Darabont comments on his rejected Indy IV script

Source (via Mojo)

 

I think I've seen this somewhere before. Just Darabont venting.

 

Yeah, I've seen him say similar stuff in other interviews, but this seems the longest quote to date.

 

I really wish people would drop it, cuz now you're gonna have a bunch of people chewing out the movie for not using the Darabont script, etc etc.

 

Nothing will stop that. You just have to not get caught up in it yourself.

 

Are we supposed to feel bad for Darabont? Please....

From the makers of Jaws and Star Wars.

I wouldn't want to ever see an Indy movie that Lucas wasn't fully behind. Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford. They are the three creative forces who matter. The fact that Darabont feels his own script was so great means nothing. What writer doesn't think their own script is great? I loved Shawshank as much as the next guy, but the idea that we should somehow villify Lucas for rejecting a script by the great Frank Darabont is ridiculous.

If Lucas was really all about the money, the way people have accused him of being for all these years, he would have signed off on that script, and cashed the checks. But he has his own artistic visions of what he wants, and obviously, Darabont didn't achieve that.

Koepp clearly did. Darabont is upset because Lucas didn't like his script? It's the reason he doesn't do for hire work anymore?

It's really a shame Lawrence Kasdan never took a shot at it.

 

Darabont is a great writer / director. I don't think there is anything wrong with feeling a little pity for the guy and that his work will never truly come to fruition.

 

Maybe I took his comments the wrong way.

To me, Darabont seemed to be insinuating that his script was genius, and as proof of this, he's bragging that the great Steven Spielberg agreed with him....but then he's blaming George Lucas, who didn't.

If nothing else, it's simply unproffesional.

The truth is, many, many writers have taken a crack at this. On top of that, every fanboy worth his salt has at one point come up with a great Indiana Jones adventure they'd like to see. We've thrown out many different relic ideas over the years. There are tons of great writers out there, and many of them could come up with "great" Indy scripts. Everyone has their own ideas. What matters to Lucas and Spielberg, and what should matter to them, is that Indiana Jones is their story to tell. They are the creative team.

For Darabont to try and claim that he knows better than Lucas about what makes a great Indy movie is just silly. There are so many ways to go with this movie, no one way is right.

And as far as feeling pity for Darabont, assuming he cashed his big check from Lucas, I feel he has nothing to complain about.

 

To me, Darabont is the least kinetic writer/director ever, so he would be the most inappropriate writer for Lucas and Speilberg.

 

If it was just Darabont vs. Lucas, i'd see that it needed redoing, but if Spielberg was right behind Darabont, frankly i wouldn't care what Lucas thought. I mean at the end of the day, Darabont is, while not a "kinetic" writer, as described above, still a pretty amazing one, and if Spielberg approved it you know it had to be at least passable.

I know it's stupid to even bring it up now, but there it is, for me.

 

I remember however, when the prequels were announced, that Frank Darabont was going to write the scripts for the Trilogy.... anyone remember that? It was way back, around 1997 or even before, in Cinescape magazine or something similar.

 

Let me amend that; I suppose he's better than Lucas as a scriptwriter.

 

That's all i ask

I mean it's hardly a compliment

 

LordSilvertouch I almost spit out my coke when I read your sig. Let me just add this: "Word."

 

Well, I agree with that, but if Kenobi does all these things, why is Anakin the Chosen One?

 

Because prophecies are stupid.

 

Because Kenobi transcends all religion.
Because Manakin's just a whiny PR guy for the Jedi anyway.
Because in a lightsabre fight, who laid the smack down on his scrawny "chosen" butt?

*High five me*

 

*High Fives*

 

Anyway, to skew an On Topic thought your way, i truly think that Darabont is fully five times better at writing, directing and maybe even producing than Lucas but that he is also the wrong person for the job of Indy IV, or if you read the IMDb, the Fourth Chronicle in the Indiana Jones Adventures.

 

What Lucas has that Darabont doesn't is his eye. Though "The Shankshank Redemption" is an enjoyable movie, it is dead literal, unsubtle, and longggggggggg. All these faults were present (and much worse) in "The Green Mile."

 

It's true that Darabont suffers, or would appear to suffer, when judged by the body of his work, from a lack of appreciation for brevity, and while i'll agree that his end product does come off as "dead literal" as you very appositely put it, i would actually deem the fact that his work is dead literary as a good thing.

The argument could be made that they are not really comparable due to the fact that Darabont works in very much a psychological, mental sphere whereas Lucas is entirely about visceral pleasures - if combined, they would be greater than the sum of their parts by a long stretch (actually, not unlike Spielberg), mixing Darabont's ability to create engaging poignant drama with Lucas' ability to create big dumb adrenalin-fueled action.

I personally believe that Darabont is far better at his craft than Lucas, who often comes off as a victim of "the-Emperor-wears-no-clothes" syndrome. Whatever your thoughts on the Prequel Trilogy, you can't deny that they do not match the Original Trilogy in quality in any way other than VFX. This is probably largely due to the fact that his OT was so successful that he felt he didn't need anyone else helping him with his work (Famously turning down Spielberg when the 'berg asked to direct a SW film) choosing to produce, write and direct it with few individuals really having a say in matters, despite what you may have heard on the 2-Disc DVDs. Darabont is by no-means perfect, and his "dead literal, unsubtle and longgggggggggggg" style is dead wrong for Indiana Jones, but it can't be denied that in terms of measuring the quality of his work he is still miles ahead of Lucas, whose skills tend towards the producer role rather than the writer or even director role within cinema.

Phew. I need a bagel.

 

Well, I don't agree. IMO, Darabont is a not particularly talented director. As a screenwriter, I see he also was involved in the notoriously disastrous Branagh version of Frankenstein. In the words of Nigel Molesworth: yar boo sucks.

 

Lucas is doing with Indy IV exactly what he did with Raiders; he wrote the basic story itself, then got someone else to write the Script. The Raiders script turned out perfect, so I would say that Lucas is the best judge of what the right script for an Indiana Jones movie is. I am sure that Lucas likes and respects Darabont as a script writer, but felt that his script didn't fit Indiana Jones. Waaah! 'But Spielberg liked Darabont's script' Waaah! Yeah, well big deal, George didn't. Lucas may not be a great script writer himself, but he has a good track record when finding someone else to write a script out of his story.

 

No you're right they don't match, The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith surpass A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. Opinions my friend, opinions. Thats all you, me, or anybody else has. There is not PT or OT, there is only Star Wars...



...again, an opinion.

As for Darabont I think people are making a bigger deal out of this then it really is. Darabont got his start on Young Indy and I remember reading somewhere he told Lucas not to change a word of the Phantom Menace screenplay. For all we know Darabont's Indy 4 script could have been extremely well written but went off in a different direction then Lucas wanted, so he nixed it.

 

Lucas was a good judge of material at one time. Whether he still retains this, I don't know. The OT is not encouraging on that point.