Outside of the very well known rules, there's a whole load of other stuff about 1999's Fight Club.

There's the director who turned the book down, freely admitting they didn't get it. There's the moment when the budget was suddenly going to soar. There's the bit where the studio boss knew he was going to hit trouble for greenlighting the film (and boy, did he). And then there was a studio left with a film it didn't know how to market.

The story is told in this episode. Please subscribe, leave nice reviews, and try not to punch us hard in an after hours fighting establishment...

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Over 30 years since its original release, Strictly Ballroom - the debut feature from Baz Luhrmann - is back in cinemas with a 4K remaster. In a Film Stories special, Simon chats to its star - Paul Mercurio - about the making of the film, and looking back on it now.

Plus! Paul talks homebrew, cooking, and making Garry Marshall's S&M comedy, Exit To Eden...

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The original Jurassic Park movie was set to land a few years earlier than it did. Announce in 1990, director Steven Spielberg would move on to making Hook while some of the art team were moved to Death Becomes Her.

The reason for the delays? How on earth do you bring dinosaurs to life. Even when that was cracked, though, there was a moment during the shoot when real life peril outweighed dino danger.

Even when the film was done, there was the looming threat of Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to cinema with Last Action Hero. It wouldn't turn out to be much of a blockbuster battle...

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The idea wasn't a bad one. With the cost of X-Men movies spiralling, 20th Century Fox was interested in a lower cost, slightly more niche film in the saga. One that could perhaps appeal to a teen audience, that wouldn't put quite the strain on the old finances.

Josh Boone - off the back of The Fault In Our Stars - was brought in to write and direct, a dream project for him. But the dream would soon turn sour, with two big, unexpected obstacles, and a whole lot of to and fro over potential reshoots...

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Alicia MacDonald first feature film as director, Finding Emily, turns out to be a Working Title-backed romantic comedy, the kind that used to fill British cinema charts. Albeit with a twist!

In this Film Stories special, she talks to Simon Brew about launching her first feature, the years on her way up when she found herself alongside Mike Leigh, and in a room while Alan Rickman watched her type. Plus a whole lot more...

Finding Emily is now in UK cinemas.

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Director Thea Sharrock is the guest for this special edition of the Film Stories podcast. She joins Simon to chat about her new film, Ladies First, which stars Rosamund Pike and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Plus! There's time too for conversation about Wicked Little Letters, The One And Only Ivan, directing Equus on Broadway, and the state of the chairs in the posh London hotel she happens to be sitting in.

If you like this podcast, you can support it at www.patreon.com/simonbrew

Please subscribe, like and that sort of thing too. Thank you!

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Steven Spielberg's 1991 movie Hook was supposed to be his perfect project. The director compared to Peter Pan, making the story of Peter Pan never growing up? What could go wrong?

Well, plenty. In this episode of Film Stories, Simon Brew charts the tale of how Spielberg lost control of Hook's production, how it became tied up with a major Hollywood acquistion, and why unexpected competition in the winter of 1991 didn't help its cause either.

Plus: why was Spielberg himself not keen?

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After 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron's interest in making a third Terminator movie seemed to wane. However, that didn't stop others trying to take things forward.

And whilst Arnold Schwarzenegger would, for many years, insist that he'd only make T3 with Cameron, a string of underwhelming box office performers started to have an impact for Arnie.

That said, just securing the rights to Terminator caused no end of challenges, and would drive a wedge between James Cameron and two of his friends. And that's just part of the story...

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Robert Zemeckis' 1997 film of Carl Sagan's Contact is a remarkably grown-up science fiction movie for a summer blockbuster. Starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey, it took nearly 20 years to bring the story to the screen - and along the way, Mad Max director George Miller was hired and fired too. It's quite a story, told by Simon Brew in this latest episode.

Plus! Oscar-winning filmmaker David Frankel chats to James about The Devil Wears Prada 2, and the short film that earned him an Academy Award...

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It's pretty well known that originally, Steven Spielberg was interested in directing a remake of Cape Fear, and that Martin Scorsese held the rights to what became Schindler's List. That the two then swapped projects. Yet that's just part of the story.

In this episode of Film Stories, Simon Brew digs into Scorsese's dislike of the project when he first came to it. Of Robert De Niro's tattoos. Of Nick Nolte not being recognised at the premiere of Goodfellas. And he uncovers a useful lesson in booking your location right near an airport...

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