Oscar-Winning Filmmaker on ‘Stupid Mistake’ of Rejecting ‘Forrest Gump’

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back filmmaker Edward Zwick revealed in a new interview with The Ankler that he made the “stupid mistake” of passing on the opportunity to direct Forrest Gump because he “didn’t get it.”

Zwick previously made headlines for his memoir Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood, which featured uncensored recollections of working with a “volatile” Brad Pitt and an unprepared Julia Roberts. Now, he’s copping to a few of his own professional shortcomings.

Speaking to Janice Min in front of a live audience in Santa Monica, the Oscar-winner recalled reading the script for Forrest Gump and rejecting it out of hand.

“I remember passing on Forrest Gump. I didn’t get it,” Zwick recalled of the 1994 Best Picture winner, which starred Tom Hanks as a simple-minded man who charts a memorable life over several decades, often aligning with key events in American history.

The picture, ultimately directed by Robert Zemeckis, was penned by Dune and Killers of the Flower Moon screenwriter Eric Roth.

“I mean, Eric Roth is such a good writer,” Zwick continued. “[But] I remember reading it early on and saying, ‘What? He’s there, and then he’s there, and where’s the, where’s the dramatic arc?’”

On his fateful decision not to direct the picture, Zwick simply said, “I’ve made stupid mistakes.”

Zwick, who had just directed the more serious-minded historical epic Glory when the Forrest Gump opportunity arose, went a decidedly different direction with his next several films. He helmed the female-led road movie Leaving Normal in 1992, followed by 1994’s epic Legends of the Fall, the film on which he butted heads with Pitt.

Though Zwick missed out on Forrest Gump’s 13 Oscar nominations, Legends of the Fall was nominated for three trophies at the same ceremony in 1995—for its cinematography, production design, and sound mixing.

Zwick went on to win a Best Picture Oscar in 1999 for his producing work on Shakespeare in Love (which he was once set to direct.) He was nominated for Best Picture again in 2001 for producing Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic.

You can listen to Zwick’s full interview with The Ankler here.