A Deadline report published on Monday night that said “Say Anything” was being turned into a TV series for NBC didn’t just catch fans of the iconic 1989 romantic comedy off-guard; it was also news to Cameron Crowe, the film’s writer-director, as well as actor John Cusack.
The Hollywood stars quickly pulled out the digital equivalent of a boombox and held it up high.
Let’s just say it wasn’t playing a love song:
Regarding the announcement of a “Say Anything” tv show… @JohnCusack, @IoneSkye1 and I have no involvement… except in trying to stop it.
— Cameron Crowe (@CameronCrowe) October 7, 2014
Cusack also had some thoughts, tweeting “Hell no!!” when asked if he was involved and adding:
No end to the exploitation of other people’s sincere efforts in shameless slime “@auntyK007: @CameronCrowe No imagination for new ideas”
— John Cusack (@johncusack) October 7, 2014
An official synopsis cited by Entertainment Weekly says the show picks up the story 10 years later.
“Lloyd Dobler has long since been dumped by Diane Court and life hasn’t exactly turned out like he thought,” the synopsis cited by EW reads. “But when Diane surprisingly returns home, Lloyd is inspired to ‘dare to be great’ once again, get Diane back and reboot his life.”
Fans of the film shared many of the same sentiments as Crowe and Cusack:
I don’t care about reboots/sequels. Everyone has a right to retell stories. But if there’s a TV sequel to SAY ANYTHING I’ll burn the world.
— Angie Manfredi (@misskubelik) October 7, 2014
NO NO NO NO NO NO RT @HitFix: NBC orders ‘Say Anything…,’ a TV rom-com follow-up to the movie http://t.co/9sNmqrQu7o pic.twitter.com/ZKSVPh9Wnj
— Bill Connelly (@SBN_BillC) October 7, 2014
Oh dear god no. http://t.co/kMDmnRXQDC
— Lizzie O’Leary (@lizzieohreally) October 7, 2014
Did all executives get together and pull “rom-com” out of a hat? RT @hitfix NBC orders ‘Say Anything…,’ a TV rom-com follow-up to the movie
— Jaime J. Weinman (@weinmanj) October 7, 2014
Deadline reports that while NBC technically doesn’t need permission or cooperation from Crowe, it appears unlikely that the show will proceed without his support.
