| Romancing the Stone | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster by John Solie | |
| Directed by | Robert Zemeckis |
| Written by | Diane Thomas |
| Produced by | Michael Douglas |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Edited by | Donn Cambern Frank Morriss |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox[1] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 106 minutes |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $115.1 million[4] |
Romancing the Stone is a 1984romantic comedy-adventure film directed byRobert Zemeckis, written byDiane Thomas and produced byMichael Douglas, who also stars in the film alongsideKathleen Turner andDanny DeVito. The film follows a romance novelist who must venture beyond her New York City comfort zone to Colombia to save her widowed sister from criminals who are holding her for ransom.
Thomas wrote the screenplay in 1979. Zemeckis, who at the time was developingCocoon, liked Thomas's screenplay and offered to direct but20th Century Fox initially declined, citing the commercial failure of his first two filmsI Wanna Hold Your Hand andUsed Cars. Zemeckis was eventually dismissed fromCocoon after an early screening ofRomancing the Stone failed to impress studio executives further.Alan Silvestri, who would collaborate with Zemeckis on his later films, composed the score.[5]
Romancing the Stone was released on March 30, 1984, to positive reviews from critics and earned over $115 million worldwide at the box office. A sequel,The Jewel of the Nile, was released one year and nine months later on December 11, 1985.
Joan Wilder is a successful but lonely romance novelist living in New York City with her cat, Romeo. After finishing her latest novel, Joan leaves her apartment to meet her editor and friend, Gloria Horne. On the way her neighbor, Mrs. Irwin, hands her an envelope that contains a map, sent by her recently murdered brother-in-law, Eduardo. While she is gone, a man is discovered trying to break into her apartment by the building's superintendent, whom he kills. Returning to her apartment, Joan finds it ransacked. She then receives a frantic phone call from her sister Elaine, Eduardo's widow. Elaine has been kidnapped byantiquities smugglers, cousins Ira and Ralph, and instructs Joan to bring the map to the Colombian coastal city ofCartagena; it is Elaine's ransom.
Flying to Colombia, Joan is diverted from the bus to Cartagena by Colonel Zolo, the same man who killed Joan's brother-in-law and ransacked her apartment. Instead of heading to Cartagena, this bus goes deep into the country's interior. Ralph realizes this and begins following Joan. When Joan distracts the bus driver by asking where they are going, the bus crashes into aLand Rover, wrecking both vehicles. As the rest of the passengers walk away, Joan is menaced by Zolo but is saved by the Land Rover's owner, an American exotic bird smuggler named Jack T. Colton.
Joan promises to pay Jack $375 intraveler's cheques for getting her out of the jungle and to a telephone. The two of them travel the jungle while eluding Zolo and hismilitary police. Reaching a small village, they encounter a drug lord named Juan who is a big fan of Joan's novels and happily helps them escape from Zolo.
After a night of dancing and passion in a nearby town, Jack suggests to Joan that they find the treasure themselves before handing over the map. Zolo's men enter the town, so Jack and Joan steal a car to escape; but it is Ralph's car, and he is sleeping in the back. They follow the clues and retrieve the treasure, an enormousemerald calledEl Corazón ("The Heart"). Ralph takes the emerald from them at gunpoint, but Zolo's forces appear, distracting Ralph long enough for Jack to steal the jewel back. After being chased into a river and over a waterfall, Jack and Joan are separated on opposite sides of the raging river. Joan has the map, but Jack has the emerald. Jack directs Joan to Cartagena, promising that he will meet her there.
In Cartagena, Joan meets with Ira, who takes the map and releases Elaine. But Zolo and his men arrive, with a captured Jack and a severely beaten Ralph. As Zolo tortures Joan, Jack tries to kick the emerald into a crocodile pool behind Zolo. Zolo catches the emerald, but then a crocodile jumps up and bites his hand off, swallowing the emerald with it. A shootout ensues between Zolo's soldiers and Ira's gang. Joan and Elaine dash for safety, pursued by the maimed Zolo, as Jack tries to stop the crocodile from escaping. He begrudgingly releases it to try to save Joan.
A crazed Zolo charges at Joan; she dodges his wild knife slashes, and he falls into a crocodile pit. As the authorities arrive, Ira and his men escape, but Ralph is left behind. After a kiss, Jack dives into the water after the crocodile with the emerald, leaving Joan behind with her sister.
Some time later, Joan is back in New York City and has written a new novel based on her adventure. Gloria is moved to tears by the story and tells Joan she has another best-seller on her hands. Returning home, she finds Jack waiting for her in a sailboat named theAngelina, after the heroine of Joan's novels, and wearing boots made from the crocodile's skin. He jokes that the crocodile got "a fatal case of indigestion" from the emerald, which he sold, using the money to buy the boat of his dreams. They go off together, planning to sail around the world.
The screenplay was written five years earlier byMalibu waitressDiane Thomas in what would end up being her only screenplay made into a movie. She died in a car crash a year and a half after the film's release.[6] Jack Brodsky and Michael Douglas purchased the rights to her screenplay as their studio Bigstick Productions' first project under a contract withColumbia Pictures in 1979. However, Douglas could not get the film cast before his deal with Columbia expired in 1983.20th Century Fox agreed to purchase the rights to the film from Columbia after the success ofRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Robert Zemeckis was hired as director because of his association with that film's directorSteven Spielberg.[7]
Douglas initially intended only to produce the film, as he had recently appeared in a series ofbox-office bombs. Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood were considered for the role of Jack T. Colton while the film was at Columbia but declined.[7] Other leads considered includeSylvester Stallone,Paul Newman, andChristopher Reeve for the part of Jack Colton before Douglas hired himself andDebra Winger was the studio's top choice for Joan Wilder.[8][9][10][11] Many of the male stars offered the role of Colton had been displeased that the female character Wilder was the protagonist while Colton was a secondary. After Michael Douglas agreed to star in the film, the early producers (Bigstick Productions) transferred the project to his company, El Corazon Productions. Douglas then set up a "negative pick-up" deal with 20th Century Fox, meaning his company would finance the production independently and the studio would buy it once it was finished.[7]
Principal photography on the film began on July 11, 1983. It took place in both the United States and Mexico. Filming locations includedVeracruz (Fort ofSan Juan de Ulúa),Huasca de Ocampo,Xalapa,El Arenal,Tonaya,Xico, Barraca Grande, the Valle de Silencio,New York City, andSnow Canyon, Utah.[12] Interior filming was conducted inMexico City, while the opening scene was filmed inSt. George, Utah. The scene where Turner and Douglas get separated on opposite banks on awhitewater river was filmed on the Rio Antigua near the town ofJalcomulco,Veracruz.[13] Production went behind schedule due to the complicated stunts of the film and numerous hazardous storms, although 20th Century Fox pressured the filmmakers to complete the film as soon as possible to avoid competition withIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).[7]
Turner later said of the film's production, "I remember terrible arguments [with Robert Zemeckis] doingRomancing. He's a film-school grad, fascinated by cameras and effects. I never felt that he knew what I was having to do to adjust my acting to some of his damn cameras – sometimes he puts you in ridiculous postures. I'd say, 'This is not helping me! This is not the way I like to work, thank you!'"[14] After production completed, Turner sued the filmmakers to pay for plastic surgery for injuries sustained during shooting.[7] Zemeckis would go on to work with Turner again, casting her as the voice of Jessica Rabbit in 1988'sWho Framed Roger Rabbit.[15]
Studio insiders expectedRomancing the Stone to flop to the point that, after viewing a rough cut of the film, the producers of the then-under-developmentCocoon fired Zemeckis as director of that film.[16] However, it became a surprise hit and20th Century Fox's only big hit of 1984.[17] The film eventually grossed over US$115 million worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1984.[18] Zemeckis later stated that the success ofRomancing the Stone allowed him to makeBack to the Future (1985).[19]
The film received positive reviews upon release.[20] On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 86% of 56 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Romancing the Stone reaches back to the classic Saturday morning serials of old with an action-filled adventure enlivened by the sparkling chemistry between its well-matched leads."[21]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[22]
Upon the release ofRomancing the Stone,Time magazine called the film "a distaffRaiders rip-off".[23]The Washington Post remarked that "Though fitfully thrilling and amusing, [Joan Wilder's] adventures degenerate into a muddle. Neither screenwriter Diane Thomas nor director Robert Zemeckis, good-humored as they strive to be, maintains a coherent perception of how the plot should be contrived to trump the heroine's overactive fantasy life." They elaborated that the stone makes an uncompellingMacGuffin, Joan's character development is incongruous and ultimately unsatisfying, and Joan and Jack lack romantic chemistry.[24] By contrast,Time Out commented that "The script is sharp and funny, the direction sure-footed on both the comedy and action fronts", and compared the film favorably to its contemporary in the same genre,Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).[25]Roger Ebert called it "a silly, high-spirited chase picture", saying he greatly enjoyed the film's imaginative perils, colorful cast of villains, and believable relationship between its two lead characters. He likewise compared it favorably to otherRaiders of the Lost Ark clones.[26]
Colin Greenland reviewedRomancing the Stone forImagine magazine, and stated that "Good-humoured, sparky stuff in the manner ofRaiders of the Lost Ark."[27]
Filmsite.org included it as one of the best films of 1984,[28] andEntertainment Weekly included it on its list of films that made 1984 one of the best years for Hollywood films.[29]
Then–U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan viewed the film atCamp David in May 1984.[30]
Award wins:[31]
Award nominations:
Thenovelization ofRomancing the Stone was written by Catherine Lanigan under "Joan Wilder" as a pen name, along with a novelization of the sequel movieThe Jewel of the Nile.[33][34]
The success ofRomancing the Stone led to a sequel,The Jewel of the Nile, withoutZemeckis directing but with Douglas, Turner, and DeVito all returning. The film was released in December 1985 and was commercially successful, but received weaker reviews than the first.[35]
Since 1985, numerous attempts have been made to produce further sequels to the film. Another sequel, calledThe Crimson Eagle, would have had Jack and Joan take their two teenage children to Thailand, where they are blackmailed into stealing a priceless statue. Filming was scheduled to begin in 1987, following Michael Douglas's shooting ofWall Street, but the production was delayed and ultimately never made it past the development stage.[36] DeVito reunited Douglas, Turner, and himself in his 1989 filmThe War of the Roses.[15]
In 2005 and again in 2008, Douglas was developing a second sequel, tentatively titledRacing the Monsoon.[37]
Since 2007, 20th Century Fox has considered producing a remake ofRomancing the Stone, with the possibility of a reboot series. The roles of Jack Colton and Joan Wilder would be filled byTaylor Kitsch (orGerard Butler) andKatherine Heigl, respectively.[38] By 2011, the remake was re-worked as a television series.[39]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
