Pope-aThough the novel received mixed reviews, legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis purchased the rights to
Hannibal for a record $10 million:
Before publication, the manuscript went out to Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, and Jonathan Demme, who had expressed an interest in directing the sequel.
Dino and his wife then flew from Malta, where they were filming Universal's U-571, to New York to meet with Demme and begin structuring a deal. Some time later, however, Dino received a call from Demme's agent, CAA's Rick Nicita:
"He say to me, 'Dino, I have-a no good news for you," De Laurentiis recalled. "Jonathan Demme pass [a possible ploy to extract a higher director's fee].' I say, 'Rick, when the Pope-a die, we create a new Pope-a. Good luck to Jonathan Demme. Good-bye.'"
[Why did Jodie Foster not return for the sequel? "I call the agent of Judy Foster," De Laurentiis recalled. "He say to me, 'I have instruction. She no want to read the script if you no give her an offer of $20 million and 15 percent of the gross.' And I say, 'Give my love to Judy Foster, good-bye.'"]
[Trivia: In their book
The Golden Turkey Awards, film critics Harry and Michael Medved panned De Laurentiis for producing a succession of costly failures during the 1970s. Their nickname for the producer? "Dino Di Horrendous".]
De Laurentiis, Dino [born Agostino] (1919- ) Italian producer, DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) founder (1984) [noted for his production of more than 100 films]
[Sources: Premiere, February 2001]More Dino De Laurentiis anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
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