Repo Men (29 page)

We lost scenes that I loved, but created more that I loved just as intensely.
The Repossession Mambo
, the film, was becoming quite different from
The Repossession Mambo
, the novel, yet still somehow retained the same feel, tone, and story. It’s what I imagine might happen if you were to clone someone at birth and raise the original and the clone in different households—their core makeups would be the same, but no doubt the environments would play a huge factor in the people they’d eventually become, and when they’d meet at the family reunion BBQ, they’d remark on how their hair and teeth and smile were the same, but one loves potato salad and it makes the other want to hurl. And so forth. We’d created both Mambo versions with the same DNA, but cultured one in a petri dish of words and the other in a petri dish of images. Neither was superior or inferior to the other; they were simply different creatures of the same lineage.

On November 7, 2004, we had a draft that we all adored. From that point on, everything should be smooth sailing, right? Great script, great director, what could possibly get in our way?

Lots and lots of nothing. Okay, perhaps it’s not fair to say “nothing,” because we had a fair number of nibbles along the way. Overtures from one company, “firm” commitments from another. We always believed that
Mambo
would find its best traction with an independent film company, one willing to put up a small-to-medium budget. Such companies are, theoretically, usually more willing to take chances with material than are the studios, yet as a result of said chances, most indies don’t have the funds or power to throw around, so things tend to take even longer. I started to believe that I’d be well into my sixties by the time the film ever got made.

Another year and a half went by, during which time Miguel was a tireless advocate for the movie. He went to more
Mambo
meetings than I’ve had hot meals, and each one looked promising before it, too, fell apart.

By this time, I’d already written and published
Hot & Sweaty Rex
; written, published, and seen the film version of
Matchstick Men
; written and published
Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys.
It wasn’t looking good.

Hey, that’s okay, I figured. I’d been meaning to get back to the book, anyway…

Then we got lucky.

Hollywood studios release about 150 movies a year, in aggregate. For every film that gets released, there are at least twenty-five in “development,” most of which will never see the glow of a projector. Much of the time, scripts languish not for lack of creativity—the writers and producers who put them together are talented people who, Hollywood tales of debauchery aside, work hard and believe deeply in their stories. Yet there are only so many release dates to go around, and only so much money that a studio, even a giant conglomerate, is willing to shell out. They want assurances that audiences will come to see the film, and there’s one sure-fire way to convince them of that:

If a movie star is willing to “attach” himself to the project, to essentially promise that he’ll act in it, then it gives the script a major boost in the eyes of the studio. Most films these days are set up only once they’ve got at least one attachment, and very few films, if any, are given the green light to start production unless the primary acting corps is in place.

In mid-2006, Jude Law read the
Mambo
script, and loved it. Even better, he loved the character of Remy, and wanted to play the part. I’m not going to start name-dropping (even though I just did), but I can’t say enough about Jude. He’s not only a fantastic, committed actor, but he has a knowledge and passion for the character that really helped to shape who Remy was and how he functioned in the world we created. Jude’s notes were on target, throughout the process. He’s bright, literate, and, okay, ridiculously handsome, and if he weren’t so damned nice I’d have to hate him just for that.

Now things really got moving. By the end of 2006, we’d hooked up with Scott Stuber, a producer who’d only recently given up running Universal and had a deal at the studio to produce films for them. At first blush, we were concerned that a place like Universal, home to blockbusters and broad comedies, might not be interested or the right place for our movie, but after conversations with Scott and our awesome executive, Jeff Kirschenbaum, we came to believe that they had the same vision for the movie that we did.

So: More revisions were suggested, and more revisions were implemented. Everything started to move quickly as the film began to come together. As we were rewriting throughout the first half of 2007, Miguel was meeting with actors and actresses to play the other parts, even before we’d officially made a deal with Universal. Word was out: We were going to make a movie.

Of course, there were still some minor things to settle, like filling out the cast, finding a location to shoot, hiring a giant crew, and getting the studio to sign off. Fortunately, all Garrett and I had to worry about was making the script the best it could be.

Finally, in late spring 2007, we made the deal and began working throughout the summer on further rewrites as we geared up for an October 2007 beginning of production. Soon, Forest Whitaker signed on to play Jake, Remy’s best friend and partner, and Liev Schreiber took the role of Frank. We couldn’t have asked for a stronger cast, or better actors to bring these characters to life. Remy, Jake, Frank—the people who’d lived inside my head for a decade—were finally becoming flesh and blood.

On October 15, 2007, we went before the cameras in Toronto, Canada, and with that,
The Repossession Mambo
was officially in production. I won’t bore you (much further) with the details, but from the day we finished the very first adaptation of
The Repossession Mambo
in summer 2002 to the day we finally began production, more than five years later, we’d written thirty-nine drafts. It had been seven years since I began the book, and nearly ten years since I wrote the short story. By the time you’re reading this in 2009, a full twelve years will have passed from inception to distribution.

An overnight sensation!

The upswing in the project’s film fortunes got me excited once again about the novel, and in early 2007, I dove into my own rewrite, tackling the book even as I worked on the screenplay.

Look, I love writing scripts. It’s fun, it’s a challenge, and I am, quite simply, a fan of the medium. I’ve spent many a wonderful hour in a darkened theater, and I can rant and rave about my favorites along with the geekiest film buff out there.

There’s something about writing prose, though, about really digging into the characters and story, shaping it in the manner that I want to shape it, that brings me unparalleled joy. Revising
The Repossession Mambo,
the novel, was like Dorothy returning to Kansas. I’d seen all my friends over there in Oz, and had a great time, but still and all, there’s no place like home.

So I kept the unruly structure, the five wives, the soldiers, the clients, the bits and bursts and all of that, but now with nearly seven years of distance, I was able to find the parts that weren’t working and either make them sing or cut them completely. I was able to see what had been missing before and find a way to fill in the gaps. Soon we sold it to William Morrow, and I got to work with my fantastic editor, Jennifer Brehl, in continuing to refine the story, world, and characters.

In short, it became the book I wanted, the way I wanted it. As a novelist, I couldn’t ask for more.

As I write this in the summer of 2008,
The Repossession Mambo
, as a novel, is finished, edited, and more or less out of my hands.
The Repossession Mambo
, the film, is still in post-production, but every cut I’ve seen indicates that we’ve made a movie that I’d adore even if I’d had nothing to do with it.

If there’s a take-away lesson for other writers (and there’s always a take-away lesson), it’s simply this: Write the things you want to write. If they’re weird or strange or don’t fit into some mold that the rest of the world seems to conform to, don’t stress over it. Don’t change what you’re doing one iota, so long as you still believe in it. That sounds all hippie-dippie and Up-with-People, I know, but I strongly believe that if I’m not absolutely in love with what I’m writing, then all I’m doing is typing. And there are lots of people out there who type a hell of a lot better than I do.

ERIC GARCIA
is the author of several novels, including
Matchstick Men,
which was made into a feature film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Nicolas Cage, and the
Anonymous Rex
series. A native of Miami, Florida, he now lives in Southern California with his wife, two daughters, and a dog.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.