Picture this: you’ve introduced the world to a revolutionary horror-comedy franchise but still haven’t quite cracked the mainstream. Then along comes Sharon Stone – and we’re talking 1990s Sharon Stone – who is such a fan of your oddball movies that she personally approves you as director for a western starring herself and Leonardo DiCaprio. You’d think you’d be grateful for being ushered into the scene, but according to Sharon Stone, Sam Raimi – director of The Quick and the Dead – has never acknowledged the help.
Sharon Stone, who also served as producer of The Quick and the Dead, is taking credit for putting Sam Raimi on the map. “I had my great Italian cinematographer Dante Spinotti, and I was very blessed to produce [The Quick and the Dead] and to have the opportunity to cast this film. The director Sam Raimi, who I had an opportunity to bring from B movies to A movies, and then he directed Spider-Man and became a very big A movie director.” She also seemed to be patting her own back as far as her fellow cast goes. “I brought Russell Crowe from Australia [pre-Gladiator]. I had the opportunity to cast Leo DiCaprio [pre-Titanic] and bring him into a big leading role…” OK, we’ll give her and the Crowe claim, but DiCaprio had an Oscar nomination by that point and so was well on his way to getting a lead role. Even still, for his part, DiCaprio has shown gratitude for casting him.
Elaborating on her grudge with her The Quick and the Dead director, Stone feels even nearly 30 years on that she was never properly thanked. “In Sam Raimi’s case, I really liked his films. I thought he was very intelligent and very funny — different from [Casino director] Marty Scorsese, because he’s Italian, he has loyalty, he has that family feeling, and because of it Marty and I still have a relationship and because of it Marty and I still work together. Sam was a kid and he doesn’t have loyalty, he doesn’t have family, he didn’t ever talk to me again, he didn’t thank me, he didn’t hire me again, he didn’t acknowledge the relationship…”
While it’s pretty unfair to compare directors like that, one does wonder if Sam Raimi fully recognizes (at least in public) the potential that helming The Quick and the Dead presented for him. Sure, the movie flopped at the box office, but Raimi would next direct A Simple Plan, a fantastic movie that showed true growth as a filmmaker. And we all know what happened from there, as Stone was quick herself to point out.
What do you think? Do you think Sam Raimi owes anything to Sharon Stone for The Quick and the Dead or did it not have that level of impact?