Liz Grotz took a liking to it and brought the script to Castle Rock.
But there has always been a legend in Hollywood that prison movies don't do well. In addition, Darabont had never directed a feature film before, so Castle Rock was inclined to give up.
Liz Grotz fell in love with the script and threatened to quit if Castle Rock didn't invest.
This intense endorsement made Robert Reiner, one of the founders of Castle Rock, interested. After reading the script, he also liked it very much. Reiner wanted to pay Darabont two and a half million.
Bought the rights to this script.
Robert Reiner had made the movie "Stand By Me" adapted from Stephen King's novel in 1986, so he liked King's story very much. This was originally a happy thing. Darabont was a child of an immigrant family in the slums.
You can use this money to improve your life.
Castle Rock also knew that Darabont wanted to be a director and promised to finance any of his other screenplays.
But after deep thought, Darabont rejected Reiner's proposal and said he still wanted to direct the film himself.
Fortunately, Robert Reiner still has a big heart. Seeing this, he looked at Darabont with admiration. In the end, it was decided that Castle Rock Pictures would invest 25 million, with Robert Reiner as the mentor and Darabont as the director.
The screenwriter and director were paid $750,000, plus a share of the box office profits.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Darabont got the opportunity and was immediately excited. He wanted Tom Cruise to play Andy and Harrison Ford to play Red.
Of course, this is not something a medium-sized company like Castle Rock can afford in Hollywood. The salary of either Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford is almost higher than the budget of the entire film.
In the end, he cast the current protagonists Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. And in six weeks, he changed the script drastically to make the young character Tommy Williams, who betrayed Andy
, was changed to be killed by the warden for Andy, to enhance the religious meaning of the story.
The movie went through a lot of hardships. Brad Pitt, who originally played Tommy, withdrew from the project because of his success in Thelma and Louise. Fortunately, Tim Robbins helped a lot, and finally the film was made.
, which received many positive reviews from internal test screenings.
Ronald also went to see the limited screening, but to his great surprise, there were no people in the cinema at all. It was as if no one knew that this movie was going to be released.
After the filming of the film was completed, Castle Rock was also acquired by Turner Media. The distribution rights of the film were sold to Columbia during the merger and acquisition.
These three organizations are all veteran players in the industry. They can't even figure out how to market a movie, right?
Ronald got the ticket and was not in a hurry to go in. He pulled up his hoodie and lowered his sunglasses. Watching a movie secretly was a feeling he had not seen for a long time.
Robert Reiner was a good enough friend that he called Ronald specifically to tell him that this movie might be the biggest rival to Ronald's Forrest Gump.
Out of curiosity and wanting to know something about his competitors, Ronald came over to watch one.
But what he didn't expect was that there was no word "Adapted from Stephen King's novel" on the big poster in the theater.
The poster shows an inexplicable tall man spreading his hands in the rain, as if he wants to embrace the heavy rain.
The backlight cast a circle of Jesus-like outline light around the protagonist. The darkness on the back and the light in the heavy rain in front blended in on the protagonist.
On the top of the poster are two lines of sentences that look like proverbs in the Bible, "Fear can make you a prisoner in a cell, but hope can make you free."
Ronald clicked his tongue. If such a marketing plan was just a daydream, the person involved must have been fired by him.
After Tim Robbins played a backseat weapons officer in Top Gun, he hasn't had many blockbuster movies, and his recent baseball movie with Susan Sarandon didn't have a big response either.
But he and Susan Sarandon saw each other right. Unlike the characters in the movie, the two broke up and quickly lived together in life.
Morgan Freeman has also gained a reputation since "Driving Miss Daisy", but he is not the kind of big star who can get a bank mortgage.
Even if the two of them appeared face-to-face on the poster, not many viewers would be able to recall their names. At most, they would just say a few words, and then say what roles they seemed to have played in a certain movie.
What's more, this poster only shows the back of Tim Robbins' head. If you're not an insider, you probably won't be able to tell which actor this is.
Therefore, when audiences come to the cinema and decide which movie to watch, they can't find any reason to watch "The Shawshank Redemption".
On the other hand, in the "Pulp Fiction" that has not yet been released, the heroine Uma Thurman is lying on the bed with her legs crossed behind her. On top of the low-cut dress is her sexy face and a cigarette in her hand.
Several viewers were pointing and wondering why "Pulp Fiction" was not released today.
Harvey Weinstein is indeed a businessman who sells movie copies in Europe all year round. He knows who should be highlighted on the poster as soon as he looks at the cast list.
On the other side of the poster are the names of the starring actors, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Carter...
If it hadn't been released yet, those few viewers would have bought tickets on the spot.
In addition, the name "Pulp Fiction" is easy to remember. It is sold in a special corner of the American Bookstore. It is the kind of relatively vulgar novels that are based on curiosity, eroticism, etc.
Who hasn’t read a few movies in middle school or college? So it’s not difficult to remember the name of this movie.
On the other hand, the title "Shawshank Redemption" is very difficult to understand and remember.
"Shawshank" is a fictional name given by Stephen King to a state prison in Maine in the novel
"Redemption" is a religious term, indicating that a person has been spiritually redeemed in front of God.
"Give me two, hey, what about..." Sure enough, an audience member didn't remember it when he went to the box office to buy a ticket.
"What on earth are you buying?" The conductor became impatient.
"That's it. Who's starring? Call, call..."
The audience thought about it for a long time, but there was no one to start with. From the unfortunate title of this movie to the name of the leading actor, no one could immediately recall it.
"Which one is it?"
"I also forgot, it's adapted from a novel..."
"Novel? Pulp novel? It hasn't been released yet."
"No, no, I mean it's a movie adapted from a novel. Oh, that's it. On that poster, there's a side view of the male protagonist from behind. Oh, I just can't remember the name."
"There is a side view of the male protagonist on the poster. It is adapted from the novel. Take it, two copies of Forrest Gump..."
"Hey, no... no, forget it, this one is also very good, I'll just watch Forrest Gump."
"Pfft..." Ronald laughed from behind.
"What are you looking at..."
"The Shawshank Redemption..."
"Don't you watch something else?"
"If you don't want to watch it, I will watch this one, The Shawshank Redemption..."
"Okay, here you go..."
The conductor was discouraged and tore two pieces off and gave them to Ronald. He had no intention of reminding the customer.
The movie Shawshank Redemption did not sell a single ticket today. If there is not a single audience, then it can be turned off and replaced with other movie screenings.
For example, "Forrest Gump", starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, has just been released, and "Forrest Gump", which has been released for more than ten weeks and is still in the top three at the box office, has sufficient copies and a high attendance rate. Who would have known that I would be attracted by this stupid movie?
I bought two tickets. Good luck to you, the venue is reserved today.
"Andy!"
"Red!"
At the end of the film, Red was released from prison and ran to the Mexican Sea, which Andy had told him about before escaping from prison. The two good friends in prison hugged each other on the beach of freedom.
Ronald lowered his hat again and came out, together with his bodyguard Dan.
"Do you think it looks good?" Ronald asked Dan beside him.
"It's not bad, but only the ending is touching. I almost fell asleep while watching it. It was a bit boring. If you hadn't told me that the last movie was Andy's escape from prison, I probably wouldn't have bothered to wait.
After the movie shows how he escaped from prison, I left first."
"yes……"
Ronald kept nodding. What if the name of the movie was changed to "Prison Break"? Not only would there be suspense to attract the audience, but the audience would be attracted by this suspense while watching. They must watch how Andy escapes from prison in the end.
of.
Moreover, with so many moviegoers in America, how many of them can correctly spell the word "Redemption" and understand its meaning is a question.
Wouldn't it be much simpler and clearer if it were changed to "Prison Break"?
Moreover, isn’t the most famous person in this film project Stephen King, the original author of the novel? Why not write his name in the largest font in the most conspicuous place?
"This movie is adapted from Stephen King's novel", this sentence is probably worth millions at the box office, right?
Ronald speculated that it was either because some of the main creative staff were obsessed with the concept of biblical religion in the movie, "Salvation is in it (the Bible)" and were unwilling to use a sensational name like Prison Break. They also refused to let Stephen King's name overshadow his...
"Whatever...", Ronald was in a good mood. The quality of this movie is good, and the two leading actors, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, are also the type of performances that the jury likes.
.Not relying on outstanding appearance, purely relying on acting skills to attract the audience (at least this is what the judges think).
If it is really a hit, I will have a strong competitor.
If they want to be ranked outside the top 30 on the box office charts, then that's all they want.