Film Stories with Simon Brew

Dinner dinner dinner dinner! Etc. Announced just six months before it landed in cinemas, the much-loved 1966 production Batman: The Movie was a masterclass in moving fast. Shot while the first series of the Batman TV show was still playing, it was written in two weeks, filmed in a month, and premiering in Texas as a result of some help with a boat... Also filmed in a month? Jason Reitman's 2011 feature Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron. Written by Diablo Cody, Reitman was all set to go with a different film until the Young Adult script came in. Even then, he had a key condition to getting the movie made. Stories of both are told in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two movies here where audiences went in expecting one thing, and might just have got another. 1991's The Fisher King though for a time was going to be a Disney movie, before the studio decided it was too dark. Directors such as Steven Spielberg and James Cameron were mentioned, before Terry Gilliam - coming off the back of a commercial flop - decided to break all three of his conditions for taking on a film. Director Joe Carnahan meanwhile was coming off his big studio movie - The A-Team - when he decided he wanted to pivot to something smaller. He chose The Grey, a film he developed, and which would be sold off the back of imagery of Liam Neeson getting ready to punch a wolf. That, though, wasn't the full picture... Stories of both are told in this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a very special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by Oscar-winning producer Irwin Winkler, for an hour-long chat about his career. He was in town to talk about his latest film as producer, The Alto Knights. However, the stories take us right to the infancy of his producing career (including Elvis Presley!). Films covered in the chat include Rocky, Rocky IV, Raging Bull, Guilty By Suspicion, The Net, Goodfellas, Busting, Revolution... the list goes on and on. Quite the chat, this. The Alto Knights is now in cinemas. Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/simonbrew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It had taken five years for Stanley Kubrick to go from 1975's Barry Lyndon to 1980's The Shining. The gap to Full Metal Jacket would be longer, but it'd mark the first in a three picture deal that Kubrick signed with Warner Bros. A deal that would never be completed. Full Metal Jacket was, though, but the making of it was exhausting and exhaustive. And a disused gasworks was just part of the problem. Much-loved novelist Judy Blume was always reluctant to sell the film rights to her books. It took several decades - and a very special letter - before she'd do so. But the challenge of Are You There God, It's Me Margaret was just beginning. Stories of both are told in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Star Wars spin-off Solo: A Star Wars Story, it wasn't supposed to be like this. Infamously, 90 days into photography, parent company Lucasfilm opted for a director change. Out when Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, and in came Ron Howard. And Howard had less than year to retool the movie, and shoot a whole lot of new footage. It remains one of the most infamous Film Stories of the 2010s. For the second half of the episode, Simon is joined by filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, for a long chat about their career, their new film - The Electric State - and a strange film magazine of the 1970s... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices