Liam Gaughan is a film and TV writer at Collider. But more importantly, Hanks was worried Forrest Gump 2 would hurt the legacy of the original film. Once again Gump is up to seemingly impossible tricks such as reviving the fortunes of a struggling New Orleans Saints and inventing a new type of Coke (via Kirkus). In "Forrest Gump" the Vietnam scenes were not shot in Southeast Asia but in South Carolina. Given the somewhat melancholy ending of the film, many audiences hoped to see a day where Forrest would return to the big screen; strangely enough, he almost did. But the saddest scene in the entire film the one that makes us ugly cry for days after the credits are done rolling is when Jenny dies, leaving Forrest absolutely wrecked. At one point in the book, Forrest winds up working at a religious theme park run by infamous evangelist Jim Bakker. Page One: "Forrest Gump" (1994) Screenplay by Eric Roth, novel by Winston Groom. He leaves the bus stop and goes to Jennys apartment, where its revealed she is raising their child. Nevertheless, the controversial comedian and actor was a shoo-in for the role of Bubba but declined because he felt it leaned too heavily on racial stereotypes (via Comedy Hype). According to The New York Times, author Winston Groom had only one legitimate complaint about the film and that's the lack of readers who picked up his 1986 novel for the first time around. Other Oscar winners like The Godfather, Rocky, and The Silence of the Lambs got follow-ups. "Forrest Gump" has an unmade sequel. Roth said the film would have begunwith the revelation thatForrest Junior(Haley Joel Osment) had AIDS, the same disease that killed his mother Jenny Curran, played byRobin Wright. It will never happen to me again." Forrest meets his best good friend Bubba in nam, and they plan to start a shrimp company. The 9/11 terror attacks impacted the production of quite a few films from Spider-Man to Lilo & Stitch but it stopped the Forrest Gump sequel from even getting past the screenplay phase. Tom Hanks has revealed that he once considered a sequel to Forrest Gump for all of 40 minutes. Forrest's mother, MRS. GUMP, watches him as he clanks. That sort of unpredictability, and a bit of common sense, are the reasons why Tom Hanks never returned to his Oscar-winning role for a possible Forrest Gump 2. Take, for example, the Elvis scene: Here, Roth smartly uses Gumps leg braces as a set-up to the punchline that he was the inspiration for Elviss legendary dance moves. I kept talking about it to where it got to the point where it was time to put up or shut up.". She was teaching at the nursery school inside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Despite being the inspiration for the accent that launched a million imitators, Humphreys didn't attend the Oscars ceremony where "Forrest Gump" swept the board because his parents couldn't afford a ticket (via The Daily Mail). That's 52 more than Gump completed in the movie. That is until you realize the guy in question was a Vietnam war hero who accidentally taught Elvis Presley to dance, inspired John Lennon to write the lyrics to "Imagine" and indirectly exposed the Watergate scandal. Satisfied, the bus driver lets him on. Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features. But screenwriter Eric Roth, who picked up an Oscar for the 1994 film starring Tom Hanks, is revealing what was planned for the sequel and why it was never made. Definition and Examples in Photography and Film, The Overhead Shot: Creative Examples of Camera Angles, What is a Stanza in a Poem Definition, Forms and Examples, What is an Acrostic Poem Examples and Writing Tips. EXT. All rights reserved. Although Roth began working on an outline for a sequel and completed a draft towards the end of 2001, the script was placed in development hell after a national tragedy forced the creative team to rethink their intentions. Simplicity is a double-edged sword. Get listed in the most prominent screenplays collection on the web! It wasn't that Hanks opposed sequels the dude has been in quite a few he was just opposed to putting on a pair of Nikes and hitting the open road for a second time. Uploaded by Anna Rumyantzeva. There aren't many characters from films that have had a band named after them, but "Forrest Gump's" Lieutenant Dan has. Roth submitted the Forrest Gump 2 script to Zemeckis on September 10, 2001 one day before the September 11 terrorist attacks. The actor who won his second Academy Award for his role as the all-American man who ran through highlights of modern American history reveals director Robert Zemeckis only took a "stab" at a follow-up to the 1994 original. Now time has obviously passed, but maybe some things should just be one thing and left as they are. Click to view and download the entire Forrest Gump script PDF below. There were once talks about a "Forrest Gump 2," which would have starred Hanks and, presumably, Osment, but those plans dried up in, literally, about 40 minutes. This is dealt with directly in the sequel, as Forrest realizes that his son has the same illness, which causes problems when they bus him to school in Florida. It was also an enormous financial success, becoming the highest grossing film at the American box office . But let's play fantasy filmmaking for just a second. Here are some other things about the film you might not have known. It's Tom Hanks and his everyman looks and slight air of awkwardness that were a perfect fit for the character. The long-distance runner who is a huge fan of the movie explained, "I had been thinking about it for 15 years. is an essential part of "Forrest Gump." Roth had turned in a draft on September 10, 2001, but met up with Hanks and Zemeckis the next day to commiserate about how life was in America and how tragic it was. Roth noted that we looked at each other and said, this movie has no meaning anymore, in that sense.. The Twin Towers collapsed, almost 3,000 people died, and America started gearing up for war. The new retelling is streaming September 8 on Disney+. This opening is crucial to setting up Gumps character and cadence while also framing the entire film click on the image to read through the entirety of the scene in the Forrest Gump shooting script. ", Yet Hanks revealed in an interview that it's the character of "Forrest Gump" that sooner or later everyone want to talk about. Tom Hanks haplessly endearing performance as the most optimistic man on the planet proved that he could be both delightfully hilarious and completely heartbreaking at the same time. As Zemeckis explained to USA Today, he thinks Forrest would move to Pakistan and open "a children's orphanage in Jenny's name." "And we . . Whether you like Forrest Gump or not, its undeniable that it is a movie which defines the zeitgeist of 1990s America. Simpsons Bronco during the infamous 1994 car chase, and that he would dance with Princess Diana at a charity ball. Finally, the Forrest Gump script is here for all you quotes spouting fans of the Robert Zemeckis movie with Tom Hanks. Boxes of chocolate. Its a thankless role that only exists to serve Gumps story. The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! And then eventually, just as sort of a charity kind of thing, he danced with Princess Diana, he added. In a heartfelt message to Sinise, Gen. Colin Powell said, "Thank you for all the things you have done for our men and women who have served our nation. Where they've been.. By the 90s, Boomers had largely soured on the radicalism of the 60s and 70s. Bubba Gump is an affable black man who comes from a long line of shrimpers. . But for Jenny, this doesnt seem to be true. The deadliest terrorist attack in America until 9/11, itkilled 168 people, including 19 children. My name's Forrest. According to Showbiz Cheatsheet, the late rapper Tupac Shakur had fewer reservations about playing Bubba. Evidently, Forrest Gump was going to be very involved in the saga of O.J. Jenny provides the other side of this coin. Some critics derided the film as a "totem of boomer nostalgia," but in an interview with The New York Times, Hanks said the problem was "Forest Gump" earned a lot of money, "If we'd just made a successful movie, Bob and I would have been geniuses." Forrest Gump is a movie that wants you to cry. And so a body double was called on in the shape of Tom Hanks's brother, Jim. Upon arriving home, Forrest discovers she's dying of cancer. Shes working at a dive bar as a stripper/singer. Which the studios said, 'Fabulous, great, OK.' And it was good for us, too" (via IndieWire). The author hit upon the idea for the book after his father told his a story from his childhood about a piano-playing boy who wasn't as quick-witted as everyone else. A sequel would ruin what we had done. And with two major American cities still smoking, the trio decided that Forrest Gump 2 simply had "no meaning anymore." And really, that's probably for the best. While it was unclear if the tongue-in-cheek meta references from Gump & Co. would have been part of his script, Roth intended to follow a similar structure to the first film, with Forrest becoming involved in some major historical events. impacted the production of quite a few films. Forrest is able to set his son straight, and Jennys ghost gives him her blessing to marry Gretchen, a German girl who he had fallen in love with overseas. Roth takes this to extremes. So if the movie was so successful, why wasn't there a sequel? Everyone involved with "Forrest Gump" in its early stages had no idea the giant film it would eventually turn into. Gumps incescent quoting of his mother highlights both his disability and his deep connection with his mother. Yeah, that actually happens. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. So while Roth writes Forrest with respect and empathy, that same tact is lacking in Jennys character shes the naive hippy, the drug addict, the punching bag. She is constantly losing no matter what she does, its the wrong move. He also co-wrote the screenplays for several Oscar-nominated films: The Insider (1999), Munich (2005), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). This type of wait, this is that! scene is played again and again in the Forrest Gump script. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Roth turned in a script in 2001. A movie can have star names, a talented director, knockout script, and huge budget, yet its critical or commercial success is never guaranteed. Forrest agrees to take his son to his first day of school, and attempts to pass on the knowledge that he has learned from all of his adventures. Following those back-to-back wins, Hanks could've totally made a Gump sequel, but instead, he opted for Apollo 13. "Forrest and this tall guy pace around this compound together," Zemeckis explains, "and Forrest calls him in to the CIA.". That impromptu script page made its way into Osment's personal collection. And while 9/11 killed Eric Roth's screenplay, director Robert Zemeckis wanted Forrest Gump to get some revenge for that fateful day. A one-stop-shop for all things video games. On paper, a film about a peculiar character from Alabama named "Forrest Gump" recounting his life story to assorted strangers on a public bench doesn't sound all that riveting. While inadvertently giving a speech about the Vietnam War, Forrest reconnects with Jenny. . Yet realizing the cultural significance it would later embody, the bench was not destroyed or recycled after use but earned a select place in the Savannah History Museum. Groom then watched a documentary about savant syndrome and the germs of "Forrest Gump" were born. "I had him in the back of OJ's Bronco," Roth said. However, even though we never got see Forrest run across the silver screen a second time, the man's legend continued on in the world of literature. The Guardian reports that it was his screen debut in a 1993 Pizza Hut commercial that attracted the attention of the "Forrest Gump" casting director. Yet director Robert Zemeckis begged to differ and according to The BBC, Travolta was his first choice for the role. Scripts. For all its happy moments, the first Forrest Gump is ultimately a tragedy. Roth, 73, told Yahoo Entertainmentthe follow-up film wouldn't have followed "Forrest Gump" author Winston Groom's second novel "Gump & Co." thatclosely. Take, for example, all the bad crews Jenny falls into almost all of them are symbols of the counterculture (hippies, Black Panthers, even disco). Roth imbues Gumps dialogue with a simple wisdom. Plus, Groom's sequel doesn't exactly sound like a winning formula for a crowd-pleasing movie. Forrest Gump was no mere blockbuster. And people wouldn't go to class with him in Florida." In hindsight, the star of "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" has a natural cool and graceful ease that probably wouldn't lend itself well to a universal underdog like Gump. "'Stupid is' makes me kind of sick," he told Entertainment Weekly. Mrs. Gump also has a line about destiny, though unlike Lt. Dans line, it doesnt seem to ring true in the context of the movie. It consisted of various actors, directors, veterans, and first responders (via People). Pulp Fiction opened in October 1994 on 1,100 screens and made back more than its $8.5 million budget on the first weekend. Sinise explained to Forbes one of the contributing factors in putting together the band was how in the 1980s he saw firsthand the universal difficulties and personal demons Vietnam veterans had to fight when returning from the war. Roth explained that the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were responsible for nipping the sequel in the bud. Forrest Gump fans remember that the first film ends in the beginning of the 1980s, where, in one of film history's most emotional moments, Forrest learns that Jenny (Robin Wright) is pregnant with his child, who she names Forrest Jr. (Haley Joel Osment). FORREST (V.O.) So how can you break put from the pack and get your idea onto the small screen? Bubba would have taught him about boats and Lt. Dan would come and find him. And he was sitting on the bench waiting for her to have lunch and all of a sudden the building behind him blows up. Nevertheless, the destiny grafted onto each character allows for a fable-like story that sticks in the audience's mind. The novel was done and dusted in six weeks. He mentions he also passed first dibs on another Hanks' vehicle, "Splash," and several Richard Gere films. And what are its shortcomings that have become more glaring as time goes on? So there was a big conflict.". Along with other movies featuring famous bench scenes such as "Good Will Hunting," "JFK," and "Finding Neverland," "Forrest Gump" takes the beauty of conversing with other people on a public bench to new levels. He explained, "Tom had other doubles, but they couldn't do the run. Shes the only kid on the school bus who will let him sit next to her. According to The Historic Savannah Theatre, the bench was a simple movie prop. Yet although there are many differences between the book and film, Groom emphasized, "They kept the character pretty much as I intended. Once they crossed the Atlantic, Forrest would meet one of the most iconic figures in English history: Princess Diana. Jenny watches all this from afar. It's hard to imagine Bubba being played by the wisecracking and razor-sharp Dave Chappelle. Whether dominating on the gridiron as a college football star, fighting in Vietnam or captaining a shrimp boat, Forrest inspires people with his childlike optimism. So just to be clear, Forrest Gump 2 was going to take racism and the AIDS crisis and turn all that into a comedy bit. Sitting pretty for posterity the iconic bench has become a pop-culture treasure in the same vein as the ruby slippers Dorothy wore in "The Wizard of Oz." A visual medium requires visual methods. And key to this 20th century recap is that its through the eyes of Gump a near-apolitical figure who sees things almost only in a positive light. If were supposed to take Mrs. Gumps word at face value, the message of Jennys storyline is even more troublesome. In 1994's original "Forrest Gump," the mother of Forrest Junior, Jenny (played by Robin Wright), dies after suffering from an illness implied to be HIV/AIDS. The fact that Forrest Gump isnt outright offensiveat least, in this respectis a near miracle, and lots of credit should be given to Roth, who treats Gumps character with dignity and respect. The film was an absolute phenomenon . In the interview, Roth, who was recently nominated for another Oscar for cowriting the screenplay for "A Star is Born," described various plot lines and sequences he had written for the movie, from OJ Simpson's car chase to dancing with Princess Diana. Shes choosing to ruin her life, over and over and over again? Not only what you've done for them but their children, what you've done for their families, what you've done to help them rebuild your lives." "She taught nursery school at a government building in Oklahoma City. And in 1995, Timothy McVeigh would demolish that building with a truck full of explosives. James Bond.'". In addition to the phenomenal acting and nostalgic soundtrack, one of the big highlights of the first Forrest Gump is the visual effects. It would be remiss not to mention the other key element to Gumps quotability: Tom Hanks. It was the highest-grossing film of 1994, beating out the likes of The Lion King and True Lies. After their business collapses and Forrest is briefly recruited (and then kicked off) the New Orleans Saints, Forrest decides to start a new venture that will help support his son as he matures. Forrest, Eric Roth (born March 22, 1945) is an American screenwriter. Forrest Gump Scripts. Heartbroken, Gump runs back and forth across the USA, building a cult following. Just when you thought the script for the sequel-that-never-was couldn't have got any more wide-ranging, Roth revealed his intention to have Gump's Native American partner being killed in the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. Hanks, who also starred in the Zemeckis-directed Cast Away and The Polar Express, reunites with the Gump filmmaker in Disney's live-action Pinocchio. As Lieutenant Dan, Sinise played Gump's platoon leader in the Vietnam War and later buddied up with his fellow veteran in the Bubba-Gump Shrimp Company. "Forrest Gump" Scripts.com. After all, it gave us iconic lines such as "Stupid is as stupid does," and "Life is like a box of chocolates." These are characters bound by destiny, a crucial theme in the film. At the end of the video, Tom Hanks pops up smiling and simply said, "Thanks, Lieutenant. Played by Robin Wright, Jenny has lived a pretty rough life, full of sexual and physical abuse, and she eventually contracts a mysterious virus that doctors can't cure. And screenwriter Eric Roth planned on having Forrest encounter even more famous figures across the '80s and '90s, including an iconic cameo that doesn't really fit. The Evening Standard reports that in 2016 the great Hollywood everyman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama. Weve caught up to the Gump narrating on the bench. He would look up occasionally, but they didnt see him in the rearview mirror, and then hed pop down. This Zelig-esque quality to Forrest Gump is undoubtedly a massive part of the films success. 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