Entertainment · Film · 3 hrs ago
Rob Reiner considered directing Larry David's unmade screenplay
Larry David wrote Prognosis Negative, an unmade screenplay in the 1980s based on a commitment-phobic character like himself.
Rob Reiner read the script and liked it, seeing it as a possible follow-up to This Is Spinal Tap, his directorial debut.
Reiner considered directing but ultimately suggested Christopher Guest for the job.
Richard Dreyfuss also showed interest, though he wanted to reshape the story as a coming-of-age drama.
David insisted he remain the only writer and that no one change a word, even when producer David Susskind offered $200,000.
The proposed deal fell apart because those terms gave David too much control, according to Susskind’s lawyer.
The screenplay became a fictional movie title that Jerry and George obsess over in Seinfeld, but the planned film was never made.
Rob Reiner considered directing Larry David’s unproduced screenplay Prognosis Negative but ultimately recommended Christopher Guest for the job.
The screenplay followed a commitment-phobic man who wants to date a terminally ill woman without committing to a long-term relationship.
David insisted he remain the only writer and that no one change a word of the script.
A proposed $200,000 deal from producer David Susskind fell apart over David’s demands.
The story is recounted in Blake J. Harris’s biography Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David.
- Who
- Larry David wrote the screenplay; Rob Reiner considered directing it.
- What
- Their potential film collaboration never happened. Reiner recommended Christopher Guest, and a proposed deal to sell the screenplay fell apart.
- When
- The screenplay was written in 1983, according to The Independent. The sources do not state when Reiner considered directing it.
- Where
- Not stated
- Why
- Reiner ultimately recommended another director. David’s demands over writing and changes to the script also contributed to a proposed deal falling apart.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
David was working on the unproduced screenplay Prognosis: Negative, according to The Independent.
Marilyn Black became David’s manager and set about selling the script.
Reiner considered directing the screenplay, then recommended Christopher Guest.
A proposed $200,000 deal from producer David Susskind fell apart.
- Screenplay
- Prognosis Negative (also styled Prognosis: Negative)
- Writer
- Larry David
- Year
- 1983, according to The Independent
- Potential director
- Rob Reiner
- Alternative director recommended
- Christopher Guest
- Proposed amount
- $200,000
2 sources
What people are saying
Sadly though, the lesson that Larry would ultimately learn with Prognosis was hardly a new lesson at all
Rather, it would just be the latest twist on what he already knew to be true: Good things are never as good as they appear to be.
It’s too stacked in Larry’s favor. Robert Redford doesn’t get a deal like this!