Film Stories with Simon Brew

Film Stories with Simon Brew

Film Stories with Simon Brew is a podcast that looks to dig into the stories behind popular movies.From troubled productions, to rights issues, to difficulties with release to films nearly falling apart, the podcast will be looking at the stories that don't always seem apparent when watching a movie! The podcast is hosted by Simon Brew, the founder of Den Of Geek. Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/simonbrew. Thank you!

Episodes

In conversation with Phil Johnston - The Twits, Wreck-It Ralph, Cedar Rapids and more

October 17, 2025 • 36 mins
Quite the story, this. Phil Johnston, in a special episode of Film Stories, takes us through his own tale, and how it led to a nomination at the Academy Awards. He and Simon chat through the struggles to get The Twits - an adaptation of Roald Dahl's book - off the ground, and how for a few weeks it all looked like it'd fallen apart. Plus, how he landed at Disney with Wreck-It Ralph, how Ralph Breaks The Interest earned him an Osc...
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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) and Doctor Who (2010s unmade movie)

October 13, 2025 • 60 mins
There's a time travel theme to this latest episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, starting with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Quite the story behind this, too. The distributor going bankrupt just as the movie was being finished, the year-long delay to its release, the audition that threw Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter together...? There's quite the story behind it all. In the early 2010s too, one interview ignited a whole conv...
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In conversation with David Zucker | Top Secret, Airplane, The Naked Gun, The Star Of Malta, books, and more

October 10, 2025 • 79 mins
In a very special episode of the Film Stories podcast, writer/producer/director David Zucker joins Simon for a conversation about his work. Amongst the films that come up in the chat? Airplane!, which is shortly getting as we'll hear an unusual director's cut, Top Secret!, the original The Naked Gun trilogy, My Big Fat Important Important (better known as An American Carol), Baseketball and more. Plus: a pair of books, bring ex...
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Top Gun (1986), plus Embeth Davidtz

October 6, 2025 • 75 mins
It started as a magazine article, and ended up as a global phenomenon. Yet the journey to 1986's Top Gun wasn't a straightforward one. You have cast members unsure if they wanted to commit and a studio that took a long time to decide it wanted the film. Then, director Tony Scott started shooting the movie in a way that, er, Paramount Pictures wasn't keen on. For the second half of this episode, it was a thrill to be joined by Embe...
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In conversation with Malcolm McDowell

October 2, 2025 • 35 mins
Now here's a man with a whole bunch of stories. Malcolm McDowell joins the Film Stories podcast for a special episode, where we go through his stories. The conversation takes us from ITV's Crossroads to his latest release - The Partisan - which is in cinemas now (and on digital from 27th October.) We find out where Burscough comes into his life, there are stories about Peter Sellers, a bit of Michael Caine, and his work on The Par...
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The Running Man (1987) and Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

September 29, 2025 • 61 mins
The first screen adaptation of The Running Man saw four different directors fired, the final director come in once filming had begun (while Arnold Schwarzenegger and his lycra were away from the set). Schwarzenegger would lament the final film, and Stephen King - who penned the original novel (as Richard Bachman) - wouldn't be hugely impressed either. But still: there's a reason it's still talked about today. In development for d...
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In conversation with Michael Kurinsky | Scoob: Holiday Haunt, The Beatles, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros and more

September 26, 2025 • 105 mins
Well, where do you start? Michael Kurinsky is a man whose built a career that saw him drawing enormous pictures of The Beatles, to a dream of working for Warner Bros, to years with Disney, years with Sony Pictures Animation, and then the jump to the place he was in awe of. His Warner Bros experience saw him working on the film Scoob!, and then he was offered his lifelong ambition: the director's chair. The film in question was S...
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and All Is Lost (2013)

September 22, 2025 • 72 mins
The Shawshank Redemption, just starring Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford in the lead roles? It might just have happened, if writer/director Frank Darabont hadn't turned down a life-changing offer to let someone else direct the film. Instead, he dug in, and put together - across a testing production - a film that's gone on to be very highly regarded. Even after it flopped at the box office. The late Robert Redford meanwhile was 77 yea...
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Reservoir Dogs (1992) and the DIVX video disc format (1998)

September 15, 2025 • 75 mins
A lot of the story of Quentin Tarantino's debut movie, Reservoir Dogs, is very well known. The tale of a man working in a video store writing scripts, and becoming Hollywood's hottest filmmaker in a matter of years. But still: there are also tales of sticky blood. Of casting fly-bys. And of a ban that actually was nothing of the sort. The second film story in this episode? The DIVX disc, a format that launched pretty much alongsid...
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The entire Divergent franchise (2014-2016) and Adventureland (2009)

September 8, 2025 • 75 mins
Twilight and The Hunger Games set the bar high for young adult movie adaptations in late 2000s/early 2010s, and when Veronica Roth's Divergent series of books came onto the market, a deal was soon struck. The plan? A trilogy of movies, which soon expanded to four films. The challenge? Making them to hit an annual release slot, against a backdrop of overlapping schedules and keeping the audience interested. Things would not go to p...
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In conversation with Samara Weaving and Jimmy Warden

September 6, 2025 • 46 mins
In this special episode of Film Stories, Samara Weaving, Jimmy Warden and - yes! - Muriel the dog join Simon for a chat. Jimmy has written/directed the film Borderline, which arrives in the UK on demand in September 2025. Samara Weaving stars in the film, and the pair talk about the movie, a weird Junior jigsaw, getting permission from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Celine Dion, a bit of Bill & Ted, and a whole lot more. Please leave ...
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The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (1994), plus Jay Roach

August 25, 2025 • 69 mins
The late, great Terence Stamp's death at the age of 87 has left behind an incredible body of work, but what a gamble The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert was. He'd never headlined a comedy, he'd never done a musical, he wasn't keen on Australia - and yet he agreed to sign up for a low budget Australian indie that over three decades later, is still awash with stories. The second half of this episode is handed over to di...
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In conversation with Chris Columbus: The Thursday Murder Club, Nine Months, Maiden Voyage, The Beatles and more

August 22, 2025 • 50 mins
Returning to the Film Stories podcast is writer/director/producer Chris Columbus, as his new movie - The Thursday Murder Club - arrives in cinemas, with Netflix release due at the end of August 2025. He talks Simon through the movie, and where it was when he came to it. They also chat about Hugh Grant's hair in Nine Months, films he's produced such as Didi and Patti Cake$, and we get a bit of a guided tour of his office, too... Le...
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Cruel Intentions (1999), plus Akiva Schafer

August 18, 2025 • 59 mins
Writer/director Roger Kumble had never made a film as he approached the back end of the 1999s, but had two very acclaimed plays under his belt. This, he figures, was his moment, and in under two weeks, he wrote the first draft of what would become Cruel Intentions. And while the project would soon pick up momentum, it still required him to get on his knees and basically beg one of his lead stars to appear in the movie. The second ...
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In conversation with Mikael Salomon - The Abyss, Hard Rain, Backdraft, Arachnophobia, and a whole lot more

August 7, 2025 • 81 mins
In a very special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon chats to cinematographer and director Mikael Salomon. The pair go through Mikael's extraordinary career, that's taken him from Denmark to Hollywood and back again. And Mikael tells his stories: his early years, how he came to the attention of James Cameron, working on The Abyss, Arachnophobia, Always and more, and then turning to direct (not least with the challenging H...
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In conversation with director Matt Shakman: The Fantastic Four, Dick Tracy, Gremlins 2, writing career-changing letters

July 23, 2025 • 47 mins
In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by director Matt Shakman. They were chatting at the junket for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is now in cinemas. But this conversation went in lots of different directions. For your eardrums here, we go into Dick Tracy, Gremlins 2, the Star Trek film that never was, and the career-changing letter he wrote when he was young. Quite the chat this, with a movie ...
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The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

July 21, 2025 • 66 mins
The very future of the James Bond movie franchise was resting on The Spy Who Loved Me. Producer Albert R Broccoli was contending with the dissolution of his business partnership, a potential rival film, and an underperforming previous 007 film. Plus, questions about his leading man. And it was a leading man causing conversations when it came to Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach. Where was Steve Guttenberg? Come to think of ...
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Naked Gun 33 1/3 (1994) and Cast Away (2000)

July 14, 2025 • 60 mins
The behind the scenes stories of two movies, starting with Naked Gun 33 1/3, a movie that saw franchise director David Zucker opt to step back, and thirtysomething Peter Segal make his directorial debut. The problem? There was a comedy to make, and Segal was struggling to get a connection with his leading man, the late Leslie Nielsen. 2000's Cast Away meanwhile would be a movie that contributed to health problems Tom Hanks has put...
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In conversation with Nick Mohammed

July 10, 2025 • 41 mins
He's currently - at the time of recording - touring the UK with his Mr Swallow show, but Nick Mohammed is also one of the leads in Deep Cover, a really impressive UK film that's riding high on Prime Video. In this Film Stories special, he talks to Simon about his ventures into movies, joining Slow Horses, the impact of Ted Lasso, and his love of magic... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Godfather Part III (1990) and Clueless (1995)

July 7, 2025 • 69 mins
Nearly 500 episodes in, and the Film Stories podcast finally arrives at a Godfather film. Specifically, The Godfather Part III, a fascinating project whose behind the scenes story went on for over a decade. The number of attempts to get the film made climbed into double figures, named such as Sylvester Stallone, Madonna and John Travolta were amongst those linked. But also: writer/director Francis Ford Coppola was not keen to mak...
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