In 1984, moviegoers watched the passionate chemistry between Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas sizzle as they got closer to the “X” that marked the spot. Romancing the Stone was a box office success. It got a sequel and made movie stars out of its leading cast of Turner and Douglas, and even Danny DeVito in a supporting role that showed off his firecracker energy. Director Robert Zemeckis owed plenty to the success of Romancing, without it, he wouldn’t have been able to make a beloved sci-fi classic. All this success can really fall on one person: screenwriter Diane Thomas.
She deserves all the credit, not at the very least for this being her first script. Having the screenplay get purchased, completely changed her life. It was one of Hollywood’s great dreams-come-true stories but sadly, Thomas passed away in an accidental car crash not long after. She didn’t get to experience all the real gems of her treasure-hunting, action-adventure with a mismatched pair at the center. With no story, none of the success would have followed for those involved in the production. Before Thomas got her script made into a movie, there were a lot of building blocks leading up to her big break.
Romancing the Stone hits the ground running from the start. A woman defies the unwanted advances of a sleazy man by expertly throwing a knife into his chest. He drops dead and she’s off! Riding a horse, she meets up with a lover. It’s a happy ending, coming up at the very beginning of the movie. After having written this ending to her novel, mousy author Joan Wilder (Turner) can’t help but weep. It’s just that good – and her isolated life has made that more apparent. But it’s one thing to write a story of passion and danger. It’s quite another to live it.
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But Joan must when her sister gets kidnapped in Colombia. After getting lost in the muddy, stormy rainforest, Joan is completely out of her comfort zone. She’s armed with a map leading to the emerald known as El Corazón, with hungry crocs and villainous secret police popping in as threats every which way. She finds reluctant help in lone exotic bird smuggler Jack T. Colton (Douglas). Unsurprisingly, their bickering subsides, the two finding themselves drawn to each other. Of the two heroes, it would be Joan that Diane Thomas’ early life saw similarities.
From her 1985 obituary in the LA Times, writing was a very big passion. During college, she majored in marketing, finding work as a copywriter. Unlike dear Joan and her lonely life, Thomas opened herself to many experiences. Other than writing, an interest in filmmaking was always there. She went on to study acting with two established teachers. There was Sherman Marks, who directed episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., along with Batman and Bewitched. And there was also Jack Garfein, who was a film director and also discovered the talents of James Dean and taught Bruce Dern and Sissy Spacek. Beyond learning from these professionals, Thomas joined improvisational acting groups. With all this on her resume, the LA Times slipped in a quote Thomas once gave: “My mother always says, 'How come they never mention all your education and the fact that you studied acting?” With all of her experience, it still wouldn’t be until 1978 that would mark a big year for her.
As the 70s came to a close, Thomas worked as a waitress at a restaurant along the Pacific Coast Highway. Taken from her obituary, Thomas was truly the hard worker, what with every spare hour away from paying work, she worked on her screenplay that would eventually become Romancing the Stone. For a year, this was her process. Then as quick as lightning, it paid off. When Thomas sent it to her agent, he was so impressed he had ten copies made, sending them out to the major studios. It took less than a full week before it was sold to Columbia Pictures. Although it would eventually be made by 20th Century Fox. Actor-producer Michael Douglas also put money into purchasing it, crediting Thomas’ novice status as being one of the story’s charms.“It just had a spontaneity about the writing," he said. "She was not cautious. The script had a wonderful spirit about it – there was a total lack of fear to the writing. It worked."
Afterward, she joined Steven Spielberg’s Amblin company to both write and rewrite screenplays. Due to these obligations, Thomas wasn’t able to write The Jewel of the Nile, the sequel to Romancing. In 1985, one year after her first successful project, Diane Thomas died in an accidental car crash, along with passenger Ian Young. The driver, Stephen Norman, Thomas’ boyfriend at the time, suffered injuries but survived. The legacy of Diane Thomas can still be seen in the movies. In The Lost City, the comparisons to Romancing the Stone are lovingly everywhere.
Sandra Bullock’s Loretta Sage is an isolated author. This time around, she’s not mousy, she’s grieving the loss of her husband. After getting kidnapped, she’s made to uncover a treasure from a piece of an ancient map. A tough survivalist comes to her rescue, played by Brad Pitt, but is taken out of the story as quickly as he appears. Instead, the mismatched coupling in The Lost City goes a different route. Talking to AV Club, directing duo Adam and Aaron Nee pulled inspiration from Thomas’ 1984 classic while giving it their own personal touches. “Where in Romancing The Stone you may discover Michael Douglas as a very capable, experienced person living in the jungle,” Aaron Nee said, “we wanted to put a cover model in there.”
Played by Channing Tatum, Alan is the book cover face of Loretta’s erotic adventure novels, and in trying to help her, he’s definitely not up to the task. Instead of Colton’s jump into action, Alan ends up getting a bad skin reaction when he slips into the jungle’s river with Loretta. Whereas Joan adores her writing at the start, Loretta comes to regain her love for it after it lost its luster, and the building romance between Loretta and Alan makes for a steamy attraction.
She might have only had one successful screenplay to her name, but Diane Thomas unleashed a domino effect. Turner, Douglas, and DeVito would team back up for 1989's The War of the Roses. Hot off the success, Zemeckis used it to the green light Back to the Future instead of returning for Jewel. No doubt with all the background experience she sought out, Thomas could have proved herself in being more than a screenwriter. It isn’t too hard to see the influence of her acting studies with the opposites attract comedy between her characters, Joan and Jack. What Diane Thomas left behind cannot be understated. Keep a lookout for the next piece of pop culture that helps keep her legacy alive and brighter than even the El Corazón emerald.