In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two films that had struggles with their casting.

The hugely controversial Showgirls are one stage got close to landing Madonna. But the reunion of writer Joe Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven would battle a whole host of problems.

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle was a more modest, off-radar production. But it still had two lead female roles that Hollywood stars weren't particularly keen on taking on.

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

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In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon chats to Patrick Doyle about his work composing film music.

They cover his films with Kenneth Branagh - including their latest collaboration, Death On The Nile - and then dive into working with Brian De Palma on the film Carlito's Way.

Plus, they go right back to Doyle's first film score too...

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In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a pair of films that gave 20th Century Fox headaches.

Tony Scott first planned to make Man On Fire in the 1980s. When he returned to the idea in the early 2000s, he switched the location to Mexico - and was heading into trouble.

The plan with 1999's Office Space was for a low budget comedy. But then Fox decided it wanted a movie star involved - and problems built from there.

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon chats to actor Colm Meaney about his most recent film - Confession - and some of the highlights of his career.

They touch on filming Confession, how Die Hard 2 changed Meaney's life, working with the late Alan Parker, the joys of Con Air and a whole lot more. 

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In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two films up against immovable release dates. Suicide Squad was part of Warner Bros's attempts to establish a universe of comic book movies - but struggles with a different movie led to late changes.

Leap Of Faith was rushed forward when Paramount found itself without a Christmas release at all for the end of 1992. It left little margin for error.

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a pair of films that wanted to do things for real.

The plan with Ronin was to not use CG unless as a last resort, and to do as much as possible for real. All with the help and support of French authorities.

Knocked Up was a comedy that turned Seth Rogen into a movie star - but it went through a notable casting change, as well as post-production challenges.

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two hit movies that overcome notable obstacles.

Wayne's World was filmed on a tight schedule, against a backdrop of sadness for Mike Myers. He'd threaten to leave the project at one point too, and the production was not a happy one.

Moneyball meanwhile was all set to film a year earlier than it did, with a different directing and some alternate casting. But Sony pulled the plug on it, five days before shooting.

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two glossy Hollywood movies, both boasting impressive casts.

Remaking Ocean's Eleven had been in producer Jerry Weintraub's head for many years, but it was sending the script to director Steven Soderbergh and star George Clooney that started things in earnest.

At the time Ocean's was released, work was also underway on a Gucci family movie. That one though would take a lot, lot longer to come together...

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon invites Ron's Gone Wrong and Arthur Christmas' Sarah Smith back, to chat about her work and career.

Her story is an incredible one: from her early days on BBC shows, through to making the jump to Aardman, and then launching the UK's first major digital animation feature studio, Locksmith. There, she co-directed - along with J P Vine - the terrific family movie Ron's Gone Wrong, before leaving.

She tells her candid story in this episode, including what she's up to now, post-Locksmith...

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In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, two James Bond projects: one got made, one didn't.

2021's No Time To Die was, of course, beset by release delays and and problems. But even before then, it'd been a difficult James Bond movie to put together.

After the success of 2002's Die Another Day, MGM and Eon wanted a spin-off movie for Halle Berry's Jinx character meanwhile. It got quite far too, before the plug was abruptly pulled. 

Stories of both are told in this episode.

Find Simon on Twitter at @simonbrew, and the podcast can be found at @filmstoriespod.

Support our work at www.patreon.com/simonbrew.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices