''Arrive Alive'' is an unfinished

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Jeremiah S. Chechik Jeremiah S. Chechik (born 1955 in Montreal, Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) i ...

and starring

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, ...

and

Joan Cusack Joan Mary Cusack (; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama '' Working Girl'' (1988) and the romantic comedy '' In & Out'' (1997 ...

. It was produced by

Art Linson Art Linson (born 16 March 1942) is an American producer, screenwriter and author. Life and career Linson was born in Chicago, Illinois. He did his undergraduate work at the University of California-Berkeley and graduated from the University of ...

Premise

Mickey Crews is a house detective in a seedy Florida hotel who gets involved in investigating the death of a former champion boxer. He has a romance with a former exotic dancer named Joy.

Background

The script was written by

Mitch Glazer Mitchell Aram Glazer (born 1952/1953) is an American writer, producer, and actor. Life and career Glazer was born in Key Biscayne, Florida, and was raised in Miami, the son of Leonard and Zelda Glazer, an English teacher. Glazer is a relative o ...

and

Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) was an American writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to ''National Lampoon'' magazine, and was the ...

who had written ''

Scrooged ''Scrooged'' is a 1988 American Christmas fantasy comedy film directed by Richard Donner and written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue. Based on the 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol'' by Charles Dickens, ''Scrooged'' is a modern retel ...

'' (1988) for producer

. Linson had tried to get ''Arrive Alive'' made for a number of years, with a variety of stars attached, before finally securing funding with Chechik, Dafoe and Cusack. Cusack was an up-and-coming actress, working on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'', Dafoe was getting terrific

buzz Buzz may refer to: People *Buzz (nickname), a list of people * J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner (born 1967; aka ''Dr. Buzz''), American forensic psychologist and journalist Fictional characters *Buzz, a character in the 1987 American comedy movie '' Rev ...

from '' The Last Temptation of Christ'' and Chechik had just directed the successful ''

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation ''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' is a 1989 American Christmas film, Christmas comedy film and the third installment in National Lampoon (magazine), ''National Lampoon'' magazine's National Lampoon's Vacation (film series), ''Vacation'' f ...

''. Filming started in April 1990. However, after a week, the producers felt that the lines they had thought so funny in the script were not getting the laughs they hoped for. Shortly after arriving for location shooting in Miami, Dafoe quit due to script changes which required him to perform slapstick comedy which did not suit him. Six days later, the decision was taken to cancel production as no satisfactory replacement could be found for Dafoe and

write off A write-off is a reduction of the recognized value of something. In accounting, this is a recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, this is a reduction of taxable income, as a recognition of certain expenses ...

the $7 million cost. The whole story is related in Linson's book ''A Pound of Flesh''.Art Linson, ''A Pound of Flesh: Producing Movies in Hollywood - Perilous Tales from the Trenches'', Avon Books, 1993 Various attempts have been made to film the script again without any success. The orca

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Hum ...

was to appear in the film but production was halted while filming at the

Miami Seaquarium The Miami Seaquarium is a oceanarium located on the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida located near downtown Miami. Founded in 1955, it is one of the oldest oceanariums in the United States. In addition to marin ...

References

External links

* {{Jeremiah S. Chechik 1990s unfinished films Unreleased American films 1990s comedy films American comedy films Films directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik Films produced by Art Linson Films set in Florida Films with screenplays by Michael O'Donoghue Films with screenplays by Mitch Glazer 1990s English-language films 1990s American films