Read 20th Century Fox's Rejection Memo For Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Boogie Nights'

Even great filmmakers and classic films are misunderstood in their time (see the producers' notes for Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner"), and so it goes for Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights." Given the subject matter, it's probably not a surprise that the director's second feature length film had a difficult time getting a greenlit, something not helped by his initial insistence on an NC-17 rating. But it wasn't his demands that didn't see "Boogie Nights" stall for a bit, it was the script.

In this studo memo from 20th Century Fox, from 1994, three years before "Boogie Nights" would eventually be released, they are none too impressed with 186 page first draft of the screenplay giving it a grade of "Poor" for both storyline and concept. Of course, we all now that the movie eventually landed at New Line, got made, and turned the director into a big star, made people realize that Mark Whalberg had strong acting chops, and became an...