In the new episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a film whose price tag kept putting people off, and Tom Hanks' directorial debut.

The Meg at one stage was set to be a Disney movie, and its author took to the internet to keep interest in the project alive, years before Jason Statham signed up.

Tom Hanks meanwhile scribbled his first screenplay whilst on the press tour for Forrest Gump. A year later, That Thing You Do! became a film.

Stories of both are discussed in this episode.

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

You can find the Film Stories website here.

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

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