Boogie Nights Almost Went Straight To Home Video

It's that time of year. Directors, producers, multimegastars are doing the holiday press push for awards consideration on their films. One of the hallmarks of this process in the last few years has been the various roundtables that The Hollywood Reporter orchestrates, and with their "producers" roundtable having just dropped, The Playlist points out an interesting anecdote shared between Michael de Luca and Mark Wahlberg on their experience making Boogie Nights. 

MDL:  'Boogie Nights' scored horribly. They recruit for these [test screenings] off a paragraph [synopsis] in the mall, and the paragraph for 'Boogie Nights' made it look like a sitcom, and then they come for this three-hour exegesis on existential crises in porn. It got to a point where Bob Shaye, my old boss, chased good scores on that movie, and that movie was never going to score high.

MW: I remember he did his own cut and made Paul watch it.

MDL: Yeah, it was horrible. It was tough. That movie was going straight to video, and then the reviews started to come in at the New York Film Festival. If it wasn't for early reviews… 

It's hard not to consider the dazzling irony of the prospect of the film going straight to video, given its message about the effects of video production over celluloid distribution. You can watch the roundtable in its entirety below, or skip to the pertinent information starting around 44:50.



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Wahlberg Croons A Classic For The Critics

During an interview for The Fighter, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale fell victim to film critic Peter Traver's 'signature' request to sing something.  Bale chooses the Powerpuff Girls theme, while Wahlberg decides to belt out a few notes of the Boogie Nights/Transformers/Dirk Diggler Story classic “You Got The Touch”. Click Here to watch the wonderfully awkward experience. (CE)

Leonardo Dicaprio Biggest Regret: Boogie Nights

Today, ShowBizSpy reported what it says in our headline: Leonardo's biggest regret in his career to date was walking away from Boogie Nights. In their words:

Leonardo DiCaprio admits his “biggest regret” is turning down the chance to star in Boogie Nights.

The Titanic star — who is currently riding high at the box office with summer blockbuster Inception — says he still can’t forget the one dream role that got away.

“My biggest regret is Boogie Nights,” says Leo, who lost the role of porn star Dirk Diggler to close pal Mark Wahlberg. “I’m a huge fan of (director) Paul Thomas Anderson but the first time I met him for that role I hadn’t really seen much of his previous work. Now I love that movie."

You have now read this fact 4 different times in an update containing 5 or 6 sentences total.

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January 18-21, 2002

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

UK's Hotdog Magazine has an interview with Mark Wahlberg in their January 2002 issue. He talks a bit about a possible upcoming musical project with PTA as well as the Sandler/PTA project. Thanks to site reader Lianne for sending this in. Here's the excerpt:

Hotdog - Jordan Riefe: What about a Musical?

MW: Actually, me and Paul Thomas Anderson have discussed it at length. Just a matter of finding the right thing. He's actually writing one, which is going to be crazy, a Paul Thomas Anderson musical. A lot of cocaine.

Hotdog: This isn't his next film, the Adam Sandler one?

MW: No, this is a kind of like a weird action drama thing he wrote. Kind of like the Chest and Brock movie, the characters we came up with in Boogie Nights, but a real, full-blown action feature with these guys running around crazy.

On a related note, Variety ran an article on PTA's current home, Joe Roth's Revolution Studios & they are reporting a Fall 2002 release for Project X4. We'll just have to wait & see. You can read the whole story here.

Lastly, here's an extremely well researched & fascinating analysis of Magnolia by site reader Natalie McDonald from Philadelphia, PA. Check it out here.

July 14, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

There's a New Line flyer in the recent release of the Boiler Room DVD which includes info on the upcoming Boogie Nights DVD. The features listed include "The Dirk Diggler Story - a short film by P.T. Anderson." Before you get too excited, I suspect these were early specifications. If you recall, PTA toyed with the idea of including this, but ultimately changed his mind. I would be shocked if things have changed in the last few weeks. These flyers were probably printed some time ago (Note: they are missing the Exhausted documentary, The John C. Reilly Files, etc.).

I'm very pleased to present an incredible interview from Millimeter Magazine. This very detailed piece discusses the painstaking special effects work for the frog storm & includes numerous quotes from ILM's Joe Letteri, Magnolia's visual effects supervisor. There's been much written about the frog sequence, but little on it's creation from script to screen. It's well worth your time & a great look inside the making of this truly unforgettable sequence.

Finally, I'm going to end today's lengthy update with various PTA related quotes (some old, some new). You'll notice Gwyneth Paltrow isn't afraid to speak her mind. I'll see you next Wednesday!

"Frogs are a walk in the park compared to these waves. Frogs are a little less [harmful] than 2,000 gallons of water hitting you in the face."

- John C. Reilly on comparing what he's had to face on screen
(Entertainment Weekly - 7/21)

"The Wave is incredible - there's no bigger way to end a movie, although my penis in Boogie Nights was a bigger personal moment."

- Mark Wahlberg on the oversize climax in The Perfect Storm
(Entertainment Weekly - 7/21)

''I think 'Magnolia' is one of the best films I've ever seen. And if anyone disagrees with me, I'll fight them to the death.''

- Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Entertainment Weekly - 3/24)

“I thought it was brilliant. I thought parts of it were absolute genius, but I think it is too long and I thought it got repetitive. It makes you want to kick Paul’s ass. Paul needs someone to say ‘Cut it out, you’re going crazy,’ because he is a genius and he is the most incredible filmmaker of our generation. I think he will continue to make great films, but you don’t want to lose sight of what you are trying to say and some of it could have been trimmed down. His technical skills are just incredible, but it’s too long.” 

- Gwyneth Paltrow on her reaction to Magnolia
(Reel West Magazine)

“It was easy to get this money and it was easy to make this movie. But I think that it’s a one time thing after the success of Boogie Nights. I’m in a great position to have final cut over my movies and control over their elements, but I know that I have to use it productively and hopefully make some money.”

- Paul Thomas Anderson on his future after Magnolia
(Reel West Magazine)

''I have a tuxedo and I went once before and I didn't win, and I want to win. I want an Oscar.'' 

- Paul Thomas Anderson (Entertainment Weekly - 3/24)

"I wanted to be supportive of PTA. He’s a filmmaker I really enjoy. He’s just unique. He’s an old soul kid. He’s a good guy."

- Tom Cruise (On Rosie O’Donnell's show)

May 22, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

In the current Entertainment Weekly 10th Anniversary Issue, film critic Owen Gleiberman voted Boogie Nights the #2 film of the 1990's! Here's what he said about the selection:

Paul Thomas Anderson's bravura porn-industry epic remains, in every scene, an ecstatic act of filmmaking, as well as the great movie about what happened to the pleasure principle in America.

There's also a great quote in the issue by Mark Wahlberg right after Boogie came out in 1997 that I had not seen:

"I don't want to go out with someone who has seen this movie and is looking for something they're not going to find."

April 3, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

As promised, here's the update on all those rumors floating around (some for years) on PTA's future projects. I asked Paul about these back in December & here's what he had to say:

Lennon
: PTA has never been approached about this & said that he has no intentions to do this. He would love to make a musical & he obviously has an affinity for the Beatles, but expect an original concept that has nothing to do with the Beatles or John Lennon.

Blue Movie
: Total Film, the UK magazine, reported that PTA was interested in reuniting Mark Wahlberg & Heather Graham for an adaption of the Southern novel, Blue Movie, which details how a brother & sister from an American acting dynasty decide to make a porn film as an expression of high art. PTA laughed this off & said, "not a chance." When I originally reported this back in November, I thought it was wishful thinking as PTA has already covered this topic in Boogie Nights.

Rule of the Bone
: PTA did adapt this Russell Bank's book (Sweet Hereafter) for director Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress) years ago, but the Sony/Columbia Tri-Star project seems to have stalled. I will follow up with PTA the next time we speak, to see if there's been any progress.

Untitled Jonathan Demme Project: 
There still appears to be a collaboration on the horizon that is not related to the Bob Downey, Sr. project I reported last month. I believe the project is with Universal & any updates will appear here!

I will have an image link up shortly to check the latest news on these & other proposed projects. I do not want to become a rumor mill, so anything that is posted will have to come from a credible source & won't gain validity until I have checked with PTA's camp.

November 29, 1999

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

More Entertainment Weekly Tidbits

Magnolia partially graces the cover of the November 26th issue which proclaims 1999 - The Year That Changed Movies. This article has many comments from Paul and is a definitive must read.

In addition, I have collected the rest of the highlights of the issue below:

They rank Magnolia as one to see for the rest of the year and into 2000:

After 1997's electric Boogie Nights, director Paul Thomas Anderson delivers an Altmanesque epic intertwining the lives of a guru (Tom Cruise), a cop (John C. Reilly), a salesman (William H. Macy), a dying father (Jason Robards) and other denizens of the San Fernando Valley. (Dec. 17 - L.A./NY)

They also list the new directors for the next millennium. The entire article is here, but this is what they had to say about Paul:

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: Hard Eight (1997) and Boogie Nights (1997) are the work of a Valley Boy full of nerve and verve gunning for the deluxe adrenaline rushes of Scorsese.

Lastly, they review various movie posters and here's what they had to say about the theatrical poster for Magnolia"

MAGNOLIA C

What's New Line's solution to selling a three-hour-plus drama with eight plots that are only tangentially related, and a superstar, Tom Cruise, reluctant to overshadow his fellow thespians? The Magic Eye route: Tom is tucked behind two petals near one o'clock. (You'll need to look at the real poster to find him.) While hiding Cruise's mug is risky business, the studio gets extra credit for referencing the movie's inexplicable plague-of-frogs scene with a Kermit in the corner.

Mike De Luca Article

Here's a nice article on Mike De Luca, president of New Line from Newsweek. It has a nice summary of his career and the fact that he is finally putting his "bad boy" image behind him.

 

The Latest Rumor on Paul's Next Movie

The latest rumor about Paul's next project seems to be the most unlikely to me. This scoop comes from the wonderful UK film magazine Total Film:

Southern book Blue Movie – detailing how a brother and sister form an American acting dynasty decide to make a porn film as an expression of high art – is looking like the next project for Paul Thomas Anderson to direct, reuniting Boogie Nights’ Mark Wahlberg and Heather Graham.

Courtesy of Total Film Magazine - November 1999

I find this rumor very far fetched as Paul has been down the porn road before, and I doubt he's ready to revisit it. 

July 15, 1999

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

John C Reilly and a little tidbit on Magnolia

REILLY TAKES A “STORM”: Emerging as the perfect guy to play a male buddy, John C. Reilly will join George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the Warner Bros. pic “A Perfect Storm,” playing an experienced fisherman who joins the other two in the ill-fated voyage of the Andrea Gail. Film, to be directed by Wolfgang Petersen, is based on the bestselling nonfiction account by Sebastian Junger.

It’s Reilly’s second tour with Wahlberg after playing his porn star buddy in “Boogie Nights,” a film that launched Reilly into playing Kevin Costner’s best buddy and catcher in “For the Love of the Game,” the Beacon/Universal drama about a pitcher’s perfect game that will open Sept. 17.

Reilly gets a chance to be the star this Christmas in New Line’s “Magnolia.” He’s the central figure playing a police officer in a star-studded ensemble directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, for whom Reilly starred in “Hard Eight” and “Boogie Nights.”