Some, as Ive learned in the past, have warmed to it a lot more than I.
At the time, James Belushi was being mooted as the potential big screen Fred Flintstone.
Donner, in all, would oversee five scripts, with eight writers involved.
He arrived with a blank slate, as Spielberg had rejected theFlintstonesscripts that had been written at that point.
This is a sitcom on steroids, Levant toldEntertainment Weeklyback in 1994.
We were just trying to improve it.
The hive mind of eight writers came up with their draft, delivering it in early 1993.
But that too failed to get the film its green light.
Levant arranged a further four roundtable sessions of a similar ilk, adding different writers each time.
At the time, she toldEntertainmentWeeklythat I have no idea if I have one line in there.
Can you believe it?
Eventually, a script was cobbled together that earnedThe Flintstonesmovie its green light, and the cast came together.
But this jarred with the WGA.
Levants original eight withdrew from the arbitration process.
Even then, one of the three who did ultimately receive credit, Jim Jennewein, wasnt happy.
We had no contact with the script after Levant came, he said.
Everyone thinks drama needs a single unifying voice, and I think the same holds true for comedy.
Screenwriting is a real craft, and movies are different from TV.
This was, I should note, before the days of HBOs acclaimed scripted dramas.
As for the film itself?
And four writers would be credited with penning that one…