Caffeinated Clint
The writer of “Good Luck Chuck”
Josh Stolberg might be one of today’s most talented writers (and directors – he helmed the comedy “Kids in America”) but he’s not resting comfortably just yet. After a disappointing experience on “Evan Almighty” that left him without credit, Stolberg’s hoping “Good Luck Chuck” will be his big claim to fame. From the sounds of it, it won’t just get his name out… it’ll get it in cement soon.
So “Good Luck Chuck”, is this the big one?
I can’t say whether it’s the “big” one. It’s got enough raunchy fun to suck in the guys and enough gooey heart to bring in the girls. But you never know how an audience will react to a movie. Creatively, it’s certainly as close as I’ve come so far to having a product that I’ve been proud of. I’ve got a long way to go, in my journey of telling stories, but I definitely see this as taking one step ahead.
How did this come about?
One of my very first jobs in Hollywood was doing a rewrite of a script called “Honey Thunder Dunk” (by Louie Maggiotto). The movie never got made, mostly because there was a nearly identical project that got to shooting before us. But the producer on the project was a guy named Mike Karz and we became friends. A couple of years later, Mike was at a dinner party and his wife overheard a friend of theirs (a guy named Steve Glenn) talking about how every girl he’s ever dated got married to the next guy she dated.
A few days later, Mike pitched it to me and my writing partner at the time, Monica Johnson. We worked up a pitch and took it around town, but didn’t wind up selling it. After that, it sat in my computer for a couple of years (with hundreds of other dead-end stories, like the land of misfit toys). Sometime later, I had a break in work and decided to spec out a new script and came across the pitch pages. I spent a few weeks reworking some of the things that were broken with the pitch and wrote the script in about three months time. It sold to New Line in a pre-emptive sale. It took another two years before making it to the screen, doing time in turnaround before eventually landing at Lionsgate.
Basically, it was just a good idea heard at a dinner party.
As the writer, were you allowed on-set and if so, how was it?
I’ve been working as a writer for over ten years now and it’s very rare that you find one writer on a studio project from inception to final cut. I’ve seen script covers with more than 14 writers listed. But Mike Karz protected my vision in the beginning, and the director, Mark Helfrich stood by me through the production. And Lionsgate is one of those studios that really respects the filmmakers’ vision. They step out of the way and let the people do their work.
So that was amazing.
I was on set throughout most of the production. And I had the time of my life. It was so exciting to see everything take shape as we went along. And although we kept pretty much to script, there were definitely times when I was rewriting to fix problems that popped up on set. And after we got what was on the page, if there was time, we threw around other ideas for alternative jokes as we went. Dane was obviously great at coming up with stuff on the spot. I was also surprised how quick Dan Fogler was.
Although this is Helfrich’s first feature film in the director’s chair, he’s been editing forever. So it was a great learning experience to see how he approached coverage. I learned a lot about the mechanics of directing from him. It was also amazing to have Mark turn to me after nearly every take to say, “Was that okay for you?” It almost always was, we had been working on the script for over a year at that point, so we were really on the same page, but it was really nice to be asked. As a writer, you always know that when your script gets made, it’s no longer yours — it’s the director’s. But I still feel like this is my baby. And again, I have to thank Mike, Mark and the studio for that.
You’ve developed a friendship with Dane Cook I believe? What is it about Dane that you liked that made him right for this role?
Well, Dane and I aren’t drinking buddies or anything. He’s a busy fucking guy. (Dane, if you’re reading this, I’m really upset you haven’t called me this week). But we had a blast working on “Good Luck Chuck” together. Personally, I don’t think “Employee of the Month” got Dane right. They definitely played up his frat-boy personality (which is certainly an element to him), but missed some of the heart. If you really break down the “Chuck” script, Dane’s part is more of a straight man. He’s got the crazy best friend, and crazy things happen TO him, but he’s the everyman. And for me, that’s what I love about Dane. He’s like the cool version of the everyman. He’s what the way you WISH you were around the girl.
Personally, I stutter like a fool and can’t come up with a clever thing to say when I get within twenty feet of a 7.5 or above. Dane’s much smoother than that. But he’s also approachable.
How different is your first draft to the shooting script?
The basic story is all still there. The characters. And a lot of the set-pieces. But about half of the “guts” are different. My first draft of the script focused more heavily on the romantic comedy. When Mark Helfrich was brought aboard the project, he really pushed me to take the script in a more “hard-R” direction. He pulled out some of the softer set-pieces and we added a lot of the raunch. Mark wrote this book called “Naked Pictures of the my Ex-Girlfriends”. Which is a photography book. That’s his style. So we added a little bit of his twisted personality and came out with the final draft, which I’m really happy with. From first draft to final script, there are more than a hundred versions of the script on my computer. It was a long road getting “Chuck” to the screen.
How important was it having Dane Cook and Jessica Alba attached to “Good Luck Chuck”? – s that what got it a greenlight, or did the script speak for itself?
I’m not going to lie. Having Jessica and Dane attached is what got the movie greenlit. Hollywood is a money-making machine and it doesn’t matter how good or bad a script is, if you don’t have names for the poster, 9 out of 10 times, your movie is not going to get shot. I wish it wasn’t like that. So far, my favorite movie of the year is “Once” with two actors who were unknowns before that movie was shot.
But, back to “Chuck”, I’m happy that both Dane and Jessica responded so positively to the script. And even luckier that they’re great in the film.
What was the extent of your involvement with “Evan Almighty”?
Ugh. I get stomach cramps every time I hear those two words together. Evan Almighty. It was bad enough having to endure three months of posters up in Los Angeles. Bobby Florsheim, my writing partner, and I wrote a spec script called “Passion of the Ark” that sold to Sony after a seven-studio bidding war. It was about a guy who is visited by God and told to build an ark, ultimately, to fix his troubled personal life. It was a big, summer tent-pole comedy. PG-13. It didn’t have any of the environmental subtext or preachy elements to it. It was pure summer fun. After Sony bought it, Tom Shadyac, with the help of Steve Oedekerk, refashioned it (to put it kindly) into Evan Almighty. There are a lot of structural elements that still exist from our original script, but our version of the story of the story is very different from what eventually wound up on screen. It’s still a sore subject for me. Because our script was repackaged as Evan Almighty, no one will get a chance to see the story in the way we envisioned it. My experiences with Good Luck Chuck were even more positive because of the way we were treated as writers on that project.
It was basically torn away from us and we were never consulted on the project again.
A while back it was announced you were involved in a remake of “Piranha”. Can you offer us an update?
It’s happening. An amazing director just took over. Alexandre Aja. He directed “High Tension” (which is one of my favorite horror films in the past few years). He also did the first remake of “The Hills Have Eyes”. Alex and his writing partner are reworking the script a little and if all goes as planned, it could be shooting pre-strike.
Why remake it though?
I LOVE horror movies. They’re a real passion of mine. But it’s kind of out of genre for me. I’m considered much more of a comedy and romantic comedy kind of writer. But I heard through the grapevine that a producer I knew (J Todd Harris at IPW) had the remake rights to Piranha. I had what I thought was a pretty interesting take on the material. But I knew that they had no money to spend and couldn’t pay my quote.
So I decided to get creative.
I hooked up with a different writing partner, a college buddy named Pete Goldfinger and we wrote a spec script about, well, piranhas, and called it “Killer Fish”. We sent it to J Todd, who obviously put two and two together and snapped it up with an option. I knew the film would eventually get made, so even though we didn’t see money up front, we knew it would come back to us in dividends later.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in Hollywood, sometimes you’ve got to hustle to get things done.
So the answer to “Why Piranha?” is really because it allowed me to write in the horror genre, something that producers don’t really know me for yet. And I thought our take on the material was fun and different. I know there are a lot of people out there who hate remakes (especially of classics, which the original Piranha was). But I thought, hell, if it’s going to happen anyway, why not throw our hat into the ring and see if we can’t make it better than expected.
And how are “Man-Witch” and “The Spellman Files” coming along?
Great. Man-Witch is also a potential pre-strike movie. Although it’s a little bigger. It’s jam-packed with special effects and big set-pieces. I think it’s all about getting the director, Todd Phillips, and the star, Jack Black, together at the same time. But I feel like it’s going to happen.
We just turned in our first draft of The Spellman Files this past week to Laura Ziskin. And it’ll go into the studio any day now. I’ll know more then.
But I’m happy with the draft. It’s an amazing book by Lisa Lutz. And our first book adaptation. I wrote both Spellman and Man-Witch with Bobby as well.
– CLINT MORRIS
GOOD LUCK CHUCK opens this week
