The movie script 20th Century Fox wrongfully called a piece of “shit”
If the screenwriter’s strikes of 1960, 1973, 2007 and 2023 are anything to go by, it’s pretty clear that Hollywood cares little about the very people who craft and pen some of the greatest pieces of modern media. Too often, it is directors and lead stars who get the credit for any given movie or TV show, with acclaimed writers like Charlie Kaufman, Jesse Armstrong, Aaron Sorkin, Larry David, Phil Lord and Chris Miller going unjustly ignored.
Such has led to production companies ignoring celebrated scripts, overlooking their brilliance in favour of safer bets like sequels and remakes of classic movies. This happened back in 2009 when 20th Century Fox sidelined the screenplay for 2009’s Watchmen, a film that would eventually go on to be recognised as one of the greatest superhero movies of its time, being adapted from the crucially acclaimed graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore.
At the time, American film producer Lloyd Levin penned an open letter to HitFix, where he outlined the issue the movie company had with the project.
“From my point of view, the flashpoint of this dispute came in late spring of 2005,” he started, “Both Fox and Warner Brothers were offered the chance to make Watchmen. They were submitted the same package, at the same time. It included a cover letter describing the project and its history, budget information, a screenplay, the graphic novel, and it made mention that a top director was involved”.
Continuing, he added: “And it’s at this point, where the response from both parties could not have been more radically different”.
Tonally far darker than its fellow genre peers, Watchmen differed greatly from the likes of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, reducing the vibrant comic book elements to tell a more sincere drama. Starring the likes of Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson and Billy Crudup, the film told the story of a group of superhumans who are in charge of changing the course of human history.
Yet, despite the eventual success of the movie, 20th Century Fox wasn’t keen on the project, to say the least, going as far as to call the script “one of the most unintelligible pieces of shit they had read in years”.
As Levin penned: “The response we got from Fox was a flat ‘pass.’ That’s it. An internal Fox email documents that executives there felt the script was one of the most unintelligible pieces of shit they had read in years. Conversely, Warner Brothers called us after having read the script and said they were interested in the movie – yes, they were unsure of the screenplay, and had many questions, but wanted to set a meeting to discuss the project, which they promptly did”.
Concluding, he added: “Did anyone at Fox ask to meet on the movie? No. Did anyone at Fox express any interest in the movie? No. Express even the slightest interest in the movie? Or the graphic novel? No”. As a result, the company missed out on one of the most celebrated superhero movies of all time.
