Re: Slow Day for Liberal Campaign Workers in New Hampshire today. - Evel Knievel dead at age 69....

Total Recall
1990, Quaid

This brain-twisting mystery about mutants, madness, mayhem, and Mars was not
only a worldwide hit in the summer of 1990, but in many circles is still highly
regarded as a landmark film for science fiction. And yet, it almost didn't make
it to the screen. Based on a short story by the legendary Philip K. ***,
producer Ron Shusett and writer Dan O'Bannon wrote the first draft in 1974.
Shusett then proceeded to write close to 50 other drafts as the project bounced
from studio to studio, director to director (David Cronenberg, Fred Schepisi,
Richard Rush, Russell Mulcahy, Lewis Teague, Bruce Beresford), and actor to
actor (Jeff Bridges, Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Reeve, Patrick Swayze).
Chalking up nearly $6 million in development costs, it looked like it would
never get made. During a large portion of this time, the film rights were owned
by Dino De Laurentiis. And it was in 1986, during the filming of Red Sonja, that
Arnold first read the script. Unable to convince De Laurentiis to let him
headline the action-adventure movie, the star nevertheless targeted it as a
project he wanted to do. And a few years later, when he finally had the box
office clout, Schwarzenegger convinced Carolco to buy the rights for him. Acting
like an executive producer, Arnold immediately sent the script to director Paul
Verhoeven, and the result of their collaboration (along with Shusett) stands as
a remarkable achievement on all fronts -- writing, producing, directing, acting,
special effects, set design, and pure entertainment. Once again,
Schwarzenegger's passion and persistence saved the day -- this time, on Mars and
in Hollywood!



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