Column Chronicles: Sequels that sank because they stank, part three

Sequels that sank because they stank, part three

Frank Cotolo
December 1, 2022

Not every good movie, not even every great movie, needs a sequel. The problem with Hollywood (one at least), is most sequels are not loyal to the integrity of the original; they exist in name only, so they are crap.

Here is a sequel of a big money-making movie that was scripted (and rewrote and rewrote and recast) but never saw the lighting of a set.

CAST AWAY II: EVERY MAN IS AN ISLAND

The first problem was the script. The second problem was that Tom Hanks, star of the original, read the script. He hated it. The producers sent it to another writer.

Tom Hanks hated the new writer's rewrite because it demanded his character, Chuck Noland, gain 123 pounds for the film. Tom refused (even using makeup). The screenwriter insisted it was essential to the story. Here is an early draft of the opening to make his case:

WE SEE the horizon of the ocean. Coming into frame, a 300-pound (Tom Hanks) Chuck Noland floats on his back. It begins raining Wilson soccer balls. They pelt Chuck and cover the screen until WE HEAR a plane crash. Then WE SEE the overweight Chuck rise quickly from his bed, gasping for breath.

The script went on to show Chuck turned into a slovenly man who l alone in the ranch where the first movie left off. His girlfriend left him, he was fired from FedEx and did nothing but eat. Hanks hated where the story went; it put Chuck into therapy because the trauma of his adventure in the first film catches up with him.

Madonna was cast as the therapist; she loved the script except for all of her lines. She rewrote all of her lines. Then Hanks dropped out and producers got Matt Damon. Then the producers lost the backing of Wilson Sports Equipment and had to use a generic soccer ball. Then the script was rewritten thrice more. Damon quit. Then Madonna demanded to write the score (with songs she would sing in the film).

Then no one truly cared for the idea of a sequel and they all went to other projects.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.