MovieChat Forums > Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008) Discussion > who was the original director of fear an...

who was the original director of fear and loathing?

posted 16 years ago by jimmiescoffee
6 replies | jump to latest

they mention him in this movie but was canned beacause he wanted animation in the movie.

[–] bighand99-1 16 years ago

Ralph Bakshi wanted to direct it, but they didn't like his ideas, so they gave it to the perennial bad karmarian, known as Terry Gilliam.

[–] helmut_lampshade 16 years ago

I remember it being Aley Cox who came to Hunter telling him about his ideas for the movie. Hunter hated his vision of using cartoon scenes in the style of ralph steadman and more or less threw them out, Cox' wife alomost in tears. It's pretty damn funny to watch!! It is in the documentary "Breakfast with Hunter" which I think is material that a friend or neighbor of Hunter filmed over the years.

[–] snagglepuss_62629 15 years ago

According to legend, both Martin Scorcese and Jim Jarmusch were once "attached", as well, but their involvement fell apart for the usual reasons..

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

[–] wildbillharding 15 years ago

Just for the record, the original attempt to film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was made by Alex Cox.

[–] ExPresidents 14 years ago

I thought that was just the script. Either way, Wizards and Repo Man are just as brilliant as Time Bandits.....lol.

[–] CULTEGUY 14 years ago

I need to rewatch "Breakfast With Hunter," but I think the film was considered in 'post- production' (they'd already had Depp on board) when Dr. Thompson put the kabash on Cox. He seemed to be insulted by Cox reducing one of his best passages ever to a cartoon.

The other poster is right about the book being considered by certain directors almost right after it was made (in some book, I'm not sure if it was "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls," but I remember it wasn't a book about Thompson himself, a younger Jack Nicholson was considered to play Duke.) It was a good idea to wait if you go back and look at some of those classic books they tried to tackle in the 70s.