20th Century Fox Buys Space Adventure Steered By McG

COMMENTS (18)

• Doom and Expendables! Wow — now there are some credits…

  Throw McG in and I’d swear this thing was wrapped in a bag, placed on my porch and set on fire.

  Comment by Devil Woman — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 11:23am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Callaham’s Doom = a good script, script-doctored to death then destroyed by the director.
    Callaham’s Expendables = an even better script, insanely rewritten/destroyed by the director.
    Callaham’s Godzilla = hands down, one of the best scripts I have ever read. And I’m sure that will get destroyed eventually, too.

    This kid is becoming (if not already is) one of the best action writers in town. But I’m always amazed how naive people (like you, Devil Woman) continue to believe that what a writer puts on the page goes magically unmolested — projected from the writer’s head directly on to the screen. Honestly, getting a credit a writer can ultimately be proud of is one of the most difficult things to achieve out here — but you’d know that if you ever wrote anything except daft deadline posts, troll.

    Comment by TheWorriedWell — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 12:24pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • So let me get this straight…

      Repeatedly taking a paycheck to write re-makes and adaptations and then drop them into the machine to watch them be pressed into steaming garbage doesn’t make you a hack? It actually makes you one of the best writers in town?

      Could’ve fooled me.

      Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for people getting paid, but let’s just call it what it is: getting paid. “This kid” is definitely becoming one of the best at THAT.

      Comment by Well, Actually — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 12:57pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • Yep, you’re putting your finger on one of the secrets of Hollywood: writers may be underpaid and frequently get shit on, but they don’t get blamed for a bomb the way a director or even a star does.

        Once they get their foothold (often the hardest part) a lot of writers manage to fail their way upwards to bigger jobs and paychecks after a series of piss-poor films (see David Benioff, etc…).

        Comment by Brett N — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 1:30pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • @TheWorriedWell

      You’ve read Dave’s Godzilla script? How? I’d LOVE to read to too if you could provide me with a copy or link to one.

      Comment by cloverfan98 — Monday June 20, 2011 @ 6:16pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Everything McG is attached to just sounds like a major suckfest.

  Comment by McDonald's — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 11:35am PDT  Reply to this post

• The article didn’t mention the GODZILLA re-boot that Callaham wrote for Legendary Pictures. He really elevated that material and somehow made it surprisingly emotional. Hopefully they don’t screw it up, because it was awesome.

  Comment by development exec — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 11:47am PDT  Reply to this post

  • His Godzilla is brilliant. Under lock and key – but a must read if you can.

    Comment by RandoCalrissian — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 12:28pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Someone please stop McG.

  Comment by sd — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 11:53am PDT  Reply to this post

• OMG! No!!!! Run, it’s McG.

  Comment by tundra=Tattoos — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 12:16pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Callahams draft of Godzilla is getting good heat. Looks like he’s on a roll.

  Comment by Westside — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 12:21pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I don’t think I’d ever judge the writer for anything made or released by Nu-Image/Millenium. This deal couldn’t have gone to a better or harder-working guy. Good on Fox.

  Comment by Condit — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 1:25pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Here’s the real problem with this business, which is touched upon a bit by some earlier posts:

    Writers are too often, if not always, judged and hired based on produced credits– and not the actual quality of their writing.

    What writer can actually control what gets made, and how well it is executed if made?

    Many movies perform in spite of a poor script, not because of a good one. Conversely, many good scripts turn into bad movies, or are never produced at all.

    More studio execs should exercise (or in some cases acquire) good old-fashioned reading comprehension; they should learn to distinguish good writing from bad writing, and then hire good writers– not simply say, “Oh, this guy wrote MOVIE X that was produced and made Y dollars,” so my job is safe if I hire him.

    Comment by The Real — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 1:46pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • But they do. Look at how Josh Friedman has been highly paid and sought after for years, even though his produced feature credits (War of the Worlds, Black Dahlia) are pretty underwhelming. Why? Because people read his drafts of those scripts, along with originals like Orphan’s Dawn, and saw that they were really good. And lo and behold, when he finally got a TV show where his own writing made it to the screen unmolested, it was also pretty damn good. There are a lot of writers like that out there.

      Comment by Hank — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 3:19pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Since McG has never made a good film, this sounds like another safe one to skip.

  Comment by Esquire — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 2:36pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I totally agree with Esquire’s comment!

  Comment by Graham Hill — Monday March 14, 2011 @ 6:15pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Could it be us?

  Comment by Dante D'Anthony — Tuesday March 15, 2011 @ 12:45pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Id like to see this ”Godzilla Script” he wrote…. As a fan of the big guy i hope it doesn’t suck an brings the horror roots of the original film to light.

  The Godzilla franchise needs a good boost.

  Comment by John — Wednesday March 16, 2011 @ 8:18pm PDT  Reply to this post