One night in 1996, film director Edward Zwick, who had directed “Legends of Passion” two years earlier, was in a hotel room across from Chicago's Michael Reese Hospital, where his father was set to die, when he received a phone call: ” She? Do you think you can sue me, asshole? “You have no idea who you're dealing with,” he heard as soon as he picked up. “I will destroy you,” the voice on the other end of the line continued. “Oh, hello, Harvey,” Zwick replied. “I will make sure you never work again in your life,” threatened, who the reader will surely have already recognized as Harvey Weinstein. “It's midnight Harvey, my dad is sick, not a good time.” “Oh, so we have a sensitive little boy. Did I hurt your feelings? Let them fuck you. “I'll kill your whole fucking family, you fucking bastard.” “It was nice chatting with you Harvey, see you in court.”
To understand the reasons for this call, we have to go back to the early 1990s, to the moment when Edward Zwick met the screenwriter Marc Norman, who told him that he was working on an idea: the story when William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Julia. Zwick, who received his first best director nomination at the 1989 Golden Globes for “Glory Times,” a Civil War-era historical drama starring Denzel Washington, was interested in the idea. And the production company Universal decided to pay her to develop the script. It was at this point that Norman integrated the romantic (and fundamental) element of the film: it was to be the story of a writer who falls in love while writing one of the most famous love stories of all time, “but no matter how well written it is.” was: ” If this script existed, it lacked the wit and insight of a Shakespearean comedy,” Zwick himself wrote in an article for the newsletter “The Air Mail” with the precise title “Or Not to Be”, in which he described the pre- and disadvantages behind it told the film that never managed to direct and which was only released in American cinemas 25 years ago, on December 11, 1998: Shakespeare in Love.
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To achieve Shakespeare's wit and insight, the director suggested that Universal Studios hire the renowned and celebrated British playwright of Czech origin Tom Stoppard and refine the script. Stoppard, who had extensive experience in London theater, said he would accept in exchange for a million dollars. Universal said absolutely not. “Until Julia came on stage, no less,” says Zwick; “Someone, probably her agent, had heard about the project and told Universal that Julia was interested in starring in a historical romantic comedy, particularly this one.” Julia was Julia Roberts, who had starred in 1990's Pretty Woman and popular ones She had appeared in films like “Steel Magnolias” and “The Pelican Brief” and was now officially America’s new mistress. Universal signed the contract, the script was completed and production began in 1991. The director, screenwriters and leading actress flew to England. Sites were secured across London, additional enclaves were built and work began on costumes. Meanwhile, a key piece was missing: the Romeo.
By this point, Julia Roberts (and possibly her representative) had already put the strategy in place that would lead to her winning the 2001 Best Actress Oscar for Erin Brockovich. This included sharing the bill with critically respected and, where possible, award-winning actors. Roberts decided that his partner in the film would be Daniel Day-Lewis, who had won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1990 for My Left Foot. The problem was that he had just committed himself to his close friend Jim Sheridan's project called In the Name of the Father. And despite Roberts' charm and numerous advances – he even sent her a bouquet of roses that said “Be my Romeo” – Day-Lewis didn't give up.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes at the Globe Theater in south London before performing a Shakespeare show for Charles of England, the then Prince of Wales. She had just received her Oscar. For the occasion they performed a scene from “Romeo and Juliet”. John Stillwell – PA Images (PA Images via Getty Images)
Zwick says the Irish actor's refusal devastated Roberts. And it didn't matter which partner was presented to him – names like Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves, Colin Firth, Sean Bean and even Ralph Fiennes went through the cast, a curious detail because the role ultimately fell to his brother Joseph Fiennes – because Roberts didn't even bother to properly read the test script in front of him. Furthermore, according to Zwick, he didn't even bother to fake a British accent and read his texts with a strong American accent. One morning, Zwick noticed that the actress had left her hotel room. After trying every means possible to locate her, he finally called Tom Pollock, one of the bosses at Universal. Pollock informed him that Julia Roberts had decided to leave the project, and although they tried to keep her, her decision seemed to have been made. “Can he do that? “We’ve already spent millions!” asked the director. “Six million specifically,” revealed the producer. Yes, she was Julia Roberts, she could do it. And production was canceled.
Universal still had the rights to the film, but without a name with as much appeal as Julia Roberts and with an initial six million dollar hole, little could be done. “Shakespeare in Love” remained in a drawer indefinitely. Until the head of Miramax decided to open it.
Harvey Weinstein became interested in Edward Zwick's work after seeing Legends of Passion. The director says that they met for a drink one day and Weinstein told him that he would be happy to produce whatever he had in hand. Zwick then told him about Shakespeare in Love. Weinstein called Universal and when he found out about the six million debt, he stopped speaking to Zwick. “Over the next four or five years, I often showed this script more than once to every studio that had money. “Everyone said no,” explains Zwick. One day in 1996, while in New York scouting locations for his next film, he read the news that Harvey Weinstein and Miramax had bought the rights to the next year's film adaptation of Shakespeare in Love. No one informed him of this, so Zwick contacted his lawyers. Immediately afterwards, the threatening phone call that begins this article took place.
In 1996, a young blonde, tanned woman with a typically distinguished Californian look was the hottest girl in Hollywood: Gwyneth Paltrow. “Seven” from 1995, in which she shared the spotlight with her then-partner Brad Pitt, had made her a superstar. A year later, “Sydney” by Paul Thomas Anderson and “Emma,” based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen, were released. She was called the “First Lady of Miramax” and was even the production company’s “house muse.” He had made five films with Harvey Weinstein. “I've heard this story a few times…Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Winona [Ryder] They were best friends. And when Gwyneth spent a few days with Winona, she found the script for Shakespeare in Love that I had sent to Winona,” says Zwick, “and Gwyneth told Harvey that she wanted to do the film.” Their friendship was broken forever. But Gwyneth became Viola de Lesseps in the long-awaited Shakespeare in Love.
Paltrow, Oscar in hand. Evan Agostini (Getty Images)
Zwick didn't get along with Weinstein. After receiving threats and blackmail from the all-powerful producer, he stepped aside, or rather, he settled for crumbs of the cake. The filming happened to coincide with that of the film the director was working on: State of Siege, a thriller starring Denzel Washington, again accompanied by Annette Bening and Bruce Willis. Zwick later learned that this was a strategy used by Weinstein to distance him from management. “Among the many things Harvey promised me was my central role as producer of the film, as well as mention of my production company, Bedford Falls Productions.” Bedford Falls Productions appears in Shakespeare in Love, as Weinstein had promised. Specifically, it's about the picture of some horse poop.
Shakespeare in Love was released on December 11, 1998, directed by John Madden. In the United States alone, $100 million was raised. 289 million worldwide. It had cost Miramax 25. It was a huge success in Britain. It received critical acclaim and was nominated for 13 Oscars. This made it the film that received the most nominations that year. But this year's ceremony was also marked by controversy. The biggest competitor to “Shakespeare in Love” was “Saving Private Ryan,” directed by Steven Spielberg. The first won the statuette for best film, the second won the award for best director. Harrison Ford was in charge of the announcement: Edward Zwick took the stage to accept the award, visibly uncomfortable alongside the other producers (Donna Gigliotti, Marc Norman, David Parfit and Harvey Weinstein). He was the only one who didn't speak.
In Hollywood it was considered a big joke, caused by the aggressive advertising campaign carried out by Harvey Weinstein himself. If the reader is familiar with the phrase “Saving Private Ryan is only worth the first 15 minutes,” you should know that this phrase was invented by Weinstein. Paltrow won the Oscar for best actress that night, beating Cate Blanchett for her role in Elizabeth. “I want to thank Harvey Weinstein and everyone at Miramax Films for their incredible support,” she said in her acceptance speech, dressed in pink and Ralph Lauren. Judi Dench received her statuette for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in the film, in which she appeared for just eight minutes. The film also won the awards for Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costumes and Best Soundtrack, being crowned the night's big winner with these seven awards. Saving Private Ryan got five.
The role of the leading actress in the film would be completely different years later. As revealed in the book “She Said: The Journalistic Investigation That Uncovered Harvey Weinstein's Abuses and Fueled the #MeToo Movement” (KO Books), Gwyneth Paltrow became a key figure in exposing Harvey Weinstein and launching the movement that swept Hollywood The main sources are the journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, who published the results of their investigations in a series of articles in the New York Times. The former king of Hollywood is serving a sentence at the Twin Towers prison in downtown Los Angeles for raping numerous women during his time at the top of the industry. In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter organized a survey of hundreds of members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, asking them to cast their votes in historic races in a referendum (without validity, but with lots of crumbs) on which films had to be re-released better withstood the passage of time. They chose Saving Private Ryan over Shakespeare in Love.