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Battlefield Earth writer apologises for the campy film


29 March 2010

A Hollywood screenwriter has apologised for ‘Battlefield Earth’

JD Shapiro wrote the script for the 2000 box office flop, which starred John Travolta and was based on the book by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard which was named worst film of the decade at last month's Razzie Awards.

Shapiro claimed that interference from John Travolta, the Hollywood actor and prominent Scientologist who played the leading role in the movie, transformed his gritty and compelling screenplay into something "very different".

He wrote: "What my screenplay didn't have was slow motion at every turn, Dutch tilts, campy dialogue, aliens in KISS boots, and everyone wearing Bob Marley wigs."

Shapiro was fired from the project for - he claims - refusing to accept a lengthy list of alterations demanded by the Church. Writing in the New York Post, the writer said that he only seen the finished movie on one occasion, at the premiere, and that this was "was one too many times".

He added: "Now, looking back at the movie with fresh eyes, I can't help but be strangely proud of it. Because out of all the sucky movies, mine is the suckiest."

In his humorous mea culpa Shapiro, whose previous credits include Robin Hood: Men in Tights, said that he first became involved with the Church after reading a magazine article which reported that its "Celebrity Center" in Los Angeles was a good place to meet women.

Insisting that the film he envisaged was gritty and dramatic, he wrote, “What my screenplay didn't have was slow motion at every turn, Dutch tilts, campy dialogue, aliens in KISS boots, and everyone wearing Bob Marley wigs.

"Now, looking back at the movie with fresh eyes, I can't help but be strangely proud of it. Because out of all the sucky movies, mine is the suckiest."

Battlefield Earth Film Page | John Travolta Profile