In a Film Stories podcast special, producers Lucy Fisher and Douglas Wick - the latter an Oscar-winner for the original Gladiator - join Simon to talk about their work.

A lot of the chat is taken up with Gladiator II, working with Ridley Scott, and trying to get an epic production off the ground. There is a very odd left turn when Stuart Little comes into the conversation, and a cat's bottom is discussed...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two twisty behind the scenes stories here. Originally, 1980's Superman II was being shot alongside the original Superman, with Richard Donner directing both. But frictions behind the scenes led to an eventual parting of the ways, a retooling of Superman II, and an eventual emergence of a second cut of the film.

Toys meanwhile? From the director of Rain Man and starring Robin Williams? It should have been huge, not least because its script had been revered for over a decade. In fact, the film was supposed to have been made nearly a decade before. And when it did eventually happen? The challenge turned out to be how to sell it...

The behind the scenes stories of both are told in this episode...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new film from director Jake Kasdan is Red One, now playing in cinemas, and itself a massive, expensive Christmas blockbuster film. On the flip side, he started his directorial career with a microbudget indie by the name of Zero Effect back in 1998. In this special episode of Film Stories, he takes his through his work.

He and Simon talk about his blockbuster movies (Jake's, not Simon's), but also the indie film that got lost a little, The TV Set. Plus there's chat about the physical side of filmmaking, and a whole lot more...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ah, Tombstone. The 1993 western with a cast led by Kurt Russell, and basically co-starring everyone else who wasn't in the rival project - Wyatt Earp - telling a similar story. But heck, behind the scenes, there were all sorts of problems.

Examples? A director who got fired. A release date that couldn't move. A script that needed urgently hacking to hit the production deadline. A star who was rumoured to be ghost directing the movie.

Meanwhile, following the success of 1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol, director Brian Henson liked the idea of taking another classic tale and adding The Muppets to it. But the first announced version of what became Muppet Treasure Island would slightly differ from the actual movie...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Reiser first came on my radar, as he did for many, with 1986's Aliens. We touch on that very briefly here, as we chat independent film, The Problem With People, a bit of Diner, and the challenges of getting films made.

Plus! Colm Meaney going to the wrong bar, a date set for 19 years into the future, and a whole lot more...

The Problem With People is in UK cinemas from 8th November.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the script for Passengers turned up on the famous Hollywood black list of the best unproduced screenplays, it seemed it'd be just a matter of time before it got made. Keanu Reeves and Reece Witherspoon were attached, a director was in place - what could go wrong?

Well, a few things. And when the movie did get made? More problems weren't far behind.

The 1983 hit Flashdance meanwhile launched numerous careers - but also had its fair share of behind the scenes dramas. That, and some Hollywood executives watching a hosepipe...

Stories of both are told in this episode....

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

None of the Hollywood studios wanted to make 2010's Kick-Ass, a comic book movie with an R-rated edge. All of them turned it down, and so the film came to life in tandem with the comics, exploding into cinemas in 2010. It would be fair to say that not everyone in the media was pleased about it, as quite a backlash bubbled up.

There were problems with 1999's Payback too, but they came down to a different of opinion between star Mel Gibson and writer/director Brian Helgeland. It got to a point where just days after Helgeland won an Oscar for L.A. Confidential, he was, er, 'removed' from Payback.

The behind the scenes stories of both films are told in this episode...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by Oscar-nominee Chris Sanders, for a conversation and his latest film and career.

The latest film? The Wild Robot, a box office smash and a break in style for DreamWorks Animation. It's now in UK cinemas and we go through the journey of the movie.

Plus! Gene Kelly pops up in conversation, as does Lilo & Stitch and a few other moments from Chris' career...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Terrifier movie franchise has now led to a number one box office hit - but the story behind the first film involves short films, a crowdfunding campaign that missed its target, a shoot that went on longer than originally planned and financiers dropping out. And then there was the battle to get the film noticed in the first place. Plus, how a tiny team gave the impression of a crew of 100.

Writer/direcotr Osgood Perkins meanwhile had been mulling about a possibe character who would become Longlegs long before he embarked on an unusual serial killer film. Made on a budget of around $10m, and marketed for roughly the same amount - so how did Longlegs become the box office surprise of 2024?

Stories of both are told in this episode...

----

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2016 marked the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, and not unreasonably, Paramount Pictures wanted a movie. But far from being a straightforward production, Star Trek Beyond would go through different directors, and eventually find itself without a script just months ahead of filming. It made for a tense situation, and that's explored in this episode.

Also explored: the moment when Quentin Tarantino was suddenly announced as the potential writer/director of a new Star Trek movie. It involved a writers' room coming together, a move into R-rated territory - and Tarantino deciding whether he wanted it to be his final film...

---

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices