Why did Hollywood studios reject the script for Being John Malkovich?
In short: When writer Charlie Kaufman shopped his surrealist script in 1994, every studio passed. Even after Spike Jonze signed on to direct, New Line Cinema dropped the project when its chairman asked why the film could not be titled Being Tom Cruise. Malkovich himself initially wondered if he was doomed.
The film follows Craig Schwartz, an unemployed puppeteer who discovers a hidden portal inside his office building that leads directly into the mind of actor John Malkovich. Kaufman, who wrote the script on spec, always intended for the title character to be Malkovich, specifically choosing him for the enigmatic quality he projected and the rhythmic sound of his name when repeated. Despite the script's eventual acclaim, the path to production was fraught with skepticism.
When the film finally moved into production with a $10 million budget, the cast faced unique challenges. Cameron Diaz, playing a pet-obsessed wife, was styled to look intentionally homely, to the point where she was unrecognizable to many viewers. John Cusack, seeking the most unproduceable script available, landed the role of the puppeteer after specifically requesting a challenge from his agent. John Malkovich himself was initially half-intrigued and half-horrified by the premise, fearing that if the film failed, he would be permanently linked to a disaster, and if it succeeded, he would be forever associated with a bizarre character.
The film’s surreal narrative, which includes a floor located between the 7th and 8th levels of a building and a plot involving body-snatching, resonated with critics upon its 1999 release. It earned widespread praise for its originality and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Roger Ebert, who named it the best film of 1999, lauded it as a work of limitless imagination that created a entirely new world. While the film grossed over $32 million internationally, its legacy remains defined by its defiance of traditional Hollywood conventions, proving that a script once deemed unproduceable could become a landmark of surrealist cinema.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Being John Malkovich
- Also: Wikidata — Being John Malkovich · CC0
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