#movie #show #cinema #facts #actors
*
*
The film production process rarely goes smoothly, and ‘The Last Boy Scout’ is the perfect example of this. It was hated by everyone involved in the production, including the extras. Let's take a look back at how such a great movie was made.
Warner Brothers didn't expect any major problems with the project. Everything indicated that ‘The Last Boy Scout’ was bound to succeed. The studio bought the script for $1.7 million from Hollywood's most famous screenwriter at the time, Shane Black, who had previously written ‘Lethal Weapon’ for them. The main role went to the famous Bruce Willis. Joel Silver, already known at the time for the hugely successful projects 'Die Hard' and 'Lethal Weapon', produced the movie. Tony Scott, who had just released a couple of box office hits like 'Top Gun' and 'Beverly Hills Cop 2', directed it. So, what could go wrong?
In one of his interviews, assistant director James W. Skotchdopole offered probably the most plausible assumption. He believed that the chaos on the film set was caused by the overabundance of alpha males on the project. There were too many of them per square foot, and each was at the peak of their fame.
Joel Silver and Bruce Willis set off a chain reaction when, just before filming, they decided to change the script. Screenwriter Shane Black wasn't pleased with this turn of events and constantly argued with Willis and Silver, demanding that they stop altering his work. Of course, no one listened to him. After Willis and Silver intervened, Black's original script changed beyond recognition. 'The Last Boy Scout' was supposed to be a dark movie with a lot of violence. One of his antagonists, named Milo, was intended to be an even more obnoxious character with a significantly larger role in the movie. Originally, he was supposed to run a studio that made adult movies and later, in one of the scenes, kill a family that witnessed a crime.
All this was removed from the script, and its second half was especially affected by the changes. Willis and Silver replaced nearly all of the action scenes and removed excessive violence. For example, there was supposed to be a scene where the wife of Bruce Willis' character is attacked with a chainsaw and another where the same chainsaw is used to destroy all the attackers. The movie's ending was also changed. Originally, it was set on the water and featured more fight scenes. However, they decided to shoot it on a smaller scale at a stadium.
All this seems even more amusing when you think about how exactly Warner Brothers acquired The Last Boy Scout's script. The thing is, Sony offered Shane Black $2 million for the script, but he opted for Warner Brothers' $1.7 million offer because he wanted to work with Joel Silver after their successful collaboration on the 'Lethal Weapon' set. Shane Black is quite an interesting individual. Although he became famous for his screenplays for ‘Lethal Weapon’, ‘The Last Boy Scout’, and ‘Last Action Hero’, each time his original scripts were either changed dramatically or got completely unrecognizable. Yes, there is also 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', which wasn't affected as badly by the interventions, but it isn't as good as the three movies mentioned. Later, Black wrote and directed the excellent ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, then directed the third ‘Iron Man’, which already had some problems, and then he completely failed with ‘Predator’. Is it possible that Shane Black became the most expensive screenwriter in the 90s only thanks to the alignment of the planets and the lucky star he was born under?
The next person to openly oppose Bruce Willis and the producer was Damon Wayans. The reason was the constant changes to the script during filming that affected his character the most. His role was getting smaller, and his character was starting to look more and more like a stereotyped black guy who only appeared for comic relief. After everyone completely ignored him, Wayans began to grimace in the frame and sabotage the shoot in any way he could. Wayans particularly despised Bruce Willis, so their scenes together had to be re-shot numerous times. Sometimes actors even got into fights. Their facial expressions in some scenes may not be just acting.
The movie's director, Tony Scott, was also getting madder day by day and therefore he argued more and more with producer Joel Silver. At some point, he even wanted to quit, but Silver did not allow him to do it by threatening to ruin his career. Following that, Tony Scott's next movie, 'True Romance', featured a character named Lee Donowitz, a cocaine-addicted producer who was clearly inspired by Joel Silver. Later, in one of his interviews, the director shared one story. Apparently, the wig that Bruce Willis wore on set was abused by some stray cat who snuck into the dressing room.