Ron Kovic's memoir became a film property long before it became a successful movie. In 1976, after seeing Kovic speak publicly at the Democratic National Convention, Al Pacino became interested in playing him, and Pacino's manager, producer Martin Bregman, acquired the film rights for $150,000 through Artists Entertainment Complex. Paramount was expected to distribute the picture, with filming planned for June 1977, but the project collapsed when Pacino and Bregman disliked the screenplay and Paramount withdrew. Oliver Stone was then brought in to help rewrite the material. Stone, himself a Vietnam veteran, bonded with Kovic over their war experiences and eventually optioned the book in 1978, but the production continued to ricochet between financiers and studios. United Artists and later Orion Pictures became involved, Daniel Petrie was hired to direct, and then German investors withdrew only weeks before rehearsals were due to begin. The film briefly moved to Universal, but Bregman and Pacino finally departed, with Bregman judging the project nearly impossible to make and fearing it would be overshadowed by the success of Coming Home. Stone and Kovic abandoned the film for years, until Platoon's success allowed Stone to revive it. The eventual 1989 production was therefore the survivor of a remarkably long cycle of abandoned scripts, changing directors, lost financing, and studio hesitation over a politically charged Vietnam story.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s-1980s
The Twelve-Year Development Hell Behind Born on the Fourth of July
Born on the Fourth of July / 1970s-1980s
Ron Kovic's memoir became a film property long before it became a successful movie. In 1976, after seeing Kovic speak publicly at the Democratic National Convention, Al Pacino became interested in playing him, and Pacino's manager, producer Martin Bregman, acquired the film rights for $150,000 through Artists Entertainment Complex. Paramount was expected to distribute the picture, with filming planned for June 1977, but the project collapsed when Pacino and Bregman disliked the screenplay and Paramount withdrew. Oliver Stone was then brought in to help rewrite the material. Stone, himself a Vietnam veteran, bonded with Kovic over their war experiences and eventually optioned the book in 1978, but the production continued to ricochet between financiers and studios. United Artists and later Orion Pictures became involved, Daniel Petrie was hired to direct, and then German investors withdrew only weeks before rehearsals were due to begin. The film briefly moved to Universal, but Bregman and Pacino finally departed, with Bregman judging the project nearly impossible to make and fearing it would be overshadowed by the success of Coming Home. Stone and Kovic abandoned the film for years, until Platoon's success allowed Stone to revive it. The eventual 1989 production was therefore the survivor of a remarkably long cycle of abandoned scripts, changing directors, lost financing, and studio hesitation over a politically charged Vietnam story.
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