Back in 1994, Frank Darabont rocketed into the public eye with his directorial debut The Shawshank Redemption. The movie didnt burn up the box office but it garnered seven Academy Award nominations including one for Best Picture. It also cemented Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman firmly as powerful dramatic actors.
Darabont was already known in Hollywood as the go to guy for studio horror films having worked on the scripts for Nightmare On Elm Street 3, The Blob and The Fly II. But since Shawshank, Darabont has directed major Oscar contenders The Green Mile and The Majestic.
The reason for all this hubbub is that Warner Bros has released a Deluxe Limited Edition of The Shawshank Redemption on DVD. I got a chance to talk with Frank Darabont about Shawshank, his adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 and Stephen King.
You can buy the special edition of The Shawshank Redemption directly from Warner Bros.
Daniel Robert Epstein: Every film that youve directed has had to with prisons whether its an actual prison as in Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, amnesia as a prison in The Majestic and even being buried alive in the movie Buried Alive. What fascinates you about being trapped?
Frank Darabont: Its not a conscious effort on my part. I guess it makes for good drama.
DRE: What did you feel when you were visiting prisons for Shawshank?
FD: They are truly unique and scary places. The prison where we shot Shawshank in Mansfield Ohio was one of the spookiest places you could imagine. Everyone had a real palpable sense of all those years of human misery that were soaked into the place. Very interesting and kind of disturbing. Aside from that I dont know if I have a fascination. All I know is that I want to stay out of them.
DRE: How did Shawshanks lack of theatrical success make you feel back in 1994?
FD: You always want to make sure the studio gets their money back but beyond that you cant spend two years of your life on something you really care about then not have people show up. It was very disappointing but oh my god what a subsequent and unprecedented build the movie has had. Its been rather astonishing and its been a tremendous sense of validation and a real pleasure.
DRE: What do you think of the short theatrical re-release?
FD: Its fantastic. Its something I was hoping I would be able to talk Warner Bros into. I knew the ten year anniversary was coming and the movie has a big following. Its been my intention to do a special edition DVD for some years now so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. I thought it would be great for people to see it the way its meant to be seen because many didnt see it that way the first time. I think last years Scarface re-release to boost the DVD sales looked like a good thing to them. It was a pretty easy argument to make on my part.
DRE: One of my favorite character actors, Bob Gunton, played the Warden in Shawshank. He got a career playing villains out of Shawshank and he hadnt played a villain before that.
FD: I dont know what Bob had done before that. I know he had done a lot of theatre but when he came in to read for me I thought he was great. I get a big thrill out of casting and putting Bob in that role was not the obvious choice. I love casting that way when I can. Its kind of like some of the cast of The Green Mile who were seen for the first time, guys like Doug Hutchison [Percy Wetmore]. I love giving guys like that screen time.
DRE: You had another amazing character actor in Shawshank, Bill Sadler. What did you see in him?
FD: Where I first noticed Bill was a horror piece, the pilot for Tales from the Crypt.
DRE: Hes amazing in that!
FD: He was astonishing and he just leapt right off the screen. I thought that I had to work with him and now Ive had the pleasure of working with him twice now in Shawshank and Green Mile. Im looking forward to working with him again. Hes just one of those guys that is so interesting to see onscreen. I love character actors. The really great ones give your movie a texture that is indispensable.
DRE: Since youve written many screenplays both before and after Shawshank, was your writing process on Shawshank any different because you knew you were going to direct it?
FD: No, the writing process is pretty much park your ass in the chair and stay there until you cant see straight. Usually my writing days consist of eight to ten hours though Ive done more when Ive had a huge deadline. I will do a 12 hour day no problem. Thats why I can write a script like Shawshank in eight weeks.
DRE: Eight weeks is unbelievable!
FD: When you have great material from which to proceed and a desperate desire to see sunshine again, its really easy to put those days in. Its kind of an all or nothing thing for me. The writing process does tend to be a fairly concentrated thing for me.
DRE: What made you decide to adapt Shawshank?
FD: Stephen Kings story is so strong and intriguing and I just found it so moving. I knew that if I could just capture for an audience what the story did for me then I might have something special. Happily enough that seems to be the case.
DRE: Would people that only knew you through your work be surprised that a movie with this tone came from someone who was primarily a horror person?
FD: Yeah that did get some attention. I remember some of the reviews when Shawshank first came out were like Darabont whose previous credits include A Nightmare On Elm Street 3, The Blob and The Fly II suddenly comes out with this. Where the hell did it come from? It was a really fun comment. Now of course Im thought of as a very classy dramatic filmmaker and want I really want to do is a horror picture again.
DRE: Have you seen the cut of Shawshank thats always on TBS?
FD: I watch it for a few minutes when Im channel surfing but it kind of drives me crazy. Its edited for commercials and its always edited for language so to me anything that isnt at least a pay cable airing is sort of torture to sit through. Its kind of like doing a painting then having someone come along and poke holes in it with a pitchfork. Thats one of the reasons I am so excited about the DVD because weve got a new picture and sound transfer that just rules. Its really the way the fans of the movie should see. Whenever anyone comes up to me and says they saw the movie last night on TBS, I always cringe a little bit because they arent seeing it the best.
DRE: But at the same time the film wouldnt be as popular without all those TBS airings.
FD: Thats the irony of course because TBS has done us an enormous favor by keeping it in rotation for years now. Thats where most people have picked up on it. Its an interesting blessing and curse. Its not the perfect way to see the movie but its been largely responsible for bringing it into the publics consciousness.
DRE: What does your family think of Shawshank?
FD: I think my family thinks its kind of funny in a way because I was a weird lazy kid and Ive turned into this intensely focused workaholic and they have no idea where it came from. But I know they are very proud of the work I have done and I know Shawshank is something they always hear about from people.
DRE: Was there anything that was found and put on the DVD that surprised you?
FD: I wasnt surprised by any of it because it was a hands on situation for me. Warners was very receptive and followed my lead so everything on the DVD was chosen and designed by me even the cover art by Drew Struzan. Hes been working for 30 years and I believe he is one of the three finest movie poster painters who ever lived and the other two are dead now. I tracked him down by calling Spielbergs office and asking them to give me the number. They gave me Drews number so I called him and told him I was huge fan and would he mind doing some new Shawshank art for me. He said that he loves the movie and invited me over. We worked out the concept and he did the design.
DRE: Is there nothing you cant find when you have the number to Steven Spielbergs office?
FD: Hmm, let me think about that [laughs]. Sometimes its hard finding Steven. I havent seen him since he was shooting Terminal. I think hes going to be back in town soon and well have lunch. I just adore him, talk about an inspiration, hes been such a friend and mentor.
DRE: Youve been talking about adapting the Stephen King short story The Mist for years. I love that story so is that next?
FD: Im very carefully rereading it at this very moment because as soon as the dust settles on the re-release of Shawshank Im settling back down and thats what Im adapting next. After ten years Im finally going to do it.
DRE: The Mist is only about 100 page long story, how much do you feel you will have to expand it?
FD: I feel The Mist is such a contained and focused piece I dont see too much expansion. There are a couple of little narrative dots I want to connect but for the most part its going to be very true to what Steve wrote. Why expand something if it doesnt need it? It may be my first shot at making a movie well under two hours, take that critics.
DRE: What was the script that broke you into Hollywood in the early 80s?
FD: The first script I got paid to write was Nightmare On Elm Street 3 which I wrote with [director] Chuck Russell who is still a good buddy of mine.
DRE: I found a list of movies you worked on that you didnt receive credit for.
FD: Whats on there?
DRE: Eraser for Chuck Russell of course and The Fan [directed by Tony Scott] which Im sorry about.
FD: Oh god! The credit or lack of credit for some movies never completely reflects what might have been done. For something like Saving Private Ryan I feel like I had a solid contribution to that and Im very proud of that. For The Fan I swear to you Tony Scott kept one line of my dialogue.
DRE: Which line?
FD: The crassest one, which I thought was hilarious. At one point in the film the reporter [Ellen Barkin] says to the agent [John Leguizamo], Are you telling me he refuses to grant me an interview? and the agent says back to her Im saying hed rather nail his penis to a burning building. So from two drafts of work for Tony Scott thats all that was left of me.
Is Minority Report something thats still being classified as something I worked on?
DRE: I did not see it on the list.
FD: The truth is that I was offered the gig to write Minority Report by Steven [Spielberg] but I turned it down in order to direct The Majestic. So I did not write one word of that screenplay. But then the rumors circulated and I always thought that was unfair to the writers who had done the work.
DRE: I recently spoke with a big screenwriter named Zak Penn. I asked him if its a miracle every time a studio film comes out any good because there are so many hands in the pot on the big films.
FD: I think its always a miracle when a movie gets made at all. That it gets made well is like all the planets aligning. Even when you have the best of intentions with a singular vision there is something that can wind up not working. It just depends on any given film. Having multiple writers in and of itself is not a sign of doom. Witness Casablanca, its one of my top five of all time and that had a revolving door of people trying to get it work. I dont think its necessarily a bad thing, although we do have a tendency in Hollywood to keep throwing writers at a project. I have seen scripts that I thought was terrific then by the time they threw more writers at it, it then winds up not being as terrific as it was. That opposite does happen too so that door swings both ways too, Ive seen projects that really needed help and I myself have done that help on occasion.
DRE: I heard you are involved with The Thing remake for Sci-Fi Channel.
FD: Its not a remake as much as it is a miniseries sequel to the great John Carpenter movie. It got reported in the trades as a remake but I would not want to remake a movie as good as John Carpenters. But to do a loving sequel as a miniseries really does appeal to me. Then youre not screwing up somebodys great movie.
DRE: Is it going to pick up right up at the end of the John Carpenter movie?
FD: I cant absolutely vouch for that but that is my hope. Well see if the studio lets me get away with it [laughs]. That would be my ideal situation.
DRE: Do you have a director yet?
FD: No but were hashing out the story at the moment and we should have a screenplay done pretty soon. Its by a terrific young writer named Dave Johnson.
DRE: Are novels in your future at all?
FD: Its something Id love to try my hand at someday. But schedule being what it is, Ive had a really busy 18 years of a writing and directing career so I havent really been able to put my attention to it. Ive got a couple of chapters of something Ive written that Id love to get back to but who knows when I will be able to.
DRE: I couldnt imagine what its like for someone like you who is such a fan of science fiction and horror to get to hang out with Ray Bradbury all the time.
FD: That is one of the coolest things in my life. To get to know him while he is still with us is amazing. I really cant overstate what an inspiration he has been to me. Im one of those guys who was reading The Martian Chronicles in algebra class.
DRE: You mentioned you were a lazy kid. What else did you do?
FD: Devoured movies, devoured books and comic books. I was always one of those kids who loved storytelling more than anything. I managed to be an A student up until high school then I discovered theatre arts and I dont think my other classes saw me for three years because I was always in the auditorium putting on plays.
DRE: Were you in the theatre arts for the plays or the girls?
FD: I was hopeless with the girls but looking back on it some of them were fabulous. I regret my ineptitude.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Darabont was already known in Hollywood as the go to guy for studio horror films having worked on the scripts for Nightmare On Elm Street 3, The Blob and The Fly II. But since Shawshank, Darabont has directed major Oscar contenders The Green Mile and The Majestic.
The reason for all this hubbub is that Warner Bros has released a Deluxe Limited Edition of The Shawshank Redemption on DVD. I got a chance to talk with Frank Darabont about Shawshank, his adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 and Stephen King.
You can buy the special edition of The Shawshank Redemption directly from Warner Bros.
Daniel Robert Epstein: Every film that youve directed has had to with prisons whether its an actual prison as in Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, amnesia as a prison in The Majestic and even being buried alive in the movie Buried Alive. What fascinates you about being trapped?
Frank Darabont: Its not a conscious effort on my part. I guess it makes for good drama.
DRE: What did you feel when you were visiting prisons for Shawshank?
FD: They are truly unique and scary places. The prison where we shot Shawshank in Mansfield Ohio was one of the spookiest places you could imagine. Everyone had a real palpable sense of all those years of human misery that were soaked into the place. Very interesting and kind of disturbing. Aside from that I dont know if I have a fascination. All I know is that I want to stay out of them.
DRE: How did Shawshanks lack of theatrical success make you feel back in 1994?
FD: You always want to make sure the studio gets their money back but beyond that you cant spend two years of your life on something you really care about then not have people show up. It was very disappointing but oh my god what a subsequent and unprecedented build the movie has had. Its been rather astonishing and its been a tremendous sense of validation and a real pleasure.
DRE: What do you think of the short theatrical re-release?
FD: Its fantastic. Its something I was hoping I would be able to talk Warner Bros into. I knew the ten year anniversary was coming and the movie has a big following. Its been my intention to do a special edition DVD for some years now so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. I thought it would be great for people to see it the way its meant to be seen because many didnt see it that way the first time. I think last years Scarface re-release to boost the DVD sales looked like a good thing to them. It was a pretty easy argument to make on my part.
DRE: One of my favorite character actors, Bob Gunton, played the Warden in Shawshank. He got a career playing villains out of Shawshank and he hadnt played a villain before that.
FD: I dont know what Bob had done before that. I know he had done a lot of theatre but when he came in to read for me I thought he was great. I get a big thrill out of casting and putting Bob in that role was not the obvious choice. I love casting that way when I can. Its kind of like some of the cast of The Green Mile who were seen for the first time, guys like Doug Hutchison [Percy Wetmore]. I love giving guys like that screen time.
DRE: You had another amazing character actor in Shawshank, Bill Sadler. What did you see in him?
FD: Where I first noticed Bill was a horror piece, the pilot for Tales from the Crypt.
DRE: Hes amazing in that!
FD: He was astonishing and he just leapt right off the screen. I thought that I had to work with him and now Ive had the pleasure of working with him twice now in Shawshank and Green Mile. Im looking forward to working with him again. Hes just one of those guys that is so interesting to see onscreen. I love character actors. The really great ones give your movie a texture that is indispensable.
DRE: Since youve written many screenplays both before and after Shawshank, was your writing process on Shawshank any different because you knew you were going to direct it?
FD: No, the writing process is pretty much park your ass in the chair and stay there until you cant see straight. Usually my writing days consist of eight to ten hours though Ive done more when Ive had a huge deadline. I will do a 12 hour day no problem. Thats why I can write a script like Shawshank in eight weeks.
DRE: Eight weeks is unbelievable!
FD: When you have great material from which to proceed and a desperate desire to see sunshine again, its really easy to put those days in. Its kind of an all or nothing thing for me. The writing process does tend to be a fairly concentrated thing for me.
DRE: What made you decide to adapt Shawshank?
FD: Stephen Kings story is so strong and intriguing and I just found it so moving. I knew that if I could just capture for an audience what the story did for me then I might have something special. Happily enough that seems to be the case.
DRE: Would people that only knew you through your work be surprised that a movie with this tone came from someone who was primarily a horror person?
FD: Yeah that did get some attention. I remember some of the reviews when Shawshank first came out were like Darabont whose previous credits include A Nightmare On Elm Street 3, The Blob and The Fly II suddenly comes out with this. Where the hell did it come from? It was a really fun comment. Now of course Im thought of as a very classy dramatic filmmaker and want I really want to do is a horror picture again.
DRE: Have you seen the cut of Shawshank thats always on TBS?
FD: I watch it for a few minutes when Im channel surfing but it kind of drives me crazy. Its edited for commercials and its always edited for language so to me anything that isnt at least a pay cable airing is sort of torture to sit through. Its kind of like doing a painting then having someone come along and poke holes in it with a pitchfork. Thats one of the reasons I am so excited about the DVD because weve got a new picture and sound transfer that just rules. Its really the way the fans of the movie should see. Whenever anyone comes up to me and says they saw the movie last night on TBS, I always cringe a little bit because they arent seeing it the best.
DRE: But at the same time the film wouldnt be as popular without all those TBS airings.
FD: Thats the irony of course because TBS has done us an enormous favor by keeping it in rotation for years now. Thats where most people have picked up on it. Its an interesting blessing and curse. Its not the perfect way to see the movie but its been largely responsible for bringing it into the publics consciousness.
DRE: What does your family think of Shawshank?
FD: I think my family thinks its kind of funny in a way because I was a weird lazy kid and Ive turned into this intensely focused workaholic and they have no idea where it came from. But I know they are very proud of the work I have done and I know Shawshank is something they always hear about from people.
DRE: Was there anything that was found and put on the DVD that surprised you?
FD: I wasnt surprised by any of it because it was a hands on situation for me. Warners was very receptive and followed my lead so everything on the DVD was chosen and designed by me even the cover art by Drew Struzan. Hes been working for 30 years and I believe he is one of the three finest movie poster painters who ever lived and the other two are dead now. I tracked him down by calling Spielbergs office and asking them to give me the number. They gave me Drews number so I called him and told him I was huge fan and would he mind doing some new Shawshank art for me. He said that he loves the movie and invited me over. We worked out the concept and he did the design.
DRE: Is there nothing you cant find when you have the number to Steven Spielbergs office?
FD: Hmm, let me think about that [laughs]. Sometimes its hard finding Steven. I havent seen him since he was shooting Terminal. I think hes going to be back in town soon and well have lunch. I just adore him, talk about an inspiration, hes been such a friend and mentor.
DRE: Youve been talking about adapting the Stephen King short story The Mist for years. I love that story so is that next?
FD: Im very carefully rereading it at this very moment because as soon as the dust settles on the re-release of Shawshank Im settling back down and thats what Im adapting next. After ten years Im finally going to do it.
DRE: The Mist is only about 100 page long story, how much do you feel you will have to expand it?
FD: I feel The Mist is such a contained and focused piece I dont see too much expansion. There are a couple of little narrative dots I want to connect but for the most part its going to be very true to what Steve wrote. Why expand something if it doesnt need it? It may be my first shot at making a movie well under two hours, take that critics.
DRE: What was the script that broke you into Hollywood in the early 80s?
FD: The first script I got paid to write was Nightmare On Elm Street 3 which I wrote with [director] Chuck Russell who is still a good buddy of mine.
DRE: I found a list of movies you worked on that you didnt receive credit for.
FD: Whats on there?
DRE: Eraser for Chuck Russell of course and The Fan [directed by Tony Scott] which Im sorry about.
FD: Oh god! The credit or lack of credit for some movies never completely reflects what might have been done. For something like Saving Private Ryan I feel like I had a solid contribution to that and Im very proud of that. For The Fan I swear to you Tony Scott kept one line of my dialogue.
DRE: Which line?
FD: The crassest one, which I thought was hilarious. At one point in the film the reporter [Ellen Barkin] says to the agent [John Leguizamo], Are you telling me he refuses to grant me an interview? and the agent says back to her Im saying hed rather nail his penis to a burning building. So from two drafts of work for Tony Scott thats all that was left of me.
Is Minority Report something thats still being classified as something I worked on?
DRE: I did not see it on the list.
FD: The truth is that I was offered the gig to write Minority Report by Steven [Spielberg] but I turned it down in order to direct The Majestic. So I did not write one word of that screenplay. But then the rumors circulated and I always thought that was unfair to the writers who had done the work.
DRE: I recently spoke with a big screenwriter named Zak Penn. I asked him if its a miracle every time a studio film comes out any good because there are so many hands in the pot on the big films.
FD: I think its always a miracle when a movie gets made at all. That it gets made well is like all the planets aligning. Even when you have the best of intentions with a singular vision there is something that can wind up not working. It just depends on any given film. Having multiple writers in and of itself is not a sign of doom. Witness Casablanca, its one of my top five of all time and that had a revolving door of people trying to get it work. I dont think its necessarily a bad thing, although we do have a tendency in Hollywood to keep throwing writers at a project. I have seen scripts that I thought was terrific then by the time they threw more writers at it, it then winds up not being as terrific as it was. That opposite does happen too so that door swings both ways too, Ive seen projects that really needed help and I myself have done that help on occasion.
DRE: I heard you are involved with The Thing remake for Sci-Fi Channel.
FD: Its not a remake as much as it is a miniseries sequel to the great John Carpenter movie. It got reported in the trades as a remake but I would not want to remake a movie as good as John Carpenters. But to do a loving sequel as a miniseries really does appeal to me. Then youre not screwing up somebodys great movie.
DRE: Is it going to pick up right up at the end of the John Carpenter movie?
FD: I cant absolutely vouch for that but that is my hope. Well see if the studio lets me get away with it [laughs]. That would be my ideal situation.
DRE: Do you have a director yet?
FD: No but were hashing out the story at the moment and we should have a screenplay done pretty soon. Its by a terrific young writer named Dave Johnson.
DRE: Are novels in your future at all?
FD: Its something Id love to try my hand at someday. But schedule being what it is, Ive had a really busy 18 years of a writing and directing career so I havent really been able to put my attention to it. Ive got a couple of chapters of something Ive written that Id love to get back to but who knows when I will be able to.
DRE: I couldnt imagine what its like for someone like you who is such a fan of science fiction and horror to get to hang out with Ray Bradbury all the time.
FD: That is one of the coolest things in my life. To get to know him while he is still with us is amazing. I really cant overstate what an inspiration he has been to me. Im one of those guys who was reading The Martian Chronicles in algebra class.
DRE: You mentioned you were a lazy kid. What else did you do?
FD: Devoured movies, devoured books and comic books. I was always one of those kids who loved storytelling more than anything. I managed to be an A student up until high school then I discovered theatre arts and I dont think my other classes saw me for three years because I was always in the auditorium putting on plays.
DRE: Were you in the theatre arts for the plays or the girls?
FD: I was hopeless with the girls but looking back on it some of them were fabulous. I regret my ineptitude.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
beedlebaum:
Shawshank is so fucking overrated. Seriously.
mental_mephis:
The book, of course, is far better.