R.P.M. (Roger Avary, 1994-1995) (produced without Dolph)

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R.P.M. (Roger Avary, 1994-1995) (produced without Dolph)

Postby Jox on 22 Jun 2015, 11:54

Image

Project infos:
http://www.dolph-ultimate.com/dolph-in/rpm.html
Synopsis:
http://www.dolph-ultimate.com/dolph-in/ ... opsis.html

One of Dolph's most infamous aborted projects is R.P.M., a ensemble thriller written by former Tarantino partner and Oscar winner Roger Avary (PULP FICTION, KILLING ZOE, MR STICH, RULES OF ATTRACTION) and to be produced by Morgan Mason (producer of SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE, son of James Mason).

Avary came up with the story with one of the most unlikely casts assembled at the time: Matt Dillon, Dolph, Jean Hughes Anglade, Chow Yun-Fat, Vanessa Paradis, Terence Stamp, Eric Stolz, Nastassja Kinski, Daniel Auteuil, Ron Perlman... Avary first penned a treatment and wrote the screenplay during 1995.

Dolph was to play "a former KGB agent turned car thief entrepreneur named Klaus":
Klaus (Dolph Lundgren) is plagued by identical "doppelganger" doubles that are coming out of the wood work at an alarming rate. At every turn another one is there trying to kill him. They all seem to be part of an international network of super secret agents that for some reason all look just like Klaus. This has a way of limiting the amount of time Klaus can spend doing his job... stealing cars. And, if it weren't enough already, Klaus can only steal convertibles... his massive height makes it difficult to even get into a car with a roof.

Unfortunately the project stalled when to development hell when New Line (NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, SEVEN, LORD OF THE RINGS) backed out of domestic distribution, Avary stepped out and removed his name from it.

The movie was produced in 1996-1997, after being completely rewritten by the GRUMPY OLD MEN writers (incidently one of them commited suicide not long after) and directed by the GOLDENEYE second unit director Ian Sharp. The cast was David Arquette, Famke Janssen, and Emmanuelle Seigner. The movie turned out to be a turd that was unreleased for years...

Should have been much different and quirkier (imagine the kind of films Avary had written before and after).
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Re: R.P.M. (Roger Avary, 1994-1995) (unproduced with Dolph)

Postby Jox on 23 Mar 2018, 19:36

From what I understand that Dolph told me a few months ago, Roger Avary offered him a role in his latest directorial effort, LUCKY DAY now in post-production, but he had to turn it down...

They know each other well and still want to work together.
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Re: R.P.M. (Roger Avary, 1994-1995) (unproduced with Dolph)

Postby bomaz on 26 Mar 2018, 12:48

I would have loved to see him in an Avary movie (and icing on the cake, facing or joining forces with Crispin Glover).
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Re: R.P.M. (Roger Avary, 1994-1995) (produced without Dolph)

Postby Jox on 27 Oct 2021, 22:33

Interview with Ian Sharp, the director who ended up helming the movie that was ultimately made...
(Sharp was the second unit director on GOLDENEYE, SPLIT SECOND, and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? He more recently directed the NZ film TRACKER with Temuera Morrison and Ray Winstone)
https://www.flashbackfiles.com/ian-sharp-interview
There’s also this film on your filmography called RPM, which I haven’t seen. But I saw that Donald Cammell and Roger AvAry contributed to the script.

That was a huge mistake. I regret ever getting involved. This Swedish guy, who had made a fortune in DVD’s, wanted to get into film production. A friend of mine was going to direct this movie RPM for him, but had to drop out. He then recommended me. I read the script and thought it was terrible. The action in the film could not be shot. The producer wanted it all to be real stunts. I told him it couldn’t be done. I tried so hard to dissuade him. I gave him another script to read, one that I really wanted to do. I pleaded with him to do that one instead. To show you how naïve this guy was: he paid a total of a million dollars to Roger Avary and two other Hollywood screenwriters for a script that was worth five dollars. Eventually, I relented. I had been out of work for two years and needed a job. Roman Polanski’s wife Emmanuelle Seigner was in the film. I met her over dinner. Polanski accompanied her. He asked me if I was going to shoot that script in six weeks. No way it can be done, he said. In the end I did shoot it in six weeks and it shows.

I tried to make something that I knew was impossible. To give you an example: the script had this chase sequence with actual race cars around the harbor in Nice. I told the producer that was impossible to shoot there. He had commissioned stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne, whom I had worked with on GOLDENEYE, to build these cars. The sequence was never shot. But Julienne then put in this enormous bill, to the tune of well over a million, for cars that were never built and stunt guys that hadn’t done the stunts. When the producer didn’t pay the full amount, Julienne impounded the film. The French held on to the film, until Rémy was paid.
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