German author Michael Ende said he was horrified buy the movie adaptation of his fantasy book The Neverending Story. Ende hated the script to the point of wanting to purchase back the rights of the film although he wasn’t successful in doing so. He ultimately had his name removed from the project and referred to the film as a “revolting movie”. According to him the adaptation didn’t understand the movie at all and was made just for making money. He argued that the scriptwriters had changed the entire essence of story.
Image Source: www.squarespace.com
For many of us who never ever read the book, we did, of course, love the movie and Tom Hank’s impeccable performance but the author thought differently. Winston Groom says many plot points were omitted as well as much of the language was sanitized in the film. Groom had to sue for the 3% net profits that were due to him but did not receive. The producers argued that the film ran at a loss. Groom was not even mentioned in any of the acceptance speeches of the six academy awards won by cast and crew.
Image Source: www.screenmusings.org
Although many loved Audrey Hepburn in the main role of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the author of the novella Truman Capote hated it. The author wanted Marilyn Monroe in the main role and felt cheated by the casting choice including George Peppard as the leading man whom he wanted to play himself in spite of no acting experience. In his own words “Paramount double-crossed me and cast Audrey. Audrey is an old friend and one of my favorite people, but she was just wrong for the part."
Image Source: www.amazon.com
Clive Cussler sued producers for $38 million after the movie adaptation of Sahara was a certified flop. Made with a budget of $145 million it netted only $68 million at the box office. Cussler blamed the fiasco on the producer who would not give him total script control. Cussler didn’t win the suit and was even asked to repay $13.9 million in legal fees incurred by Sahara Productions. The order, however, was overturned in 2010. In his own words "They deceived me right from the beginning. They kept lying to me...and I just got fed up with it."
Image Source: www.pinimg.com
E.B.White did not like the fact that his book had been turned into a musical. The story of a lovable pig called Wilbur and his friendship with a spider named Charlotte is one of the best children’s stories of all time. White had specifically asked Hanna Barbera not to turn the film into a musical but his request was denied. White said “The story is interrupted every few minutes so that somebody can sing a jolly song. I don't care much for jolly songs, that’s what you get for getting embroiled in Hollywood."
Image Source: www.windows.net