Neal Edelstein

🎥 Movie producing: Mulholland Drive, The Ring, The Straight Story, Haunting Melissa, etc…

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

After the success of The Ring, I reached out to Koji Suzuki’s agent in New York and asked what else he had that would make a great film. A package of roughly 200 pages of short stories arrived at my office the following week, and one immediately stood out: Adrift — a haunting, deceptively simple tale about a fishing boat lost at sea.

Mike Macari and I quickly optioned the story and brought on Stephen Susco, fresh off writing The Grudge. The project ultimately landed at Dimension Films with Bob Weinstein, largely because the Japanese publisher forced the situation. By then, Mike and I already knew enough to understand that avoiding Bob and Harvey whenever possible was usually the wiser course.

Predictably, Adrift disappeared into the familiar machinery of development hell — not through any fault of the material, but through mishandling and inertia. It remains an extraordinary short story and, in the right hands, would make a superb film. At some point the rights migrated to someone claiming years of involvement with the project, a revisionist version of events that mirror the fiction of the novella.

Suzuki was a remarkable writer. His stories carried an eerie emotional gravity that lingered long after the final page, and I suspect his work will continue to be discovered, studied, and enjoyed for as long as people continue to read.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

Movie king…

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@2x4seven The revenue and job creation around an NFL team and game day for a city is massive. You know this.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

Fellow NT alum @ChrisPlanteShow it’s Graham Platner…

https://t.co/mHfqMugMfX

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

Happy birthday, Clint! An American icon, a leader, and creative visionary. Handed nothing, just hard work and believing in the American dream. No fancy degree, no film school, no express train to the top. Happy birthday Clint!!!!!!...

https://t.co/8lFG7ePDQL

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@THR This I suspect is not true, and they are doing it to raise awareness for the event. They will do it remotely and now bring mega attention to the event because entities like The Hollywood Reporter don't do journalism and investigate; they just spew shit onto social media.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@Phillyfloyd Of course I should add the best producer in the business, Jason Blum. Hands down the best and should be running a major, the track record is undeniable.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

An executive at a major studio once told me, “horror does not work, it’s just a short term play when politics are bad in the country.” This was late 90’s. Proving what I learned very quickly, the people in positions of making decisions in hollywood mostly, have no fucking idea what they are doing. The Ring was rejected by 27 of 29 buyers and Dreamworks initially passed on it. The longer story for another day…

https://t.co/hFVJnZfigy

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

Nepotism, fancy degrees, zero grit or passion nor a true boots on the ground understanding of how movies are made. Thus the collapse. A man builds it, his son expands it the next generations destroys it. Exactly what’s happening. In my career worked with a few execs at studio side who actually know the whole process. Start with Cale Boyter and Matt Moore, two superb humans who know movies cold. Form and Fuller too as well as Robbie Brenner.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

No, they could have done what SAW did. It was a failing of Dreamworks, and look at the studio now, where is it? Dustbin. Arrogance ran the movie side, wealthy elites who could not lower themselves to make low-budget horror yet could not figure out why the studio was losing money. (Not Stephen S.)

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@MatthewNichol5 Fear Strikes Out!! https://t.co/1nAgQxVjNt

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@RussekFilm Politics are always bad.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@xvbpee Grammar my failing as well as spelling.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@alfbennymedia All financial losers. Any other studio would have made 10 by now as one does when running a studio to make money to make more movies.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@alfbennymedia The Ring was not a franchise because the people running DreamWorks are snobs and did not see the business side. A massive mistake, of course. Now it can be revived with the same director and lead actress, but we shall see.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@ChuckC07 *studios.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@ChuckC07 Have to take risks and love movies. If all studies were run my producers the industry would thrive, but I am biased!

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@ytahen People who don't love movies don't know movies. Fancy degrees, highly intelligent, high-paying jobs, and a cushy lifestyle, but not movie lovers. By and large, not all in my experience. But worst trait, not risk-takers, weak, and scared.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@DomSalvaggio Ignore them, innovate on your own. Tell your stories your way; the middlemen are all going to be removed.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@Sandman__29 dealing. Love this guy, dialed in for my Chi Sox and showing some fire!!

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

@PewPewBangKaPow Not the same movie but same title.

[Neal Edelstein @NealEdelstein]

After the success of The Ring, I reached out to Koji Suzuki’s agent in New York and asked what else he had that would make a great film. A package of roughly 200 pages of short stories arrived at my office the following week, and one immediately stood out: Adrift — a haunting, deceptively simple tale about a fishing boat lost at sea.

Mike Macari and I quickly optioned the story and brought on Stephen Susco, fresh off writing The Grudge. The project ultimately landed at Dimension Films with Bob Weinstein, largely because the Japanese publisher forced the situation. By then, Mike and I already knew enough to understand that avoiding Bob and Harvey whenever possible was usually the wiser course.

Predictably, Adrift disappeared into the familiar machinery of development hell — not through any fault of the material, but through mishandling and inertia. It remains an extraordinary short story and, in the right hands, would make a superb film. At some point the rights migrated to someone claiming years of involvement with the project, a revisionist version of events that mirror the fiction of the novella.

Suzuki was a remarkable writer. His stories carried an eerie emotional gravity that lingered long after the final page, and I suspect his work will continue to be discovered, studied, and enjoyed for as long as people continue to read.