Designs by H. R. Giger: The Tourist - the little HR Giger Page

Frank Roddam directs Jennifer Beals in THE BRIDE. Roddam tried to launch THE TOURIST at American Zoetrope.she did, but it's quite commonthat a producer will take a pieceand just say, 'I own it and I'm goingto do what I like with it.' Andthat wasn't the original deal."Although he didn't have theopportunity to create the film,Roddam's involvement withTHE TOURIST mess did putthe director in the middle of abonafide Hollywood legend.The story, as it goes, involves afistfight between Roddam andformer TOURIST director BrianGibson on a plane over therights to Noto's script. Neverhappened, said Roddam. "Thefight was between Brian andAdrian Lyne at Morton's overwho would pick up the checkfor their meal. I just happenedto be there."Despite bad memories of adeal never completed, Roddamhas fond memories of the scriptand his chance to work with itswriter. "Clair is an extraordinaryperson,"he said. "I oftenthink of Clair as being one ofthe greatest cinematic talentswho one doesn't hear of."I think a lot of directors readTHE TOURIST and have raidedit You'll see elements of it in otherpeople's movies. The tragedywas that THE TOURIST couldhave been a film way ahead of itstime, fantastically hip, totallycool. It's been out there in theopen air in Hollywood and had itsbones picked. If THE TOURISThad broken through, if Francishadn't been such an asshole, itwould have been a great movie, Ithink. It was a project I felt veryclose to and, when it fell through,it was a project that I very reluctantlyput out of my life."By the time Zoetrope went under,Coppola had Noto's turnaroundoption. THE TOURISTeventually found its way back toUniversal and to the desk of ReneeMissell. From that point on,Noto was not allowed near itagain. Brian Gibson, againnamed director, wanted her totake another stab at the script, butMissell would not hear of it. Asindividual studios continued tomake money off the optioningand reoptioning of the script, Notowouldn't see a dime.ne reason, Notobelieves, that thevarious rewritesof THE TOUR-IST have failed to find favor istheir lack of the original author'svoice. "It's a very idiosyncraticscript," she said. "Ithink that other writers can hearthose voices. Those voices arefrom my past. Every time somebodytries to rewrite it, thescript just doesn't come together.That's been part of the problem."Every time somebody got ahold of the script," Noto continued,"they just held onto it.Warner Bros had it for seven oreight years, optioning it afterthey knew they weren't going tomake it. They didn't want tohave it back to Universal andhave them make it into a successfulpicture, which wouldhave made Warner Bros lookbad. It's like a stupid chessgame. Universal spent a shitloadof money because of theGiger designs and paid for severalrewrites with different writers,and I think they had morethan one director on it. THETOURIST has always had incrediblesupporters and incredibledetractors. Right from thevery beginning it aroused verystrong feelings one way or another.People were either verytaken by it or felt it was the Antichrist. I still don't, to this day,really comprehend what all thefuss was about. I think THETOURIST is an interesting story,but I don't see the degree towhich people have responded toit."To date, ownership of THETOURIST remains with Universal,which is currently beingwooed by heavyweight producerJoel (DIE HARD) Silver,who wants to produce the filmand has been offering largeamounts of money for therights. Noto believes Universalis reluctant to release the propertyfor the same reason Warnerskept such a tight hold on itfor so long, fear of looking foolishif it should become a hit foranother studio.THE TOURIST is a unique,original work that has yet, 14years after being written, to fallby the wayside. "There is somethingabout that script," Notosaid with incredulity. "It has alife of its own. I don't get it.Something that Giger couldhave been involved with, thatother people were involved withon such an emotional level.Millions of dollars spent; optionmoney paid year after year andit all comes to nothing. It's likeCITIZEN KANE, for crying outloud!"•Below: Noto's suggestions for the part of Grace Ripley, the script's strong female lead. Turner was suggested by others and Madonna was sent the script.54Kim Basinger Theresa Russell Sharon Stone Michelle Pfeiffer Kathleen Turner Madonna