9 Important Lessons from Cannon Films Documentary

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Ben Rawson-Jones and Digital Spy present 9 Important Lessons from Cannon Films Documentary. Here are three of my favorites…

1. FAO Casting Directors ā€“ Beware ‘That Stone Woman’!

When looking for a lead actress to cast opposite Richard Chamberlain in the 1985 Indiana Jones knock-off King Solomon’s Mines, producer Menahem Golan proclaimed “I want that Stone woman!” So Sharon Stone was duly given the role. Beyond being hated and soaked in urine on set everything looked great for the future Basic Instinct leg-crosser… until Golan watched the movie and was horrified.

It turns out he was after Kathleen Turner from Romancing the Stone. Oops.

3. Danger! Dolph Dialog!
“You gave that guy lines?”
That was reportedly Sylvester Stallone‘s reaction when he paid a random visit to the Masters Of The Universe set and spotted his Rocky IV nemesis Dolph Lundgren playing the lead role of He-Man. Sly had a point – the movie bombed. Monologues were certainly kept to a minimum for Dolph when the Rambo legend signed him up for his Expendables franchise.
4. Sequels Require No Previous Movie

Signing up iconic martial arts star Chuck Norris was seen as quite a coup by Cannon. They had enough faith to fund the production of two Missing In Action movies featuring Norris as an American prisoner of war in North Vietnam and shoot them back-to-back in 1984. However, they realized the first was an absolute dud. So what did Cannon do? They released the better second movie first to a still overwhelmingly negative critical reception, but found that audiences flocked to see it on the back of the similarly themed First Blood’s success. They then released the intended first film under the guise of a prequel a year later. Amazing.