Barry Diller, the trailblazing former CEO of Paramount Studios, revealed the high-stakes drama behind some massive Hollywood hits in his new memoir, Who Knew, released earlier this week.
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As written by the New York Post, Diller faced skepticism as he led Paramount from fifth place to the top studio, championing films like Saturday Night Fever, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Beverly Hills Cop during his 1974-1984 tenure. He was just 35 years old at the time.
Anyway, in 1977, a publicist warned Diller that Saturday Night Fever would flop because its star, John Travolta, was "just a television person." Diller, then a young executive proving himself, dismissed the critique. "Not old Hollywood asses," he thought. Two weeks later, the film opened to massive crowds, with lines wrapping around theaters nationwide. The success catapulted Paramount to No. 1 and silenced critics who mocked Diller as an outsider ruining the studio.
The film's unconventional approach -- no A-list stars, a little-known director, and a fresh idea -- actually redefined moviemaking. "All these Frankenstein-like parts came together while those around us thought we were amateurs," Diller wrote. The triumph was a personal victory for Diller, who faced constant scrutiny from industry veterans.
Hits and Misses
Diller's tenure wasn't without missteps. He greenlit flops like The Sorcerer, a costly "nightmare" from director William Friedkin, and The Last Tycoon, a star-studded dud featuring Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson. "What could go wrong? Everything," Diller recalls of the latter. He also admits to misjudging Grease, urging Travolta to star in American Gigolo instead. Travolta's refusal paid off, as Grease became a cultural phenomenon.
Controversies abounded. During a 1976 Marathon Man screening, audiences recoiled at a brutal torture scene, booing and storming out. Diller was evacuated from the theater for his safety. A 1976 King Kong remake nearly derailed when producer Dino De Laurentiis cast an untested model, Jessica Lange, and suggested cosmetic surgery before her screen test.
Diller's run-ins with directors were equally turbulent. He paid Terrence Malick $500,000 to "experiment" after Days of Heaven, only to receive vague updates about ideas like a paraplegic in a footrace. Malick didn't direct again for 20 years.
Hollywood Egos and Excess
Before Paramount, Diller revolutionized television at ABC, creating the Movie of the Week and miniseries. Hollywood, however, was a different beast, "where ego and self-promotion corroded everything," he writes.
His boss, Charlie Bluhdorn, pitched absurd ideas like a Sitting Bull-Hitler war movie. Cocaine permeated sets, with Diller discovering his driver was a dealer supplying his friends.
At 20th Century Fox, where Diller served as CEO from 1984 to 1992, he initially opposed casting Bruce Willis in Die Hard.
"Who cares about Bruce Willis?" he argued. A chaotic shoot involving an office tower's "destruction" further tested his patience, but the film's rough cut changed his mind.
"This is not a good movie. This is a great movie," he told the director, though he still insisted Willis' face stay off posters.
As for Grease, well, Diller is just glad he didn't burn it to the ground.
