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WAR OF THE WORDS
Cussler isn't the first author to get his knickers in a twist over the way his work was portrayed on screen.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
1971 Roald Dahl hated that Gene Wilder had been cast as Wonka. As his wife later recalled, ''When they were casting, Roald suggested Spike Milligan. He said only Spike would do.''

Looking for Mr. Goodbar
1977 After seeing the adaptation, author Judith Rossner said, ''I feel like the mother who delivered her 13-year-old daughter to the door of Roman Polanski and didn't know what was going to happen.''

The Pelican Brief
1993 ''I wasn't what he wanted and that was made clear,'' Denzel Washington said of the vibe he got from John Grisham. Grisham said he'd told director Alan Pakula that the casting decision was ''fine.''

Interview With the Vampire
1994 Author Anne Rice was ''stunned by the casting of [Tom] Cruise'' — until she saw the film, ''loved it,'' and placed an ad in Variety that praised Cruise for his ''courageous performance.''


Posted Mar 16, 2007 | Published in issue #926 Mar 23, 2007 | Order Article Reprints
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