Took Dirty Dancing 10 years to sell...

JennaGlatzer · Oct 18, 2006

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=18&ObjectID=10378090:

New York-born scriptwriter Eleanor Bergstein spent 10 years hawking her script around Hollywood. After being rejected by every major movie studio, it was finally made by small, independent Vestron Pictures on a shoestring budget of $US5 million with a cast of then relative unknowns, Patrick Swayze as the suave Johnny Castle and Jennifer Grey as wide-eyed Baby. "Even while we were making the film everyone kept telling us 'this is a terrible film'.

"The distributors didn't like it and the exhibitors didn't want to take it, so when it was first released it was only shown in a few cinemas, but people loved the film and kept coming back to see it a second and third time," Bergstein said.

The movie, which was inspired by her own experiences as a teen (she was called Baby until the age of 22), became an instant hit, particularly with teen girls who couldn't get enough of Swayze and his sexy dance moves.

It became the fifth-highest-grossing film of 1987 and earned $US170 million at the box office.

(It's now being made into a worldwide stage production.)

10 years... maybe I gave up on my darlings too soon!

ATP · Oct 18, 2006

Hmmm...Yes, 10 years is quite sometime. But, not uncommon I believe, when it comes to the Hollywood process from finished script to production.
Did you give up on the ideas, JG, or merely put them in the bottom drawer?

Interestingly, the Dirty Dancing musical is part of a series of Dirty Dancing franchising and spin-offs. Got to grease the entertainment/ money-making machine, you know. Even if the people behind 'the machine' don't have too much imagination. I guess it beats trying something new on Broadway, only to have it flop.

__________

…But the stage show is only the beginning of the Dirty Dancing onslaught.

Next up is Dirty Dancing: The Reality Series. It plans to be a mix between Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor. Not only will a couple be cast for their dancing abilities but the female contestants will vie for the affection of the male dancer.

"The idea is to capture the feel of the original film.

"It's not just about finding good dancers, it's also about the romance and passion," says Sandra Stern of Lions Gate TV.

"We are not looking for models or gorgeous women. Like Jennifer Grey in the movie, we are looking for just normal girls."

The lucky winning couple will be cast in one of the world productions of Dirty Dancing.

"I think we could count this as a first for a reality show to be casting a stage production," says Stern.

Stern says they are not only capitalising on the sentimentality of Dirty Dancing but the timing could not be more perfect.

"There is such a renewed interest in the kind of dancing it portrays; couples dancing close together," she says. "You could say there is a zeitgeist about dancing at the moment."

Leading up to the 20th anniversary of the film's release in February, it is planned to re-release the original film in cinemas, as well as a producing a special edition of the DVD.

In light of its phenomenal success, movie studios and Broadway producers are already mining the vaults of other old films in the hope of turning them into stage successes.

Broadway has at least 15 films into musicals planned over the next couple of years, including a version of Adam Sandler's The Wedding Singer, John Cusack's cult film, High Fidelity, and a musical version of Doctor Zhivago.

There is even a chance that Sly Stallone's film Rocky could soon become a musical.

JennaGlatzer · Oct 18, 2006

You're right. I've heard tales of longer waits. Wish I could remember which one now, but I'm pretty sure that there was a blockbuster that was shopped for 30 years before it got made.

My scripts are all bottom-drawered for now. I made a concerted effort to sell them years ago, but needed to find a way to make a living with my writing, so I gradually faded out and turned to magazine and book writing. Been such a long time since I wrote fiction (except a picture book here and there) that I'm kind of amazed I ever had the imagination to sustain a whole script, let alone ten or more. (I don't remember exactly how many scripts I wrote. 11, I think.)

Bravo · Oct 18, 2006

im writing in roles for patrick swayze as we speak.

E.G. Gammon · Oct 18, 2006

JennaGlatzer said:
I'm pretty sure that there was a blockbuster that was shopped for 30 years before it got made.

I don't know which movie you're referring to, but according to a featurette on the DVD of the recent remake of Last Holiday, starring Queen Latifah, it took 23 years to make that movie... I just thought that was interesting. Obviously, Last Holiday was no BLOCKBUSTER like Dirty Dancing, but it was a great movie, with an interesting backstory, worth mentioning in this discussion.

razormoney · Oct 18, 2006

Bravo

Bravo said:
im writing in roles for patrick swayze as we speak.

Now that's funny.

Janis Love · Oct 18, 2006

Dirty Dancing

Speaking about "Dirty Dancing" -- I live in Charlotte, NC (they filmed the movie in NC) and most of their investment capital came from Charlotte. Interestingly, the investment was sold as part of a package deal which included several movies in which "Dirty Dancing" was one of them. All of the investors in Charlotte got screwed out their money even though the movie made all kinds of money. Hollywood can get extremely creative when it comes to showing financials. Charlotte is very conservative when it comes to investments, so when I was trying to raise money for an independent movie recently, everyone I spoke to that had been ripped off from "Dirty Dancing" swore they would never invest in a movie again. They're still angry about it especially since its still shown and has become part of pop culture.

Janis

English Dave · Oct 18, 2006

Janis Love said:
Speaking about "Dirty Dancing" -- I live in Charlotte, NC (they filmed the movie in NC) and most of their investment capital came from Charlotte. Interestingly, the investment was sold as part of a package deal which included several movies in which "Dirty Dancing" was one of them. All of the investors in Charlotte got screwed out their money even though the movie made all kinds of money. Hollywood can get extremely creative when it comes to showing financials. Charlotte is very conservative when it comes to investments, so when I was trying to raise money for an independent movie recently, everyone I spoke to that had been ripped off from "Dirty Dancing" swore they would never invest in a movie again. They're still angry about it especially since its still shown and has become part of pop culture.

Janis

How can a movie with Dirty and Dancing in the title and aimed at teenagers fail?

I saw a few minutes of it on cable the other night. They were pretty good dancers. They looked good. And the music wasn't ten years old.

clockwork · Oct 18, 2006

I think Back to the Future had a similarly long, rejected journey through producers and studios before being made.

pooks · Oct 18, 2006

The Bodyguard -- how long did it take? It was originally for Diana Ross and Steve McQueen, and finally got made with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.

ATP · Oct 19, 2006

pooks said:
The Bodyguard -- how long did it take? It was originally for Diana Ross and Steve McQueen, and finally got made with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.

Theme song written by Dolly Parton, IIRC?

E.G. Gammon · Oct 19, 2006

pooks said:
The Bodyguard -- how long did it take? It was originally for Diana Ross and Steve McQueen, and finally got made with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.

OH yeah. The Bodyguard. I forgot about that one.

According to IMDb:

-This film was originally proposed in the mid-'70s, starring Diana Ross and Steve McQueen, but was rejected as "too controversial".

-The film concept was to be attempted again in the late 1970s, with Ryan O'Neal and Diana Ross cast as the leads. The project fell through after only a few months because of irreconcilable differences between O'Neal and Ross, who had been dating.

-The proposal for this film was rejected 67 times.

Nakhlasmoke · Oct 19, 2006

E.G. Gammon said:
OH yeah. The Bodyguard. I forgot about that one.

-The proposal for this film was rejected 67 times.

I'm saddened that it wasn't rejected that 68th time.

billythrilly7th · Oct 19, 2006

I like stories like this one.

I have one script at the ten year mark. And it's gotten close a few times.

It will be sold.

It will be made.

"Ya gotta believe."
Tug Mcgraw

Dibship · Oct 21, 2006

Unforgiven bounced around for 20 years. Clint Eastwood knew of the script, but he waited untill he was old enough to play the lead.

I personally hated Dirty Dancing. Liked Unforgiven.

xhouseboy · Oct 21, 2006

Clint Eastwood was looking for a writer to rewrite a script he was ready to produce. An agent sent him Unforgiven as a writing sample. Eastwood was impressed, more so when agent informed him that Unforgiven hadn't been picked up. Eastwood bought it, and the agent queried him some time later as to why it hadn't yet gone into production. Eastwood responded that he'd bought it so that he could play the lead role, and he waiting until he was old enough.

English Dave · Oct 22, 2006

xhouseboy said:
Clint Eastwood was looking for a writer to rewrite a script he was ready to produce. An agent sent him Unforgiven as a writing sample. Eastwood was impressed, more so when agent informed him that Unforgiven hadn't been picked up. Eastwood bought it, and the agent queried him some time later as to why it hadn't yet gone into production. Eastwood responded that he'd bought it so that he could play the lead role, and he waiting until he was old enough.

Great story! On a number of levels.

Big Tex · Oct 24, 2006

clock_work9 said:
I think Back to the Future had a similarly long, rejected journey through producers and studios before being made.

It's not that uncommon. That's why writers need to have several projects in the works, instead of relying on one "big idea" to get them into the business.

The saddest (or I guess most illustrative) case I heard about involved one of the best screenplays of the best 10 years or so -- The Unforgiven. It was discovered pretty quickly. But Clint Eastwood decided to option it for a minimal payout, and simply sit on it for 10 years — until he felt he was old enough to play a tired, disillusioned cowboy.

Ouch. That's gotta hurt.

Big Tex · Oct 24, 2006

billythrilly7th said:
I like stories like this one.

I have one script at the ten year mark. And it's gotten close a few times.

It will be sold.

It will be made.

"Ya gotta believe."
Tug Mcgraw

What does the script deal with.

(Oh. And sorry for repeating the Clint Eastwood story. My bad.)

Write_At_1st_Light · Oct 31, 2006

Another one is Oliver Stone's pic Platoon - 10 years to get to the screen after he'd written it in about 5 weeks in '76. Most realistic Vietnam flick ever made, and arguably the most realistic war flick.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest also took a helluva long time to get from Ken Kesey's book to the screen.

ATP · Nov 1, 2006

Write_At_1st_Light said:
Another one is Oliver Stone's pic Platoon - 10 years to get to the screen after he'd written it in about 5 weeks in '76. Most realistic Vietnam flick ever made, and arguably the most realistic war flick.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest also took a helluva long time to get from Ken Kesey's book to the screen.

I think that it can take many, many years to get a film adaptation of a book. I don't know the background concerning duration from writing of the script/film adaptation of "...Cuckoo's Nest" to final production. And, without knowing a lot of the process, I would surmise that this process would take even longer than an individual writer hawking his script / an agent hawking that same script.

Goodwriterguy · Nov 1, 2006

Write_At_1st_Light said:
Another one is Oliver Stone's pic Platoon - 10 years to get to the screen after he'd written it in about 5 weeks in '76. Most realistic Vietnam flick ever made, and arguably the most realistic war flick.

Yep, although the opening sequence of "Saving Private Ryan" was the best combat sequence ever filmned, for my money anyway.

Write_At_1st_Light said:
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest also took a helluva long time to get from Ken Kesey's book to the screen.

We can't go through all of these long-gestation pictures without mentioning "Ghandi," which took 20 years to get produced after its screenplay was finished, and even then had to be taken to the UK to get backing. H'wood wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, and it went on to become an all-timer and won Ben a Best Actor Oscar as I recall.

As Goldman quipped, "in Hollwood, nobody knows anything."

Shows ya, ya gotta have faith.

Took Dirty Dancing 10 years to sell...

JennaGlatzer

wishes you happiness

ATP

What happened to my LIFE?!

JennaGlatzer

wishes you happiness

Bravo

Socialitest

E.G. Gammon

razormoney

Janis Love

English Dave

clockwork

In the zone...

pooks

ATP

What happened to my LIFE?!

E.G. Gammon

Nakhlasmoke

yes

billythrilly7th

Dibship

xhouseboy

In the Yellow Woods

English Dave

Big Tex

Big Tex

Write_At_1st_Light

Writer of Nothingnesses

ATP

What happened to my LIFE?!

Goodwriterguy