Burning Ambition

Speaking of the Bradbury novel, Frank Darabont would like to direct a movie of Fahrenheit 451, but he said in an interview the execs fear the story is too smart for the audience:

Hollywood doesn’t trust smart material. If you show them a really smart script. I actually had a studio head read that script and say: “Wow, that’s the best and smartest script that I’ve read since running this studio but I can’t possibly greenlight it.” I asked why and he says “How am I going to get 13-year-olds to show up at the theater?” And I said “Well, let’s make a good movie and I bet that will take care of itself.” But that argument cut absolutely no ice.

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian for the story.]