Why Steven Spielberg Almost Didn’t Direct ‘Catch Me If You Can’

There are many candidates for Steven Spielberg’s best film, but Catch Me If You Can has always been my favorite. Maybe it’s the beautiful score by John Williams, which was so memorable that The Simpsons had to interrupt a regular episode to make a longer version of it. Then again, maybe it’s because I love any story about a man who can fight his way through an impossible situation through sheer confidence and charisma. The film also seemed a perfect fit for Spielberg, as Frank Abagnale’s life story reflected parts of his own. As Spielberg explained in a 2003 interview with Blackfilm.com:

“Part of this picture is important to me because it deals with what Frank and I both have in common, which is broken families. I ran away from home when my parents divorced; At the same age, Frank ran away when his parents got divorced, so.” I had that in common with him. That’s why I always wanted to remind people in the picture that he did that for a reason – not just because he did it because maybe he was trying to get his mom and dad together again.”

Despite this connection, Spielberg almost didn’t direct the film at all. The guy was very busy in the early 2000s, with “Minority Report” coming out just six months before “Catch Me If You Can” and “AI Artificial Intelligence” coming out just a year before. In fact, the film was decidedly close to another respected director who had a little less on his plate at the time, like Gore Verbinski (then about to direct 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) or David Fincher ( who instead made “Panic Room” in 2002).

In fact, there’s a chance that “Catch Me if You Can” would not only have been a Verbinski film if not for a few key events taking place in 2000, but also starring James Gandolfini (yes, of “Sopranos” fame). FBI agent Carl Hanratty and not Tom Hanks. Those plans fell through because the film DiCaprio was working on in 2000, “Gangs of New York,” fell behind schedule. This would not normally be the case The A big deal, except that there was obviously an actors and writers strike on the horizon and Verbinski wanted to film Catch Me If You Can before that happened. As Variety reported at the time:

“Insiders say the postponement of ‘Catch Me’ could result in the departure of ‘Catch’ aide Gore Verbinski (‘Mouse Hunt’), who is keen to make a film before the strikes. Leaving Leo for a longer period would also impact the availability of several other actors with whom the studio has been in discussions, such as “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini, who can only film during a break.”

Ultimately, the big catalyst for Spielberg’s decision to direct Catch Me If You Can was the realization he had while watching a particularly powerful sequence from the fascinatingly true (and not so true) version of the real Frank Abagnale Jr . read story “Leaving Miami International Airport with 120 FBI agents combing through this one venue – that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Spielberg said. “And when I read that, I said, ‘Oh, man, if this is true, I have to take this picture.'”

The rest was history; “Catch Me If You Can” ended up being a very Spielberg film, complete with thoughtful long takes, reflection shots, and a stirring John Williams score. It’s also hard to complain about his work, just as it’s hard to complain about Hanks’ performance as the older cat to DiCaprio’s young mouse. Still, it’s hard not to wonder what could have been.

For example, I would have loved to see Gandolfini’s take on Carl Hanratty, and while I’m glad Verbinski shifted his focus to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, I still think he could have done a good job on this film. Based on his handling of the Jack Sparrow character in the “Pirates” films, we know that Verbinski is very good at portraying charismatic con artists and encouraging audiences to root for a professional liar, even though we know we are Probably shouldn’t do that. T. (Jack Sparrow is basically just a grown-up Frank Abagnale Jr. on a boat, I guess.) When Spielberg took on Catch Me If You Can, things worked out for the best, but it’s not like the alternatives didn’t have potential either.