Miramax was persuaded and hired Van Sant to direct the film. Damon and Affleck later chose Gus Van Sant for the job, whose work on previous films like Drugstore Cowboy (1989) had left a favorable impression on the fledgling screenwriters. He declined, saying they needed a “good director” and that he only directs things he writes and is not much of a visual director, but still served as one of the film’s executive producers. Originally, Affleck asked Kevin Smith if he was interested in directing. In his recollection of the meeting, Weinstein asked about an out-of-place, mid-script oral sex scene, which Damon and Affleck explained was a test to see which studio executives had actually read the script. Harvey Weinstein on the other hand read the script, loved it, and paid Castle Rock their due, while also agreeing to let Damon and Affleck star in the film. However, studios balked at the idea of Affleck and Damon in the lead roles, with many studio executives stating that they wanted Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. At first, it was written as a thriller about a young man in the rough-and-tumble streets of South Boston who possesses a superior intelligence and is targeted by the FBI to become a G-Man, but after the suggestion of Castle Rock Entertainment president Rob Reiner, they dropped the thriller part, so Matt and Ben focused on the relationship between Will Hunting (Damon) and his psychologist (Robin Williams).Ĭastle Rock bought the script for $675,000 against $775,000, meaning that Damon and Affleck would stand to earn an additional $100,000 if the film was produced and they retained sole writing credit. He wrote it his girlfriend at that time, medical student Skylar Satenstein (credited in the closing credits of the film), into his script and then he came to Ben Affleck and asked him to develop the screenplay together. Instead of writing a one-act play, Damon submitted a 40-page script. Matt Damon originally started writing the film as a final assignment for a playwriting class he was taking at Harvard University. And how the movie was imagined and developed? Well… Fear of abandonment, social isolation, not reaching my potential and intimacy phobias. Look, I’m far from genius like Will Hunting was but it I related on so many issues that the character had. It’s also one of my favorite movies EVER!. The movie was also nominated for nine Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, and won two: Best Supporting Actor for Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Affleck and Damon. It grossed over US$225 million during its theatrical run with only a modest $10 million budget. Released on December 5th 1997, the Gus van Sant directed movie would go on to collect some of the most favorable reviews, most acclaimed awards in Hollywood and would catapult Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as new and talented Hollywood blood with a triple thread. Today marks the 20 years anniversary of the release of…probably one of the best movies in history.
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