Disney agreed. Hancock inherited a retrenched budget (in the $95 million range), a mandated PG-13 rating, and those 51 acres of re-created history. What he didn't inherit was Crowe, who took to the high seas of Master and Commander. Hancock instead cast Quaid (star of The Rookie) as Houston, up-and-comer Patrick Wilson (Angels in America) as Travis, and Narc's Jason Patric as Bowie. Only Billy Bob Thornton, who was always to play Crockett, remained.
Hancock had a native son's love of the 'Mo, which isn't to say he wanted the flag-waving of John Wayne's 1960 behemoth. He saw a story of accidental martyrdom, made all the more heroic by its heroes' flawed humanity. He gambled that moviegoers -- Texans, especially -- would dig the nuances. Recalls Wilson: ''[John] walked in and said, 'Look, I'm a Texan. I want to make the movie I want to see as a Texan, not as a director.'''
Thing is, everything's bigger in Texas. And movies about Texas, shot by Texans for Texans, are really, really big. Aiming for a Dec. 25, 2003, opening (and the Academy Awards), Hancock filmed for six months, reaping a bounty of 1.4 million feet of film and a late-November deadline he couldn't meet. He could have made a hundred different films with the footage he had -- but he was running out of time. When Hancock asked Disney for an extension, ''I don't think it came as much of a shock,'' he says.
''I think John Lee has enough to do about a 10-hour version,'' says Disney Studios chairman Richard Cook. Disney agreed to move the film out of Oscar season to a low-profile April 9 slot, but length wasn't the only issue. Some early cuts (including one that ran four hours) had tested spottily. Hancock realized that outside of Texas, no one remembers the Alamo: ''It wasn't just the test audiences. It was the informal tests you'd conduct on the elevator. 'Hey, whaddaya know about the Alamo?' [They'd] launch into some story about Daniel Boone.''
One thing everyone does remember: ''Alamo'' is shorthand for ''last stand.'' As Disney amassed a series of corporate woes, the delay of The Alamo seemed a natural cap to a negative news cycle. ''It's a bit of a straw horse,'' grouses Cook, who proudly notes production costs were kept under $100 million. ''Luckily,'' he says, ''we're not judged by the performance of one movie but by our entire slate.'' (With one palpable hit -- Miracle -- and underwhelming returns on Hidalgo, Home on the Range, and The Ladykillers, however, that approach hasn't paid off yet.)
Shutting his ears, Hancock edited mercilessly. Story lines and characters hit the floor, the principal casualties being actors Marc Blucas (Alamo defender James Bonham) and Wes Studi (Cherokee chief Bowles). The climactic battle shrank by eight minutes; Quaid's Battle of San Jacinto lost two. Contrite, emotional calls to Blucas and Studi were placed. Hancock had regrets about the delay -- especially as it obliterated (or at least postponed) the film's Oscar prospects. ''Not so much for myself, but for [set designer] Michael Corenblith, [costume designer] Daniel Orlandi, [cinematographer] Dean Semler. And Billy Bob Thornton.''
You Might Also Like
- Movie Review The Alamo (Apr 09, 2004) | Lisa Schwarzbaum
- All About The Alamo
- In the News ''Alamo'''s Jason Patric is arrested in Texas (Apr 09, 2004) | Gary Susman
- Movie Commentary ''The Alamo'' is one of the 10 movies we can't wait to see in early 2004 (Apr 09, 2004)
- Movie Commentary ''The Alamo'' is one of the 10 fall movies we can't wait to see (Apr 09, 2004)
- Movie Commentary The best football movie pep talks (1999) | Jeff Labrecque
