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June 1990 saw Disney spend big on a summer movie, at a point when that was the last thing it was inclined to do. But 1990's Dick Tracy - specifically the way it was promoted - was hugely influenced by Warner Bros' success with Batman the year before. Dick Tracy though by that time had already taken around 15 years to come to the screen - and the aftermath of it would lead, bizarrely, to the creation of the film Jerry Maguire. If you like this podcast, please do like and subscribe. Simon Brew is on tour with Film Stories too. Go to www.filmstories.co.uk/live-events for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The summer of 1999 brought with it some huge successes, and also the combination of Will Smith, Salma Hayek and Kevin Kline in Wild Wild West. Based on the TV show from the 1960s, this became a hugely expensive Warner Bros blockbuster, one that George Clooney saw the problem with and duly dropped out of fairly late in the day. In this episode of Film Stories, Simon digs into the story of the movie, and how Will Smith faced a choice: does it take the lead role in this, or does he make The Matrix instead...?! Please subscribe and leave nice reviews! Thank you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Feig returns to the Film Stories podcast, to chat with Simon about a whole bunch of stuff. There's The Housemaid - with a clearly marked spoiler! - and The Housemaid 2. There's also Bridesmaids at the Oscars, an attempt get Spy 2 moving, the long-lost idea of a Play-doh movie, and a whole lot more. Bit sweary this one. Please like and subscribe and stuff! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director David Mackenzie stops by to chat about his new film, Fuze, in the latest episode of the Film Stories podcast. Ryan Lambie steps in to to chat to David about his work, and films such as Young Adam, Starred Up, the mighty Hell Or High Water (which Mackenzie chats about revisiting recently) and Relay. Plus a whole lot on Fuze, in cinemas now, and his plans for future projects... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1980, an option was taken out on Judge Dredd with a view of getting a movie of Mega City One's legendary law enforcer to the big screen. In the years that followed, it looked like Tony Scott might direct a film based on 2000AD comics' most famous character, with Arnold Schwarzenegger sniffing around. In the end, 1995 saw a seasoned movie star in Sylvester Stallone and a twentysomething British film director called Danny Cannon realising the film. Turned out to be quite a story... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett work as filmmakers under the collective name of Radio Silence, and they've been out and about promoting their new film, Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come. The poor pair had to suffer a conversation with Simon for their sins, that touched on the new movie, on films such as Abigail and Devil's Due, plus tips of the hat to very expensive chairs and the Sega Dreamcast console... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No two ways about it, 2000's X-Men movie was a massive gamble. At a time when studios needed movie star vehicles, 20th Century Fox found itself without a summer blockbuster due to a delay on a Tom Cruise film. It'd already greenlit and backtracked on X-Men once. When the film finally got going? Well, there'd be well-reported behind the scenes problems. A star who wasn't cast until shooting began. And a story that requires a fair amount of use of the word 'allegedly'... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In person, Simon got to meet - after years of interviewing them remotely - writers/producers/directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. Chaos absolutely ensued. In this Film Stories special, they talk about Project Hail Mary, the second best Rocky film, choosing to do a project because it's a good idea for a change, and a whole lot more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the end of 1997, Kevin Costner's second film as director - The Postman - made its way into cinemas, at the end of a difficult year for Warner Bros. The $80m, three hour movie would be savaged by critics, and fail to find an audience - but there was quite the story behind the film, before and after. There's quite a story too to Wag The Dog, a movie that could fit into the schedules when a far more expensive project was hit by a delay. And the political satire that followed made headlines for unexpected reasons within months of its release. Stories of both are told in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's a special episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, where Simon is joined by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Drew Goddard. Drew was in town to talk about his script for Project Hail Mary. But as you're about to hear, the conversation goes off in a lot of different directions: from directing Bad Times At The El Royale and Cabin In The Woods, to writing The Martian, to, er, Police Academy... Project Hail Mary is in UK cinemas from 20th March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jared Leto was the reigning Joker. Todd Phillips couldn't get the films he wanted to do off the ground. The DC range of movies was having a whole range of challenges for Warner Bros. And constant changes at the studio were leading to regular challenges of direction. In the midst of this, a relatively slim production, Joker, would have notable ramifications. Similarly slim, Cat's Eye marks the first credited screenplay for a man called Stephen King. But this too had challenges, when the original financing plan fell apart. And then, another film - Firestarter - had a bit of a knock-on effect... Stories of both are told in this episode. Please like/subscribe/leave nice reviews. Thank you! Find more at www.filmstories.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 1980s, Kevin Costner - pre-Dances With Wolves - first had the idea for what became the Horizon movie saga. A hugely-ambitious series of westerns, that he'd ultimately star in, co-write, and direct. By 2026, two films had been made, only one released, and around ten minutes shot of a third. So what's happened? For the second half of this episode, Simon is joined by director Andrew Stanton, chatting about his new film In The Blink Of An Eye. The pair chat science fiction, semi-colons, a fruity toy, John Carter, and a whole lot more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The plan was for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman to spend around six months in the UK for the filming of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick had been mulling the film for decades, and considering a couple of other projects, too. But the shoot of Eyes Wide Shut would ultimately be his final film - and it's end up in the Guinness Book of Records. For Ben Elton, he was keen to pursue making the film Maybe Baby, having enjoyed success with the same story in his novel Inconceivable. But his insistence on a particular piece of casting nearly derailed the whole project. Stories of both are told in this episode. Please do like and subscribe and leave nice reviews! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The art of movie testing isn't just about researching finished films. It's also testing the very concept of a movie, that can determine both whether it gets made, and what it gets made for. In a special episode of the podcast, a man who you may not have heard of joins Simon. Yet Kevin Goetz has certainly had some impact on the films you watch. His new book - How To Score In Hollywood, written with Bob Levin - digs into this. And in this special chat, we uncover some of his work... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was very different times for Marvel when, in the 1990s, it struck an assortment of deals over screen rights for its characters. For the purposes of this tale, the Incredible Hulk, for whom Universal snapped up the rights. The deal done then continues to have some ramifications now, but the first fruits of it? Ang Lee's 2003 movie Hulk, starring Eric Bana. Arriving the year after Sam Raimi's Spider-man, it turns out there was an early alarm bell that they might have got the tone a little wrong... More on the film, and the ongoing sequel issues, in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices