The film Rain Man became a huge box office hit at the end if 1988, and an Oscar-winner in 1989. Yet here was a movie that went through the hands of at least three directors who didn't make it, including Steven Spielberg, who was attached for nearly half a year.

But Barry Levinson did make the film - and he was able to take advantage of a situation that gave him a surprising amount of control.

Michael Flatley meanwhile had seemingly total control over his passion project, Blackbird. He wrote, directed, produced and starred in the movie, which debuted in 2018 - but then seemed to disappear.

The stories of both films are told in this episode...

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An article published back in 1992 would spark a bidding war in Hollywood. Nothing unusual there. That article would lead to Ridley Scott, Jodie Foster and Robert Redford signing up for a big, expensive movie - a movie that never got made. And it never got made because of 1995's Outbreak.

Three movies meanwhile had failed to come together in a row for filmmakers the Spierig brothers after they scored a hit with Daybreakers. But they had a project in mind, based on a Robert A Heinlein (Starship Troopers) short story. It'd lead to Predestination - but there was the small matter of starting work without securing the rights to the story...

The stories of both are told in this episode...

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Headlined by James McAvoy, Speak No Evil is a taut suspence film that's the latest from director James Watkins. Previously responsible for Eden Lake and The Woman In Black, amongst others, he joins Simon for a special episode of Film Stories.

They chat about Speak No Evil, and the confidence of holding tension. Plus, editing with Jon Harris, a bit of Rolling Thunder, and a whole lot more...

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It's not uncommon for films to get through a director or two on their way to the screen. In this episode, that's certainly the case. American Gangster might have ended up on the slate of Ridley Scott, but he was the third or fourth name involved. At one stage, Universal was said to have spent $30m on the film in fact, with no hope of getting a single frame of footage shot.

Shooting footage wasn't a problem with the low budget Piranha II: The Spawning, nominally the directorial debut of James Cameron. But Cameron was ejected from the film a week or two into shooting - even if the story goes he managed to sneak into the edit suite...

Stories of both are told in this episode...

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Director Anand Tucker began in the world of documentaries, before switching into dramatic features. His most recent film, The Critic, is arriving in UK cinemas with Ian McKellen in its lead, having had to change casts following the pandemic.

Before that, Tucker had briefly been attached to The Golden Compass, had worked on films such as Girl With A Pearl Earring and Shopgirl, and has no shortage too of stories to tell. Which he does on this very podcast...

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Two films looooong in the making in this episode of Film Stories: one's been made at the time of recording, one hasn't.

Talk first surfaced of The Flash movie back in the 1980s, but it wasn't until 2023 that a film was finally released. By then, an under-fire Warner Bros was hoping for great things from the film, and confidence appeared to be high: but there were problems, and no shortage of them.

The idea of taking the smash-hit TV show 24 and turning it into a movie seemed fairly logical, and the production budget was going to be on the modest side. Yet delay after delay hit the project - but not before an audacious Die Hard spin-off had been proposed...

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Producer Tommy Harper joins Simon for a Film Stories podcast special, to talk through a career that's taken him from not being allowed on the set of Showgirls, to producing Star Wars, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek films. Oh, and the brand new release, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

It's quite a story, with the likes of JJ Abrams, Paul Verhoeven, Tim Burton and more popping up.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in cinemas now.

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Ah, The Avengers. The 1998 big screen adaptation of the much-loved TV series is a bit of an odd movie, but as Simon discusses in this episode, things weren't quite going to plan at studio level. Not that Warner Bros handled the film particularly well come release time - an infamously late decisiont to avoid a review screening soon backfired.

In the case of Step Brothers, the third film together for Adam McKay and Will Ferrell is often cited as their best. Still, the hit comedy has a bit of a story to it - plus the pub quiz fact that McKay shot more footage for Step Brothers than Francis Ford Coppola shot for Apocalypse Now...

Stories of both are told in this episode...

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In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, we're delighted to welcome back Paul Feig for his third appearance. This time the starting point is Feig's new film Jackpot!, that's on Prime Video now.

They also talk about the already-shot A Simple Favor 2, as well as legal stuff, Naked Gun 33 1/3, and if there's any chance on this planet of getting Spy 2....

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In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by actor, producer, writer and fine human being Rob Delaney.

The pair talk about Delaney's role in the smash hit Deadpool And Wolverine, while also touching on a moment in a restaurant, writing, movies, and the TV hit Catastrophe.

Plus they natter too about Delaney's book A Heart That Works, and his amazing-sounding late son, Henry.

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Deadpool And Wolverine is now in cinemas. This podcast has fruity language in it. Not usually, but this episode does.

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