Joyce Maynard, author, “To Die For”: In the summer of 1990, my three children left for two weeks to spend time with their father. And speaking of Oscars, “To Die For” also showcased impressive early turns by recent winners Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) and Casey Affleck (“Manchester By the Sea”) and Van Sant himself would later earn two directing nominations, for 1998’s “Good Will Hunting” and 2008’s “Milk.”Īs they mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of the film’s release on September 27, 14 creatives who worked with Van Sant both in front-of and behind the camera reveal what it took to make a killer example of what happens when studio’s risk-taking collides with uncompromising art. The film was also the first American-made starring vehicle for then-breakout Australian actor Kidman, whose embrace of a sociopathic, anti-hero female protagonist - before that was trendy - would set in motion for the future Oscar-winner (“The Hours”) one of Hollywood’s most enviable, enduring careers. Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara Will Pay for You to Rent Environmental Doc ‘The Smell of Money’ With his seminal 1995 film “ To Die For,” Gus Van Sant proved what many assumed was an impossibility at the apotheosis of indie filmmaking: A director known for making movies apologetically in the margins of Hollywood (“Drugstore Cowboy,” “My Own Private Idaho”) could collaborate with a major studio without the former sacrificing his edge and the latter losing a hell of a lot of money.īut how the Sony/Columbia Pictures release - centered on aspiring small-town TV reporter Suzanne Stone Maretto ( Nicole Kidman), who coerces a pair of dim, teen townies to kill her husband - came to be is unto itself a juicy, celluloid-worthy saga.įrom the novel that started it all (based loosely on the real-life tabloid drama of Pamela Smart, who was sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill her husband in 1990), to the A-listers who almost got cast - Meg Ryan, Matt Damon, and Sandra Bullock, for three to Van Sant’s tricky collaboration with two industry legends (“The Graduate” screenwriter Buck Henry and “Pretty Woman” producer Laura Ziskin) and the dismal test screenings that almost killed the movie altogether, “To Die For” has endured because its collaborators refused to pander to their audience.
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