βSome Kind of Wonderfulβ is a much better film than you β and likely, the cast, who seemingly signed on for a very different movie β remember.
Though not exactly original, director Howard Deutchβs 1987 comedy is sweet, funny and enthused with a welcomingly upbeat pop-rock soundtrack straight out of the Reagan-era. In all essence, itβs βPretty in Pinkβ all over again.
Just as writer John Hughes β who also penned the Molly Ringwald-starring βPinkβ – intended.
(When the studio asked for the ending Β of Hughesβ βPretty in Pinkβ (1986) Β to be changed – so that Andie (Molly Ringwald) ended up with Clay (Andrew McCarthy) instead of βDuckieβ (Jon Cryer), as per his script β the acclaimed screenwriter and filmmaker essentially decided βSome Kind of Wonderfulβ would fix the rights of that movieβs wrongs.)
Unfortunately, director Martha Coolidge β hot off teen sensation βValley Girlβ β didnβt share Hughesβ vision and wanted to craft something more unique.
βIt was an entirely different script [from the film you know] β it was almost a silent filmβ, actor Eric Stoltz, who played in the film, told Moviehole. βMartha [Coolidge, who was originally set to direct the movie] had this interesting idea of trying to make it as much of a non-verbal, non-jokey teen film as possible. Clearly, the powers that be didnβt go for that.β
Hughes, now a bankable name thanks to eminent classics βThe Breakfast Clubβ and βFerris Buellerβs Day Offβ, had more sway with Paramount Pictures than Coolidge.
Explains Stoltz, βAs we got closer to shooting [Hughes] replaced her because he didnβt like what was being done to his material. He fired Martha β and a lot of the cast. I stayed onboard β I donβt know how that happened β but even then, I think I barely stayed onboard. We had shot two or three weeks with my hair below-my-shoulders and I was very greasy and odd looking β because the guy was someone who wasnβt able to fit in, we thought that was a great way to go. Anyway, they shut down production.β
The studio decided that theyβd remodel Stoltzβs character to be more akin to ‘Clay’ from βPretty in Pinkβ.
βSomeone at Paramount came down and said βWeβre going to cut your hair, and clean up your actβ. I said βBut the role is a rebel who doesnβt fit in!β. βThey said βYouβre going to cut your hair, and weβll clean you upβ. I said βOh, so this is how the world works.β
βThere was the first draft that was sort of like a broader sex comedy,β Mary Stuart Masterson, who played βWattsβ, told Entertainment Weekly, explaining that βmy character was named Keith and she wanted to be male.β
After βthe purge of the castβ, Stoltz suggested his friend Lea Thompson β who he had worked briefly with on βBack to the Futureβ two years prior (before he was fired) β for the role of the object of affection, Amanda Jones.
βI brought her the scriptβ, the actor said, recalling that he rode over to her house on his motorbike and hand-delivered the βHoward the Duckβ star the script himself. Β βShe was lovely.β
Thompson was stepping in for Kim Delaney β who would go on to fame on TVβs βN.Y.P.D Blueβ β who was originally cast as Amanda Jones (While Craig Sheffer was brought in to replace βBlue Velvetβ star Kyle MacLachlan was originally onboard to play Jonesβ scumbag ex-boyfriend, Hardy Jenns).
By the time βSome kind of Wonderfulβ went into production, βPretty in Pinkβ was collection sizeable coin at the box office. Β Hughes asked that filmβs director, Howard Deutch to replace Coolidge on βWonderfulβ.
[Interestingly enough, Paramount ended up making some changes to the ending of βSome Kind of Wonderfulβ, just as they did Hughesβ previous film.
In the film, just before the credits roll, Keith (Stoltz) gives Watts (Masterson) a pair of diamond earrings and says, βYou look good wearing my future.β
In the original script, Watts then tells Keith, βThese babies go back in the morning. Youβre going to art school.β He responds, βWeβll keep one and make it a ringβ, suggesting theyβre off to get married.]
Convinced remaking βPretty in Pinkβ was the way to go, Hughes even tried to hire Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy, initially, to play the leads.
βI declined because I felt like the script wasnβt strong enough and was too derivative of the other films Iβd already made with John,β Ringwald told The Atlantic. βHe wanted me to play the role of a character called Watts, which went to Mary Stuart Masterson, but I was ready to graduate from high school.β
McCarthy says he immediately knocked back the film, saying βIt seemed like we just kept making the same movie againβ, referring to βPinkβ.
And he was right β but not such a bad thing, ya know?
Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated that Some Kind of Wonderful is the “much-improved, recycled version of the Pretty in Pink story”
βI got to tell you, it didnβt do that well when it openedβ, Deutch told Vulture. βIt was a disappointment to the studio. And then, as time went on, it became more loved. People really like that movie. Lea [Thompson] tells me she got more mail about that movie from kids having troubles, considering suicide, than any other movie. It endures.β