Hollywood Tales
Did you know the movie (500) Days of Summer was originally called “308 Days of April”? And that the Summer character is inspired by an actual woman one of the writers met while attending graduate school in England? Read this excerpt from my March 2013 interview with screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber:
Scott N: We weren’t exactly writing “500” while I was in London. The truth is, having written a script that was funny, that people liked, but that didn’t go anywhere, it kind of proved my point about this not because a very practical way to make a living. And now I was 25 and starting to think maybe working at a movie company wasn’t either. So I applied to graduate school in England and when they took me I said “fuck it,” quit my job and moved to a continent on which I knew no one to study a discipline of which I knew even less. It was a crazy move but I was in the mood for something crazy. I was pretty much done with the movie business and writing when — and this is true — the very first day in England, I met the girl who would provide much of the basis of Summer.
Michael: We had always talked about doing a relationship movie, something real and something relatable. We had conversations like that.
Scott N: Problem was we didn’t have the relationship we wanted to write about. And then suddenly we did.
Michael: I think Scott rented that movie “Thirteen Conversations About One Thing.” The funny thing is, neither of us has still ever seen that movie. He rented it but didn’t watch it, and then he said to me, “We should do something like that.”
Scott N: It was “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.” I was back in Margate (where I grew up) writing my thesis for grad school and trying not to think about that girl. Which meant a lot of movie renting and Smiths listening. I never opened the DVD but I remember looking at the box and the title and having this idea in my head of what that movie could be about. That’s when I had one of those rare lightbulb-y moments. I’ve saved the email I sent Weber at 2 in the morning, August 8, 2003 which you can read below:
“i’ve hit upon a possible way to do a relationship comedy a la annie hall and make it not suck. a bit like 32 short films about glenn gould, here we have what i’m calling 308 DAYS OF APRIL, april being the name of the girl. the movie is an out of sequence collection of incidents and events or whatever, like, 1 would be the scene of their meeting and 308 would be the scene of their break up. 8 would be the time in the elevator when he didn’t ask her out, 36 would be the first time they have sex etc. etc. all about relationships and romance and the craziness involved until we have a full length funny feature that people can laugh at and possible relate to that is as interesting character-wise as it is structurally. with enough bits and pieces from our own experiences and stories from people we know, this thing could write itself.”
Of course, the script didn’t just “write itself,” Scott and Michael pounded out pages, working and reworking the material until eventually the movie was produced, became a hit, and launched the duo’s screenwriting career. But the core conceit about using a nonlinear narrative was part of the story-crafting process from the very beginning — a middle of the night email from Scott to Michael.
As a special bonus, here are all of the deleted and extended scenes from (500) Days of Summer:
Michael and Scott have gone on to adapt several novels into movies including The Spectacular Now, The Fault in Our Stars, and Paper Towns.
You can read the entire 2013 interview I conducted with Scott and Michael here.