Steven Spielberg is no stranger to intense films, but there’s one project he found so brutal that he passed it off like a hot potato. Picture this: Spielberg was initially set to direct Schindler’s List but found himself tangled in a different script—a $182M Robert De Niro movie so violent, it made him think twice. Instead of diving into the blood-soaked world of Cape Fear, he swapped with his buddy Martin Scorsese, who took on the De Niro thriller with gusto.
Meanwhile, Spielberg went on to craft the haunting and historic Schindler’s List. Sometimes, a little film trade among friends can lead to cinematic masterpieces on both ends!
Did Spielberg and Scorsese Make a Hollywood Deal for Two Iconic Films?
This is a story that’s been whispered in Hollywood corridors for decades. A tale of cinematic titans trading places, a Hollywood handshake deal worth billions. But is it true?
Here’s the scoop: Back in the ‘80s, American filmmaker Steven Spielberg was itching to adapt the Australian novelist’s historical fiction, Schindler’s List. But Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese had his eyes set on it. At the same time, Spielberg was busy with a remake of Cape Fear, a gritty $182M thriller starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, and others—just the kind of dark, intense project Scorsese craved.
In a plot twist worthy of Tinseltown, a deal was struck: Spielberg got Schindler’s List, Scorsese got Cape Fear. Both films were hits, with Spielberg scooping Oscars. Superagent and Chairman of the Creative Artists Agency, Michael Ovitz, played the ideal broker like a master (via Slash Film).
Per THR’s published oral history of the making of the historical film adaptation, Ovitz spilled the tea:
Through a period of weeks and a lot of conversations between me and Steven, me and Marty, and Marty and Steven, we agreed on a swap: Steven would give Marty ‘Cape Fear’ and executive produce it… and Marty would give Steven all the work he did on ‘Schindler’s,’ plus the underlying rights. We closed that deal verbally, all shook hands, and then the hard part began.
Fast forward to today, and both directors are casting doubt on this version of events. Michael Ovitz, the super-agent who allegedly brokered the deal, is sticking to his story, claiming it was a complex negotiation involving career trajectories and box office clout.
But Spielberg and Scorsese, the men at the heart of the story, are singing a different tune. Did a Hollywood power play really shape two cinematic masterpieces? Or is this a case of a good story getting better with age? As the truth unravels, one thing is certain: the legacy of these films remains untarnished, regardless of how they came to be.
Steven Spielberg Reveals the Most Paranoid Movie He’s Ever Seen
Steven Spielberg, the man behind blockbusters like Jaws and E.T., has a dark side. The Oscar-winning director confessed that Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View is the ultimate paranoia-inducing flick. You know, the one where Warren Beatty plays a journalist digging into a shadowy organization that’s into, well, killing people for a living? Spielberg alluded (Far Out Magazine):
The Parallax View was the most paranoid movie I’ve ever seen, next to Mickey One. This movie’s more like The French Connection, as brutally realistic within a dramatic story-telling structure.
But it’s not just Pakula who gets Spielberg’s pulse racing. He’s also a big fan of Arthur Penn’s Mickey One, another mind-bending thriller about a comedian on the run from the mob.
It’s no surprise then that Spielberg’s own Close Encounters of the Third Kind has a healthy dose of paranoia. Turns out, the master of suspense was just as scared as the rest of us.
Watch the films Schindler’s List and Cape Fear on Apple TV & Starz TV.
