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While many believe that movie stars make it up as they go along, everyone on a motion picture is working from a script. It may be adapted from a novel or play, but the screenplay is often original.
Producers almost always demand extensive revisions before accepting a script. In fact, the script may be reworked for years by a succession of writers. If particular stars sign on, the script may be rewritten again to accommodate them.
The original idea may be unrecognizable by the time the movie is financed, shot and edited, so it might be unfair to hold screenwriters accountable for details like smoking. What control do they have over product placement? On the other hand, Joe Eszterhas, once the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, publicly concedes that his own “militant” smoking filled a dozen movies:
"A cigarette in the hands of a Hollywood star on screen is a gun aimed at a 12 or 14-year-old…We in Hollywood know the gun will go off, yet we hide behind a smokescreen of phrases like creative freedom and artistic freedom. Those lofty words are lies designed at best to obscure laziness. I know, I have told those lies." [Full CNN interview]
This table lists writers whose films
since 2004 have included five or more smoking characters
played by credited actors. Many of these writers had
more clout than is often the case: in 60 percent of
cases, the writer directed or produced the film.
Together,
these 48 films and their 315 smoking characters delivered
an estimated 5.5 billion tobacco impressions
to theater audiences in the U.S. alone between 2004
and 2007. What’s the story?
| Writers
with five or more smoking characters, 2004-7 |
| Title |
MPAA
rating |
Smoking
characters* |
Writer(s) |
Director/Producer
credit? |
| Domino |
R |
11 |
Richard
Kelley |
|
| Alpha
Dog |
R |
10 |
Nick
Cassavetes |
Y |
| All
the King's Men |
PG-13 |
9 |
Steven
Zaillian |
Y |
| Hollywoodland |
R |
9 |
Paul
Bernbaum |
|
| Sin
City |
R |
9 |
Frank
Miller |
Y |
| American
Gangster |
R |
8 |
Steven
Zaillian |
Y |
| Atonement |
R |
8 |
Christopher
Hampton |
|
| Grindhouse |
R |
8 |
Robert
Rodriguez
Quentin Tarentino |
Y |
| Anchorman |
R |
7 |
Will
Farrell
Adam McKay |
Y |
| Black
Dahlia, The |
R |
7 |
Josh
Friedman |
|
| Evening |
PG-13 |
7 |
Susan
Minot
Michael Cunningham |
Y |
| Greatest
Game Ever Played |
PG |
7 |
Mark
Frost |
Y |
| Jacket,
The |
R |
7 |
Massy
Tadjedin |
|
| Life
Aquatic |
R |
7 |
Wes
Anderson
Noah Baumbach |
Y |
| Man
on Fire |
R |
7 |
Brian
Helgeland |
|
| Munich |
R |
7 |
Tony
Kushner
Eric Roth
George Jonas |
|
| North
Country |
R |
7 |
Michael
Seitzman |
|
| Punisher |
R |
7 |
Jonathan
Hensleigh
Michael France |
Y |
| Ray |
PG-13 |
7 |
James
L. White |
|
| A
Good Year |
PG-13 |
6 |
Ridley
Scott |
Y |
| Bobby |
R |
6 |
Emilio
Estevez |
Y |
| Departed,
The |
R |
6 |
William
Monahan |
|
| Deuce
Bigalow: European Gigolo |
R |
6 |
Rob
Schneider
David Garrett
Jason Ward |
|
| Good
Night, and Good Luck |
PG |
6 |
George
Clooney
Grant Heslov |
Y |
| Great
Raid, The |
R |
6 |
Carlo
Bernard
Doug Miro |
|
| Idlewild |
R |
6 |
Bryan
Barber |
Y |
| Memoirs
of a Geisha |
PG-13 |
6 |
Robin
Swicord |
|
| Running
with Scissors |
R |
6 |
Ryan
Murphy |
Y |
| Smokin'
Aces |
R |
6 |
Joe
Carnahan |
Y |
| Starsky
& Hutch |
PG-13 |
6 |
John
O'Brian
Todd Phillips
Scot Armstrong |
Y |
| Zodiac |
R |
6 |
James
Vanderbilt |
Y |
| Dawn
of the Dead |
R |
5 |
James
Gunn |
|
| Across
the Universe |
PG-13 |
5 |
Dick
Clement
Ian La Frenais |
|
| Brokeback
Mountain |
R |
5 |
Larry
McMurtry
Diana Ossana |
Y |
| Charlie
Wilson's War |
R |
5 |
Aaron
Sorkin |
|
| Epic
Movie |
PG-13 |
5 |
Jaso
Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer |
Y |
| Ghost
Rider |
PG-13 |
5 |
Mark
Steven Johnson |
Y |
| Girl
Next Door, The |
R |
5 |
Stuart
Blumberg
David Wagner
Brent Goldberg |
|
| Hannibal
Rising |
R |
5 |
Thomas
Harris |
|
| Jarhead |
R |
5 |
William
Broyles, Jr. |
|
| Kill
Bill: Vol. 2 |
R |
5 |
Quentin
Tarentino
Uma Thurman |
Y |
| King
Kong |
PG-13 |
5 |
Fran
Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Peter Jackson |
Y |
| Lady
in the Water |
PG-13 |
5 |
M.
Night Shyamalan |
Y |
| Land
of the Dead |
R |
5 |
George
Romero |
Y |
| Reno
911!: Miami |
R |
5 |
Ben
Garant
Thomas Lennon
Kerri Kenney |
Y |
| There
Will Be Blood |
R |
5 |
Paul
Thomas Anderson |
Y |
| Walk
the Line |
PG-13 |
5 |
Gill
Dennis
James Mangold |
Y |
| White
Chicks |
PG-13 |
5 |
Keenen
Ivory Wayans
Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Andrew McElfresh |
Y |
| *
Characters played by credited actors, not including
uncredited extras. Character credits: Thumbs Up!
Thumbs Down! a program of Breathe California of
Sacramento-Emigrant Trails. Writer, director, producer
credits: IMDbPro.com. List updated September 2008.
|
Learn
how the tobacco industry has worked with the Writers'
Guild on political issues.
|
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