The story goes like this…
Jim Jacks (one of the producers on “Mallrats”) was friends with Richard Anderson – the man who not only portrayed Oscar Goldman on the show, but also controlled the rights to “Six Million Dollar Man”. One day over lunch (during post on “Mallrats”), they asked me if I’d be interested in writing a feature version of the show. I’d been a big fan as a kid (had a bunch of the dolls), so I said “Sure.” They whisked me up to Nina Jacobson’s office in the Black Tower, where I kinda pitched it (though there was nothing to pitch beyond “It’s an origin story…”), and boom – I was hired to write the script.
In the year it took me to turn in a script, Universal had undergone two regime changes: Nina left for Disney, and was replaced by another guy – who was then also replaced by a third guy, to whom I submitted my first draft.
That guy didn’t like the script. At all. His exact quote was “This reads like a comic book.” He meant it as a dis, but I felt rather complimented by the sentiment, and shortly thereafter, wrote my first issue of “Daredevil”.
I haven’t read that script in ten years, but I remember digging the dialogue and some of the ideas I brought to it (bionics were initially developed by the Nazis during their inhuman medical experimentations on concentration camp prisoners). The villain was the prototype Bionic Man – a guy who was more metal than flesh. I recall the climax being something like a robotic/cyborg attack on Washington. It was all pretty over-the-top, circa 1996. Now? It’d be no more dopey than “The Transformers” movie.
Last I heard, they were developing a comedic version of “The Six Million Dollar Man”.
“Six Million Dollar Man” – a writing gig only. Was never intended as the director.
“Green Hornet” – was contracted to write and direct, but wrote it then opted not to make it, as it was too expensive and I wasn’t ready to take on something that big just then.
“Fletch Won” – wrote it and intended to direct, but for nearly five years, Miramax wouldn’t let me cast Jason Lee in the lead as the young Irwin Fletcher. At that point, I lost my passion for it.
“Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers” – still out there.
The only difference between me and other filmmakers is my candor. When asked questions (whether here on the board or in interviews), I talk about a lot of things I’d like to do (or would’ve liked to have done at one point). A side effect of maintaining an open discourse with the audience is that sometimes, you talk about movies that never manifest. Every filmmaker’s got ’em; but since many of them don’t engage with the audience as frequently and seriously as I do, you just never hear about their whimsies like you do with mine.
