The little boy was mute and lived with nuns!" The producers hired another screenwriter, Corey Blechman ( Dominick and Eugene ) to do a rewrite. "The original script," said Shuler-Donner in a 1993 interview, "was too sweet, too mushy, too formulaic. It would ultimately take seven years to bring their version of Free Willy to the big screen, but the payoff would be worth it. Tugend partnered with Richard Donner and his producer wife, Lauren Shuler-Donner, and the trio began developing the property.
Though the first draft was a little rough and amateurish, Tugend liked the emotional impact of the story and felt that it had potential to be a hit. Walker later sent his script to Richard Donner's assistant, Jennie Lew Tugend, who was also a producer. Inspired by the seaside setting, Walker wrote the first draft of Free Willy as his first screenplay. The idea for Free Willy began in 1984 when actor Keith Walker was filming Richard Donner's fantasy-adventure The Goonies (1985) in Astoria, Oregon. When Jesse discovers that the aquarium owners are up to no good and Willy's life is in danger, he risks everything to set Willy free. Willy and Jesse are both mad at the world, and the two form a unique bond. While working at the park, he is drawn to Willy, an unhappy orca who has been separated from his family and refuses to be trained. He avoids juvenile detention by agreeing to clean up the mess as community service. What could be more heartwarming? An unlikely plot for a hit movie, to be sure, but Free Willy surprised everyone by becoming the runaway summer box office hit of 1993.įree Willy tells the story of Jesse (Jason James Richter), a 12-year-old street kid in and out of foster care who gets nabbed by police while vandalizing a theme park. A troubled young boy and his best friend-a killer whale.
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