Darabont talks 451

I swear to God this happened. I will swear on family members. A director friend of mine, for whom I had written before, wanted to bounce ideas off of me for a low-budget alien invasion film. And I suggested basically the exact conclusion that would later be the much-lauded ending of THE MIST. So now I hate Darabont because I am jealous of all of the praise he got for it. Obviously, I don’t deserve anything just because I had the same idea he likely had been cultivating for years, but I have the mentalities of a small child, so that shit is happening anyway. Here is what the brain-hack (we can’t prove he does not own advanced alien technology that allowed him to delve into my creative thoughts), Darabont had to say when asked about him returning to Stephen King and making “Farenheit 451”:

That’s my other great priority, to try and get the greenlight on that and that’s been a bit of a struggle. Hollywood doesn’t trust smart material. If you show them a really smart script. I actually had a studio head read that script and say: “Wow, that’s the best and smartest script that I’ve read since running this studio but I can’t possibly greenlight it.” I asked why and he says “How am I going to get 13-year-olds to show up at the theater?” And I said “Well, lets make a good movie and I bet that will take care of itself.” But that argument cut absolutely no ice. The movie was basically too smart for this person, too metaphorical, etc., etc. It’s a bit of a battle you’ve got to fight. When you’re faced with it, how do you overcome that prejudice?”

So yeah. And if you’re a Hollywood producer, please be sure to hit me up. I have loads of other great ideas. I have the best one about an FBI agent who goes undercover at an all-girl Catholic school and decides that exploring her sexuality is more important than national security. It’s a real career versus personal development drama. Although it has to star Megan Fox so I’m not sure where that would put us negotiation-wise. But definitely call me.