The Fault In Our Stars: Q&A (Part 5) with screenwriters Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Based on the John Green novel, the movie version of The Fault in Our Stars is creating quite a buzz in social media as it approaches its opening in theaters in North America this weekend. So I reached out to the film’s screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber to see if they would let me ask them 10 questions about the project. They agreed.
I was going to write up a nifty introduction, but a recent feature on the writing duo in the New York Times did a bang-up job, so here it is:
Mr. Neustadter, 37, and Mr. Weber, 36, got their start in 2006 by shopping an original script about a guy who gets his heart smashed after falling for an aloof girl — something that had really happened to Mr. Neustadter. The resulting movie, “(500) Days of Summer,” was Fox Searchlight’s biggest hit of 2009. Last year came “The Spectacular Now,” an indie about love and alcoholism in high school. Adapted from Tim Tharp’s novel of the same name, “The Spectacular Now” was a critical home run, sealing their standing as Hollywood’s go-to channelers of tender teenage angst.
Their fans now include none other than Cameron Crowe, the writer-director behind “Say Anything,” “Almost Famous” and “Jerry Maguire.” “They write characters that are completely free of stereotypes,” Mr. Crowe said in an email. “Their stuff emits a high-pitched signal that says: This is authentic. And funny, too.”
“The Fault in Our Stars,” one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year, arrives from 20th Century Fox on Friday. Adapted from John Green’s best-selling novel, the film is a bittersweet story about two wickedly witty teenagers and their runaway romance. The punch-to-the-gut twist: Hazel and Gus, played by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, both have cancer.
Here are two more questions I asked Michael and Scott:
Why do you think audiences are attracted to see sad movies?
Scott: I think all entertainment is only successful if it makes you feel something. That’s what we’re paying for, right? — to laugh, cry, be terrified, learn something. But it’s actually quite difficult to achieve. Audiences don’t just pay to be depressed. They’ve no interest in wallowing in abject misery for 90 minutes. So if you think about it, the promise of a “sad movie” isn’t just that it will make you cry. The real promise is that it will recognize that life — your life, my life, all of life — is filled with a shitload of terribly sad things — but that none of those things are strong enough to destroy us.
Finally what feelings and thoughts are you hoping moviegoers will have after they see The Fault in Our Stars?
WEBER: If they’re fans of the book hopefully it will rival if not enhance what they felt from the read. And if they’re new to the story, we want the movie to be a complex yet satisfying emotional journey. It’s not merely a “sad story.” There are of course moments of deep sorrow. But the movie should make you smile, laugh and think. A mixture of happy and sad is always our favorite combination.
Both the book and the movie contain the line, “pain demands to be felt.” It’s an idea that’s at the very core of the story. At the same time, both versions demand you appreciate the joys of life, however long or short they may be. Hopefully people leave the theater and want to talk about these feelings.
Here is a featurette about the movie The Fault in Our Stars:
For Part 1 of the Q&A, go here.
Part 2, here.
Part 3, here.
Part 4, here.
If you live near Los Angeles, you can meet screenwriter Scott Neustadter at this event:
Join Final Draft at the Cat & Fiddle on June 9th for our monthly meetup, featuring Scott Neustadter co–screenwriter of (500) Days of Summer.
The meetup starts at 7:30 pm with mingling and networking with fellow screenwriters and filmmakers and a Q&A at 8:30 pm. After the meetup, Cat & Fiddle will screen Scott Neustadter’s (500) Days of Summer in their courtyard.
The Fault in Our Stars opens in theaters nationwide today.
UPDATE: The movie collected an astonishing $8.2M at the box office from Thursday late night screenings. That is more than the recent haul by X-Men: Days of Future Past and looks to be heading for $50M opening weekend.
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