“Dude, Where’s My Ennui?”
In an interview with Hammer-To-Nail, stalwart indie filmmaker Hal Hartley let drop an interesting little nugget. He was once offered the directing gig for “Dude, Where’s My Car.” We’ll let him explain:
H2N: Have you ever been lured to go make studio work or work that was more industrial?
HH: Yeah. In the beginning of my career, perfectly nice people from movie studios would take me out to lunch all the time and ask me if I wanted to direct scripts they sent me, after “The Unbelievable Truth.” Even a little after “Trust.” They thought I might be a good guy for comedies like… I don’t know who made them, but things like “Dude, Where’s My Car?” I got a lot of that kind of stuff after “The Unbelievable Truth.”
So, we’ll leave it to your imagination how potentially strange/awesome it could have been. Seann William Scott and Ashton Kutcher in a Hal Hartley film? The mind reels. In any event, if you’re wondering “Who is this Hal Hartley guy and why should I care?” get thee to a video store post haste. Pick up “Henry Fool,” “The Unbelievable Truth” (just released in a new 20th anniversary DVD edition) and “Trust” and get back to us next week. Okay? Good.
The world would be a better place if Mr. Hartley had directed that movie.
I think the key here is things LIKE Dude Where\’s My Car. That KIND of stuff. It seems extremely unlikely that anyone was pitching Dude Where\’s My Car to anyone in 1990 since the guy who wrote the film was in high school at the time.
Jason Reitman was also offered Dude Where\’s My Car.