Michael Arndt

But it's like it's not... finished it feels like it's not all the way there but i find that in now revisiting it really tantalizing because i could imagine now what if this had been done or the sequel that was promised at the end

if they'd like handed it to uh michael arndt to do a rewrite or

Well, yeah, and if it were produced on the scale of its imaginative ambition.

Well, see, for me, I think about this a lot, actually, Paul, because I think about the first John Wick a lot, a movie that I absolutely love.

And I think it's important to also tell you, how did Little Miss Sunshine even come about? What's the origin of Little Miss Sunshine? Well, it turns out.

that the screenwriter, Michael Arndt, now you may know this, Michael Arndt, who was a personal assistant to Matthew Broderick, which is kind of an interesting connection because I'm gonna talk about Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but Michael Arndt was the personal assistant to Matthew Ferris Bueller's Day himself, Broderick.

And he had to quit.

He had to quit as Matthew Broderick's personal assistant so that he could devote more time to finishing his screenplay.

What is the nexus, the origin, the genesis of the idea that Michael Arndt had for creating the characters and telling the story of Little Miss Sunshine.

Well, reportedly, and Michael Arntz confirmed this, it was a direct response to the win or lose mentality he encountered in a speech by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Arnold Schwarzenegger apparently said this, to a high school assembly or a college graduation ceremony, he said, quote, If there's one thing I hate, it's losers, end quote, which was, you know, that that really motivated Michael Arndt to create a story where every main character challenges the very idea of what it means to be a loser.

That is where we get Little Miss Sunshine.

... on your own or in, in duos.

Now, the movie was written by Michael Arndt.

Now, he won the Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine.

Huh.

Good eye

... a good eye for a script, for a script.

Um, the movie's story, I understand, uh, Michael Arndt got the idea or the setting for the movie, which was from his childhood, where his family drove 600 miles in a VW bus with a broken clutch.

Wow.

... on your own or in, in duos.

Now, the movie was written by Michael Arndt.

Now, he won the Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine.

Huh.

Good eye

... a good eye for a script, for a script.

Um, the movie's story, I understand, uh, Michael Arndt got the idea or the setting for the movie, which was from his childhood, where his family drove 600 miles in a VW bus with a broken clutch.

Wow.

Is that connected to this John Watts film? It might be.

And that's to say nothing of all the changes and everything that had happened for the movies that did get made, right? The original version of The Force Awakens from the Michael Arndt script.

Gareth Edwards being kicked off Rogue One and Tony coming in to fix the movie.

Lorna Miller being fired off Solo and replaced with Ron Howard.

Oh, yeah.

You've got Charlie Kaufman with Eternal Sunshine and Adaptation, Aaron Sorkin with The Social Network and Moneyball, Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, Wes Anderson for The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Greta Gerwig with Lady Bird and Little Women.

Okay, so we have Nolan being rewarded for massive structural math, basically.

But what about this group? Tarantino, the Coens, Anderson, Gerwig.

Can I, can I read about them or something?" And he gives her the few paragraphs and says, "Everything else is up here." And she goes, "Okay, fine." But she's leaving out is afterwards, they hired a staff.

They had Michael Arndt, they had Lawrence Kasdan, they had a handful of other writers there who were helping George develop a script for what would eventually become Episode VII.

They were working on that until-

I don't feel like they, those guys were working on this until after the Disney acquisition.

No, no, no. He-

On a script.

They had hired Michael Arndt.

They, it, that was all during the...

And was it Larry Kazdan at the time?

Larry Kazdan, they got him on board after Michael Arndt left, yes.

That's right.

That's right.