The Steven Spielberg-directed and Tom Cruise-starring Minority Report (2002) film was based on Philip K. Dick’s short story. It explored a society where people were caught for thought crimes. Made on a budget of $102 million, the film grossed $358 million. But that’s not all.
Even though there was initial criticism of the film, nowadays, the movie is considered to be a masterpiece and is credited for predicting the rise of gadgets, surveillance systems, and more. However, Spielberg wasn’t initially sold on the film.
Steven Spielberg Wasn’t Convinced After Reading The Minority Report Script
Minority Report marked a long-awaited collaboration between Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. It was Cruise who approached the director with an early version of the script by Jon Cohen. But Spielberg had no faith in that script and thought the movie was going to tank if they adapted it. So he hired Scott Frank to rewrite it. In an interview with Script mag, Scott Frank explained how he became involved with the project. The writer said:
“Steven Spielberg asked me to take a look at Jon Cohen’s script in January of 1999. He said that he and Tom Cruise planned to be shooting by that summer. I had no interest in science fiction, no time, and three other obligations so naturally I said, ‘Sure. Send it over’—a classic case of my ego saying, ‘Hmm, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise. …’ How could I say no?”
Frank thought he would simply rework Cohen’s script but things quickly took a turn when he realized that he had more time to work on the script. He said:
“At the time, we were going to be starting production in six months, so I didn’t think that I would be reinventing the wheel. I would simply ‘fix’ Jon’s script per [Steven Spielberg’s] notes, and that would be that. I had no real vision of my own—yet. But as the schedule for Mission: Impossible II started to, shall we say, elongate, I realized that I was going to have more—a lot more—time to work on the Minority Report script.”
When Frank ultimately submitted the script, Spielberg loved it and said “This is the only way I see the movie.” The project then went into production. As for star Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg only has good things to say.
Steven Spielberg Gushes About Tom Cruise’s Hollywood Future
In an interview with Roger Ebert, Steven Spielberg complimented Tom Cruise by saying that he will have a long Hollywood career. He said, “I like to consider Tom my William Holden. He’s going to be around until he’s an old, old man, if he wants to continue acting. He’ll be great-looking and he’ll be heartfelt as he is now; he’ll get better with age.” But that’s not all.
The director also expressed that one of the positive traits of the Mission Impossible star was that he wasn’t afraid to immerse himself into a character. He said, “He’s not afraid to cry, to lose his temper, to become unglued. I think of him as a character actor. Look at his character in ‘Magnolia’ and his Ron Kovic in ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ and Jerry Macguire, and the vampire Lestat. Those are characters.”
Many directors have backed up Spielberg’s views on Cruise. Even though the Top Gun star is known for his action stunts, he’s a great actor who has no qualms portraying layered characters, just like he did in Minority Report.
Minority Report is available on Netflix.
Source: Script and Roger Ebert
