Romancing the Stone
Short description
Joan Wilder writes popular romance novels but has little adventure in her own life. That changes when a package arrives from Colombia, sent by her sister, and a phone call reveals that the sister has been kidnapped. The ransom demanded is the package itself, so Joan travels to South America to make the exchange. Once there she is nearly killed and is rescued by Jack Colton, an American who lives by his wits and bears a strong resemblance to the heroes of her books. Stranded together, the two make their way through the jungle while criminals pursue them and the whereabouts of Joan's sister remain unresolved.
Robert Zemeckis directed the film, his second feature in chronological order, following Used Cars and preceding Back to the Future. Diane Thomas wrote the screenplay, and Michael Douglas, who plays Jack, produced alongside Treva Silverman. Kathleen Turner stars as Joan, with Danny DeVito as Ralph, Zack Norman as Ira, Alfonso Arau as Juan and Manuel Ojeda as Zolo among a credited cast of thirty-one. The production involved 20th Century Fox and companies based in Mexico and the United States.
Released on March 30, 1984, the film runs 106 minutes and mixes action, adventure, comedy and romance. Made for about 10 million dollars, it earned roughly 87 million worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.9/10 from 112,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.8/10 from 2,123 votes. A critics' rating of 7.5/10 from 56 reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's title was borrowed from the professional jargon of jewelers, where these words denote the transformation of a precious stone into a piece of jewelry.
- Reports of increased kidnappings in Colombia prompted the filmmakers to move filming to Mexico.
- Before Michael Douglas agreed to play Jake Colton, Sylvester Stallone and Christopher Reeve turned down the role.
- The treasure map for the film was created by the renowned puzzle maker Dr. Krypton.
- The American author who wrote the novel upon which the film's screenplay is based shares the same name as the film's protagonist – Joan Wilder. This woman likely served as the prototype for the main character. Wilder later wrote the novel «The Jewel of the Nile» based on the sequel film to «Romancing the Stone».
- The final episode, where a pristine white yacht glides amidst the urban landscape of New York City, was filmed on 42nd Street.
- Screenwriter Diane Thomas was working as a waitress in Malibu when Michael Douglas (who was involved in the film as a producer and actor) bought her screenplay for $250,000, allowing her to quit her job. A year later, Thomas died in a car accident while working on the sequel to this film – Lewis Teague’s action movie “Jewel of the Nile” (1985). The sequel is dedicated to the memory of Diane Thomas.
- During the dance scene, Michael Douglas had no idea he was being filmed. He was simply dancing with Kathleen Turner and extras, and director Robert Zemeckis ordered the camera to be turned on.
- Joan Wilder’s water taxi is called “Orca,” just as Quint named his boat in the film “Jaws” (1975).
- Initially, Michael Douglas was unsure about taking on this film, although he liked the script. He finally decided to take on the project, realizing he could demonstrate his climbing skills and abilities honed since his youth on the set of the historical drama “Spartacus” (Stanley Kubrick and Anthony Mann, 1960), where his father Kirk Douglas played a role, and the filming mostly took place in Death Valley National Park in California.
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