It's been 25 years since Contact premiered, and the behind-the-scenes story of its development and subsequent lawsuits might be more intriguing than the film.
The cinematic landscape in 1997 looked very different than today. Jodie Foster was still considered a box-office draw; Matthew McConaughey was just that guy from A Time to Kill; and Robert Zemeckis was still Robert Zemeckis, riding the post-Forrest Gump wave. It was in this distinctive landscape that Contact premiered in the summer of 1997, promising a mind-bending and thought-provoking spectacle for fans of thinking person’s sci-fi.
The letter, in official White House stationary, condemned the use of President Clinton and cautioned against Hollywood’s use of his image. In response, a Warner Bros. spokesperson replied that the studio was “frank and upfront with the White House about this issue.” The studio further claimed they sent the script and a final print from Contact before its July 11 premiere date.
With the lines between reality and fiction becoming even blurrier, it’s easy to understand why the Clinton incident caused such a stir in 1997’s Hollywood. As it turns out, lawyers’ and experts’ concerns were well-founded, and while their worst fears haven’t exactly come to pass, it’s truly terrifying to think they might materialize sooner rather than later. If only the copyright experts could see us now.
In a way, the CNN scandal gave Contact a weird sense of legitimacy. Because while no one had an issue with a real-life reporter appearing in a ludicrous piece of summer entertainment like The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Zemeckis’ Contact was a serious film based on a Carl Sagan book. It was the thinking person’s entertainment, serious and full of weighty themes, not your average garbage movie or campy action flick — and there were a ton of those in the summer of ’97.
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