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If there is anything more iconic than Steven Spielberg in the film industry, it has to be his friendship with yet another renowned filmmaker, George Lucas. The two have time and again proven why they are such good friends and that they will always have each other’s back. However, Steven Spielberg began doubting his allegiance to George Lucas when he saw the reception of Tom Cruise’sRain Man.
Steven Spielberg was one of the few names who were in the running to direct the road dramedy starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. However, he decided to walk away from the opportunity to direct George Lucas’Indiana Jones and the Last Crusadeinstead, something which he sort of regrets looking back on the past.
Steven Spielberg Regrets Saying No to‘Rain Man’
Steven Spielbergwas attached toRain Manfor five months before he packed his things up and left to doGeorge Lucas’Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.After the film’s release,Rain Manreceived much praise for everything from the casting to the story toBarry Levinson’s direction.
As if the positive feedback wasn’t enough, the film went on to receive eight nominations at the 61stAcademy Awards. It won under four categories including Best Picture, Best Actor forDustin Hoffman, and Best Director. Needless to say, Spielberg felt a pang of regret in his chest looking back at his decision to walk out.
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In a resurfaced 36-minute-long TV interview (viaGrantland), Spielberg was seen voicing his regrets. When BBC’s Barry Norman asked the filmmaker if giving up onRain Manhurt, Spielberg replied,
Sure it did. Sure it did. When the film began winning Best Picture and Best Writer, I kept thinking, God, maybe I should have forgotten my entire friendship with George Lucas and said, ‘George, go hire somebody else to do Indy 3’… Of course I thought about that!
On the other hand,Indiana Jones 3also received positive reviews from fans and critics. It also received 3 nominations at the 62ndAcademy Awards but none of them were for Best Picture, Best Director, or Best Screenplay. The film however won an Oscar for Best Sound Editing. Unfortunately, Spielberg did not win a single award for his direction, nor was he nominated for any.
Steven Spielberg Believes Barry Levinson Was the Right Man for the Job
While Spielberg sure has his regrets about not doingRain Man,he also believes that Levinson did incredible work on the film. In fact, he even went as far as to say that if he was attached to the film as a director and did exactly what Levinson did frame by frame, he still wouldn’t have been nominated for Best Director.
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He went on to say that perhaps with his involvement, the dramedy would have won as many awards as it did.
Spielberg stated,
Practically speaking, if my name had been on Rain Man, shot for shot what Barry had done … I probably in my hearts of hearts don’t think I would even have been nominated as director on that film, and I’m not sure the film would have won that many awards.
Rain Manfollows the story of two brothers –Tom Cruise’s Charlie Babbit and Hoffman’s Raymond Babbit. After Charlie discovers that his father has died and left his multimillion-dollar estate to Raymond, an autistic savant, the two embark on a cross-country journey where Charlie completely transforms as a person.
StreamRain Manon Prime Video andIndiana Jones and the Last Crusadeon Disney+.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2258
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you may find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
