Clint Eastwood has a long-standing relationship with Warner Bros. Pictures and has given them plenty of hits as a director and a star. So, it was highly controversial when WB’s plans for his latest film Juror No. 2 included a limited release with little to no marketing. Many criticized the studio for trying to bury the film despite Eastwood’s legacy.
However, when the For A Few Dollars More star was at the peak of his career, he could call the shots and bend the studio to his will. WB reportedly planned on reducing the violence in the film Dirty Harry. However, Eastwood reportedly put a stop to it at the script stage and demanded one particular thing.
Clint Eastwood Made WB Bend To His One Demand For Dirty Harry
Clint Eastwood is one of the most legendary filmmakers and actors who is still working in the industry today. At the age of 94, Eastwood has released his latest directorial Juror No.2 in theaters and though it has been speculated that it would be his final film, there has been no confirmation from the maverick filmmaker.
Eastwood has won the Oscar twice for Directing and has given Warner Bros. multiple high-grossing films. However, the studio seems to be on a bad streak and has reportedly given Juror No.2 a limited release on fewer than 50 screens domestically. Variety reported that the studio was not planning on releasing the box office numbers either.
This is a sad state of affairs for the legendary filmmaker, who at one point could bend the studio to his will. His iconic film Dirty Harry would reportedly have been a completely different film had Eastwood not been attached and demanded a few changes. According to Marc Eliot’s American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood, Eastwood said,
When I came over [to Warner Bros.], it was tied into somebody else and the script was going in another direction. I got [Don] Siegel involved. My agreement with Warner Bros. was, ‘I’ll do it if you’ll let me hire a director like Don Siegel and we’ll take the story back to its original concept’ — which was Harry Julian Fink’s screenplay. They had taken it off in another direction.
The studio had reportedly tried to mount the project with several directors and actors who had allegedly dropped off after reading the violent script. This reportedly led to many rewrites to change the original tone.
Clint Eastwood Recounted The Changes WB Had Made When He Became Attached To Dirty Harry
Before Clint Eastwood, there were reportedly many contenders for the role of Harry Callahan. Actors such as Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and Steve McQueen were apparently offered the role, with only Sinatra attached to the film for some time. However, they all eventually left, leaving Dirty Harry to be available for Eastwood.
However, by the time Eastwood got into the project, he claimed that many things had been changed by the studio. In an interview with MTV News (via Slash Film), Eastwood said,
[They changed] Everything. They had marine snipers coming on in the end, and I said, ‘No. This is losing the point of the whole story, of the guy chasing the killer down. It’s becoming an extravaganza that’s losing its character.
In the end, it was the focus on Harry Callahan’s rebellious cop that made the film a success, leading to multiple sequels.
Dirty Harry is available to stream on Max.
