Heywood Gould’s original screenplay for Cocktail was reportedly far darker than the glossy 1988 film that reached theaters. Gould, whose 1984 novel drew on his years bartending in New York, had initially written a story about the cult of celebrity, money, power, self-deception, and the emotional corrosion of a man who feels he is running out of time. Bryan Brown later recalled that the first script was “one of the very best screenplays” he had read, describing it as dark and substantially more ambitious than the finished movie. Universal placed the project in turnaround after objecting that Gould’s lead character was not likable enough, and Disney later acquired it while demanding further commercial changes, especially making Brian Flanagan younger and more upbeat so that Tom Cruise could play him as an idealistic rising star rather than a bitter, aging bartender.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1980s
How Disney Reworked Cocktail into a Tom Cruise Star Vehicle
Cocktail / 1980s
Heywood Gould’s original screenplay for Cocktail was reportedly far darker than the glossy 1988 film that reached theaters. Gould, whose 1984 novel drew on his years bartending in New York, had initially written a story about the cult of celebrity, money, power, self-deception, and the emotional corrosion of a man who feels he is running out of time. Bryan Brown later recalled that the first script was “one of the very best screenplays” he had read, describing it as dark and substantially more ambitious than the finished movie. Universal placed the project in turnaround after objecting that Gould’s lead character was not likable enough, and Disney later acquired it while demanding further commercial changes, especially making Brian Flanagan younger and more upbeat so that Tom Cruise could play him as an idealistic rising star rather than a bitter, aging bartender.
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