Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind the Mel Gibson action thriller Payback as it turns 25…
Payback was made when Mel Gibson was one of the biggest and most bankable stars in Hollywood, and with the involvement of Oscar-winning L.A. Confidential scribe Brian Helgeland the project had all the makings of another bona fide hit for Gibson. However, fate had other plans and the movie was mired in post-production delays and reshoots prior to its release. As the film hits 25 we take a brief look at what actually happened all those years ago during the making of this gritty neo-noir action thriller…
Payback was Brian Helgeland’s directorial debut
Brian Helgeland started his career as a screenwriter for B movies before he got his big break with L.A. Confidential in 1997 for which he won the golden nudie for Best Adapted Screenplay. That same year Helgeland worked on the paranoia thriller Conspiracy Theory helmed by his good friend and mentor Richard Donner. One day while on his way home, with the burgeoning script of Payback tucked under his arm, Donner asked Helgeland to pass Mel Gibson a message and when Helgeland went to meet Gibson, the actor inquired about the script pages under his arm.
After reading the first act of Helgeland’s script, Gibson expressed a keen interest in the project, but the writer expressed that he’d intended on directing it as well. Gibson offered that if he liked the finished script, he would give him a shot. Upon completion, Helgeland sent Gibson the script, expecting him to pass. A couple of weeks later, the unexpected happened when Gibson called and asked Helgeland, “Can you be ready to shoot in twelve weeks?”
There was a previous adaptation of the source material
Payback was loosely based on the crime thriller novel The Hunter penned by American writer Donald E. Westlake. Back when the book was being published, however, the author used the pseudonym Richard Stark instead of his real name. The Hunter was supposed to be a standalone effort featuring the career criminal Parker but due to the character’s popularity Westlake ended up writing 23 more novels over the next 46 years. Payback marked the second occasion in which the novel had been given the big screen treatment. The first instance was way back in 1967 with the film noir classic Point Blank directed by John Boorman and starring Lee Marvin.
Casting the female lead of the film proved to be a challenging task
Actress Maria Bello got her first major film role in 1998’s indie-drama Permanent Midnight, starring opposite Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Hurley, and Owen Wilson. Around that same time, Bello had also auditioned for a then defunct 90s update of Superman, and it was in one of these casting tapes kept at Warner Bros. studios that Helgeland finally came across the lead actress he was looking for. However, Bello needed some convincing as she turned down the role, saying that it wasn’t for her. But Helgeland was convinced otherwise and wanted her to be in the movie very badly. So, in order to convince her he literally hounded her for two weeks before she finally caved in and agreed to work in the film.
Plans to shoot the movie in black and white were scrapped
Inspired by the gritty visuals of 70s crime dramas like Dirty Harry, The Getaway and Charley Varrick, Helgeland initially wanted to shoot the entire movie in black-and-white, but the studio vetoed this notion. To at least partially accomplish his requirement Helgeland opted to go for a bleach bypass process (similar to David Fincher’s Fight Club and Se7en) to tint the film in post-production and mute its colors, thereby making the final output reminiscent of a black-and-white film.
Behind-the-scenes drama & Helgeland’s termination as a director
Every movie has its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama and for the most part this is quite normal. But in the case of Payback the creative disputes resulted in several notorious clashes between director Helgeland and producer Gibson over the latter’s ideas for the movie. And when a consensus couldn’t be reached regarding the ending of the film Helgeland was fired as the director. During an interview with Gibson later on the actor admitted that once principal photography was concluded he played an instrumental role in having Helgeland terminated from his position. The bummer part of all this was that Helgeland got the axe three days after winning his Academy award for L.A. Confidential.
A sizeable portion of the flick was reshot following Helgeland’s departure
As neither Gibson nor the studio were satisfied with the portions of the film as well as its conclusion, 30% of the flick was reshot with another filmmaker at the helm. The intent of these reshoots was to make Porter’s character more accessible to general audiences because Helgeland’s take on the character was more of a morally ambiguous one. At the conclusion of 10 days of reshoots, a new ending and a voice over track were included and Kris Kristofferson was added as the movie’s villain. The post-production hullabaloo also forced the studio to push back the opening of the movie from a mid-1998 release date to February 1999.
Confusion regarding who helmed the reshoots
The identity regarding who helmed the reshoots following Helgeland’s departure were kept under wraps for the longest time, until Gibson did an interview with a Hong Kong newspaper and revealed that it was production designer John Myhre that took over the gig. However, on his website, filmmaker Paul Abascal had stated that it was he who was hired to direct the reshoots.
Point Blank director John Boorman didn’t fancy the remake
John Boorman, who helmed the first adaptation of the novel in 1967’s Point Blank was once asked at a press conference what he thought of the recent remake. He responded that he had not seen it yet, but that he’d read the script. Boorman said the script reminded him of one that actor Lee Marvin had thrown out of his window in anger of its awfulness. The filmmaker further added that a young Mel Gibson must have been passing by at that moment, picked it up and decided to make a movie out of it.
Helgeland’s original vision for the movie was released later on
Helgeland’s version, titled Payback: Straight Up – The Director’s Cut, was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD on April 10, 2007, after an October 2006 run at the Austin Film Festival. The Director’s Cut version features a female villain, who’s only heard and never seen, does not include the voice-over by Porter and retains the original ending which was more ambiguous in nature. Certain critics remarked that this iteration was a marked improvement over the theatrical version and made for a superior viewing experience overall.
A decent box-office run amidst middling critic reviews
Made on a production budget of $90 million Payback went on to make a $161.6 million worldwide by the conclusion of its theatrical run, which was a damn decent haul for an R-rated neo-noir actioner in my opinion. Critics though were divided about the effort; however, veteran film critic Roger Ebert gave the movie three out of four stars elaborating: “There is much cleverness and ingenuity in Payback, but Mel Gibson is the key. The movie wouldn’t work with an actor who was heavy on his feet or was too sincere about the material.”
For what its worth, Payback does make for a helluva engaging watch 25 years later and much of its watchability comes from what Gibson brings to the table. Whether you are a fan of the guy or not, one thing is certain – the controversial star’s involvement certainly makes any project that much more interesting.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
