Driven (DeLorean Movie) *Merged*

[DaraSue]

We don’t know that yet. Based on what I’ve seen this might not be that big of a stretch. John had some shady dealings, let’s not forget that.

True, but there isn't (AFAIK) any objective evidence that he ever deliberately set out to become a drug trafficker, or would have gotten involved in it without the influence of Hoffman. If the film depicts the entrapment for what it was, I'll take back everything bad I've said about it, but it's just disappointing that this is the narrative that's getting public exposure now.

[CFI]

it's just disappointing that this is the narrative that's getting public exposure now.

I agree. Still, it looks interesting and no publicity is bad publicity. Any interest in our cars is good. The truth is out there for those who wish to know a more accurate version of Johns story.

[CFI]

I agree with that assessment. Most of us here are in a certain intelligence bracket. We know to take movies "based on actual events" with a grain of salt. However, the fu$%^n idiots that brazenly march up to us at the gas station yammering on about new cars and cocaine will now have even more ammo...an extra magazine so to speak, ready to lock and load into their "assualt conversation". They will watch this movie and consider themselves among the informed DeLorean experts and God forbid they catch sight one of these cars. They will think "OMG...a DeLorean and I just saw the movie last week. I need to talk to this guy." Nothing could prevent them from taking that "magazine", inserting it and going full auto on the poor unsuspecting owner who just wanted to get some sushi and a bottle of wine for dinner.

I totally agree. However, and maybe this is just my cranky self talking, I just don’t care what some random guy at a gas station thinks. He can yammer on all he wants, I’m getting my gas and leaving.

I work in the aviation industry and I get bombarded with crap every time an aviation related movie comes out (always inaccurate, btw). If I have time, and if they are nice, I’ll try to explain the reality. If not, I’m perfectly fine leaving them believing whatever the heck they want to believe. Their lack of knowledge is not my concern.

[Michael]

I'm actually cool with JZD being painted as a bad boy.

Maybe it makes me a bad boy.

You got a problem with that?

[Michael]

I totally agree. However, and maybe this is just my cranky self talking, I just don’t care what some random guy at a gas station thinks. He can yammer on all he wants, I’m getting my gas and leaving.

I work in the aviation industry and I get bombarded with crap every time an aviation related movie comes out (always inaccurate, btw). If I have time, and if they are nice, I’ll try to explain the reality. If not, I’m perfectly fine leaving them believing whatever the heck they want to believe. Their lack of knowledge is not my concern.

So Dale Earnhardt's plane crashed near me. I got some mad theories to bounce off you. I bet he had his phone on.

[bytes311]

Just watched Driven. It's an OK film if you ignore everything you know about the real story.

[Hill Valley PD]

I watched it too. I was entertained and laughed out loud a few times. It is mostly not true, but we knew that. It paints JZD a bit murkier than the trailer portrayed. Not all bad but definitely shows he had a shady side. The movie implies the entrapment was not exactly black and white. Honestly, the ending scene right before the credits is probably the most accurate part of the film i

[martydmc12]

I haven't watched this, nor do I intend to. One thing I'm seeing is how this specific film is being referred to as "Hollywood". Just because it's got some somewhat known actors in it, it's far from Hollywood as Hollywood can be. This is a tiny little $1 million dollar film, that took over a year to find a distributor remotely interested in distributing it. The writer and director are actually both from Northern Ireland, and are as far removed from Hollywood and the L.A. filmmaking scene as they can possibly be.

What's really going on, and why and how this movie got made is pretty interesting, and is because no one in Hollywood is willing to put up the kind of money needed to finance a real DeLorean biopic. To do DeLorean right, as in, the whole story would never work as a feature length film, because it's pretty impossible to squeeze the three decades of JZD's life into a 120 minute picture. Even if you could, name stars, locations, and the sheer cost of period production design and costumes; easily a $50 million price tag, if not more. If you've seen Tamir's film "Framing John DeLorean", the opening scenes alone depict just a small fraction of filmmakers who've tried for decades to get a DeLorean film off the ground, even going as far back as the early 80's before the FBI sting operation, in which "On A Clear Day You Can See GM" was in development at many studios.

Since Francis Ford Coppola's "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" was a financial disaster for Paramount back in 1988, Hollywood loves to focus on the one giant flop as to why automotive biopics don't make money. With the amount of different DeLorean projects that have come and gone over the decades, you'd think at least one would get made, right? It's just Hollywood saying no, but also partly because general audiences aren't interested in these kinds of stories, especially in 2019.

Something that also been kinda "hush-hush" and relatively unspoken to the general public, is that John Z. himself and his estate since his passing have been shutting down, or at least trying to shut most if not all of these projects, threatening legal action if anyone makes a narrative dramatic motion picture about his life without his consent. There was going to be a miniseries in the late 80's starring James Coburn and Ned Beatty, and John made sure to kill it before they were about to start production. This is all has to do with controlling the project so that John never looked bad, and of course money. What's interesting is that "Driven" is being produced by a guy named Walter Josten, and his production company, Blue Rider Pictures. Blue Rider and John had been working very closely together in the early 2000's to try and get a movie made. Remember in "Framing JZD" when Alec Baldwin spoke about how John contacted him to play him in a movie; that was the project, and was considered the official biopic sanctioned by DeLorean. They got close a few times, even hired a writer who had been working with Martin Scorsese, and from what I've been told, Scorsese was seriously considering coming on board to direct, but opted to direct "The Aviator" instead. What's fascinating to me, is how DeLorean considered Josten a friend, and trusted him not to make a movie like "Driven" became.

Because there have been so many players, and this rush to be the first to make a DeLorean movie, that's all "Driven" really is, and quickie to get something out there, and to say that they were the first. This wasn't some sort of passion project by the filmmakers, it was just a story they knew to a certain degree, and embellished their own interpretations to make it interesting. I've been told director Nick Hamm is even quoted as saying that he finds it sad that John DeLorean didn't live long enough to see the success of the "Back to the Future" trilogy. If that is indeed true, it just goes to show you how well the director researched his subject, or actually knows anything about the story or the man at all.

"Driven" is also the way it is, because that's what they can legally get away without being sued by the estate, which I'm sure they've most likely tried. The movie is called "Driven", not DeLorean. The main character is James Hoffman, and JZD is a supporting character. They're legally getting away with what they can with the public facts about the DeLorean saga, and inserting in what they can. I'm assuming this is also how producer Walter Josten plays into this production, beyond just financing; he was familiar with the in's and out's of what they could get away with, having actually been involved with the DeLorean sanctioned estate project beforehand.

With the upcoming release of "Ford v Ferrari", and "Lamborghini: The Legend" coming out in 2020 starring Antonio Banderas, not to mention an Enzo Ferrari biopic that's been in-the-works for several decades by director Michael Mann, only the success of these films will truly set the stage for if another big DeLorean production will get made anytime soon in the near future. The George Clooney DeLorean project "Saint John" is very real, and currently set-up at MGM, but it's still far too early to know if that will ever go anywhere. And then there's still the DeLorean estate film project, that what I currently know is sitting in limbo. It was set up at company called Bee Holder Productions, with producer Steve Lee Jones, who you can see be interviewed in "Framing JZD", but no longer.

Regardless of what "Driven" is or isn't, it's not the last DeLorean movie or television project we're going to see. It may take a few more years, or maybe not, no one really knows, but there will be many more and various interpretations of the DeLorean story being produced. This isn't the last of them.

[Rich_NYS]

I'm going to park outside the theater and tell everyone it's the one used in the movie.

Sent from my LGL164VL using Tapatalk

[CFI]

So Dale Earnhardt's plane crashed near me. I got some mad theories to bounce off you. I bet he had his phone on.

Obviously the pilots were on drugs. Because Denzel Washington flies that way.