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BIO
Screenwriter/novelist Ross LaManna was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He attended
Parsippany Hills High School, where he developed an interest in motion pictures and the
dramatic arts. He attended USC School of Film and Television, graduating cum laude with a
degree in Screenwriting.
His first novel, ACID TEST (Ballantine Books), is a geo-political thriller which Anthony
Award-winning author Lee Child calls "thrill-a-minute writing ... like Tom Clancy on
speed." USAF General (ret'd) Chuck Horner, Desert Storm's supreme air commander says:
"I couldn't put it down. ACID TEST combines the best of high-tech thriller, intrigue,
science fiction and suspense. LaManna writes with passion."
Advance reviews call ACID TEST "a superior, highly entertaining thriller ... an
excellent debut, " Deadly Pleasures; and Publishers Weekly praises "sizzling an
acid trail around the globe as it speeds towards a high-stakes conclusion."
Beginning his motion picture career in Embassy Pictures' international business affairs
department, he left to pursue a full time writing career. He landed a term deal at United
Artists, where he wrote CHROME SOLDIERS, a USA Network movie starring Gary Busey, and
Yaphet Kotto, which first aired in 1993.
He worked on several projects for Carolco Pictures, including UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, (1992)
(uncredited) starring Dolph Lungren and Jean-Claude Van Damme, directed by Roland
Emmerich; and CLIFFHANGER, (1993) starring Sylvester Stallone, directed by Renny Harlan.
LaManna's original screenplay, ARCTIC BLUE, became an HBO World Premiere Movie (1995)
starring Rutger Hauer and directed by Peter Masterson.
TITANIC, a four-hour Hallmark miniseries starring Peter Gallagher, Catherine Zeta-Jones
and George C. Scott, aired on CBS in 1996 and again in 1998. LaManna's teleplay was
directed by Rob Lieberman and exec-produced by Francis Ford Coppola.
He also contributed to STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, (1996) starring Patrick Stewart and James
Cromwell, directed by Jonathan Frakes.
His spec script for RUSH HOUR became one of the top ten films of 1998. The action comedy,
a New Line Cinema release starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, directed by Brett Ratner,
broke several box office records. It is the largest grossing summer film ever released and
the second highest grossing independent film of all time.
RUSH HOUR 2, for which he receives the screen credit "Characters Created By,"
opens nationwide on August 3, 2001.
Most recently he's worked on the feature adaptation of HOGAN'S HEROES, is writing and
producing the film MOVING TARGETS, and has created a new comic book series, MARKUS FANG.
He resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Lynn, an attorney, and their children, Kathleen
and James.
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INTERVIEW
September 7, 2001
ACID TEST is a dizzying high tech thriller. Its author, Ross LaManna, may be new to
the publishing world but he certainly is an old hand at the action genre. A Hollywood
scriptwriter, LaManna penned movies such as Cliffhanger and Rush Hour and
his fast-moving prose is sure to be a winner with readers. Bookreporter.com's Joe
Hartlaub talked with LaManna about writing for the movies, why Raymond Chandler hit the
bottle and much more.
TBR: ACID TEST, from the first page to the last, read like a movie on the page. I could
see it in my mind's eye as I read it, unfolding almost frame for frame. Did ACID TEST
start off as a movie script which ultimately evolved into a novel?
RL: No, not at all, it's a big-canvas story that was
meant from the start to be a novel. I'd been wanting to write one for a while. As
sometimes is the case, a bad experience triggers something good --- I was very displeased
with the rewrite job on an original script I'd written, which was just the push I needed
to devote the enormous time and energy to writing a novel.
To be honest, I think ACID TEST is such a strong visual read because I really endeavored
to use all those action-writing skills I'd developed writing screenplays. To hear
you describe your experience is really gratifying, because it echoes my own experience. I
simply wrote down the scenes I was seeing in my mind's eye. That's the great thing
about novel writing. It's a one-on-one relationship; writer and reader.
TBR: And, in light of the last question, it only follows that I should ask whether ACID
TEST has been optioned for a film version.
RL: Not yet, and I'm not in a big hurry to make a deal
for the sake of a making a deal. The most important thing is making sure the right people
become involved.
TBR: You had the opportunity during CHROME SOLDIERS to work with the legendary Billy
Wilder, and even named Matt Wilder, the protagonist of ACID TEST, after him. Wilder and
Raymond Chandler, who practically single-handedly created the model for the modern
detective novel, reputedly had a strong dislike for each other. Did Wilder ever refer to
this while you were working with him?
RL: Yes, he sure did. The film they'd collaborated on
--- DOUBLE INDEMNITY, one of my favorite movies of all time --- came up in conversation
one day. Mr. Wilder got a wistful look on his face and said, "You know what I'm most
proud of about that picture?" I leaned forward, bursting with excitement, figuring
he'd say something about defining the Film Noir genre, etc. He continued: "I made
Raymond Chandler start drinking again."
TBR: In addition to your new novel, ACID TEST, I understand you're working on a comic
book. How did you become interested in writing comic books?
RL: I have a friend named Shannon Denton, who is a
comic book artist and storyboard director. He suggested I try my hand at writing for an
existing comic book series. It's instant gratification in a visual medium --- you write
it, it's illustrated, it's published. Then we thought it'd be more fun to create a comic
title of our own so in conjunction with another friend, actor Russell Wong (ROMEO MUST
DIE), we came up with a big, stylish, fun, adventure/spy story called MARKUS FANG. It'll
be published next year by comic book company Top Cow Productions.
TBR: The end of ACID TEST left the possibility of a sequel open. Do you anticipate
writing any additional novels in the future?
RL: Absolutely. I conceived of Air Force OSI Special
Agent Matt Wilder as a franchise character, one I could revisit for other adventures. To
me, he's the perfect action hero: a regular guy with extraordinary training. His military,
investigative and pilot's training give him all the skills he needs to do what an action
hero needs to do, without the reader questioning the believability of such a scenario. I
think Wilder's being an ordinary man makes him more accessible to the reader. I love the
character of James Bond, but I can't picture myself having a beer with the guy. Wilder
doesn’t know from martinis shaken or stirred. I seriously doubt he even takes a lime
in his Corona.
TBR: What was the most significant transition you had to make from writing a screenplay
to writing your novel ACID TEST?
RL: ACID TEST is a much bigger story than I'd ever
attempted in a two-hour movie script. More characters, much more complex plot, enough
action scenes for three movies. So the sheer scope of the thing was a big adjustment.
Also, it was far more assiduously researched. I think there's a different expectation from
a reader than from a moviegoer. I tried to make everything as accurate and believable as
possible, even when writing about still-to-be-developed technology or fictional dictators.
It also took me a while to get used to writing in the past tense. Screenplays are always
present tense. Also, in novels, you get to write down what people are thinking, something
you never do in screenplays.
TBR: I might be wrong, but I thought I detected subtle references in ACID TEST to the
movies which you have scripted. The most obvious one was the fact that Batu Khan in ACID
TEST was a trekkie, a reference, at least in my mind to FIRST CONTACT. Are there any
others, or is my imagination simply in overdrive?
RL: Rather than reply to whether others exist, I think
it's better to let the readers see if they spot any themselves. But I will say I did not
set out to do anything gimmicky, like Hitchcock always appearing in his own films. I'd
like to think everything in the book is there for a good reason.
For instance --- and this is not a spoiler --- the STAR TREK reference serves a very
practical purpose. I had this particularly cool visual I wanted to use, but in order for
it to work I had to make it believable that Batu Khan, a ruthless but imminently practical
man, would have a large fish tank installed in his private quarters on a 747-sized
hypersonic plane. Water is quite heavy, so this would be an extreme extravagance. However,
as I'd already established that Batu likes to emulate powerful people, I explained the
fish tank by saying he wanted it because Captain Picard had one in his Ready Room.
TBR: Aside from Markus Fang, what else are you presently working on?
RL: I recently did several drafts of the feature
version of HOGAN'S HEROES, although it's always impossible to say at this point how much
of my stuff will end up in the finished film. I'm working on a new feature screenplay, and
a new Matt Wilder novel. I'm also very interested in breaking into the series television
business, and have partnered up with some great folks on various projects --- actor Brent
Spiner, TV director Christopher Chulack; filmmakers John Woo and Terence Chang; and TV
Academy Chairman Bryce Zabel.
TBR: What authors did you enjoy reading when you were younger? And which ones have had
the most influence on your movie work?
RL: Although I'd never admit this to Billy Wilder, I
love Chandler. Every sentence is a gem. Conversely, I love Dashiell Hammett because the
prose is so clean and invisible.
For movies, it'd have to be Billy Wilder for best overall writing, screenwriter Ben Hecht
for vivid characters, Hitchcock for how to artfully manipulate an audience; David Lean and
John Ford for telling a story visually.
TBR: What books have you read in the past six months that you would recommend to the
readers of ACID TEST?
RL: Okay, I'll admit it --- I read very little in the
genre I write in. I think I'm afraid I'll be intimidated by the great writers and thrown
from my stride by the lesser ones. Right now I'm reading THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN, by
Simon Winchester. It's about two key men behind the creation of the OXFORD ENGLISH
DICTIONARY and it is uncannily entertaining. I believe Mel Gibson wants to make a movie of
it, so I'm not the only action-loving guy to enjoy this book.
TBR: Assume that you've been given carte blanche to cast the film adaptation of ACID
TEST. Who would you cast for the lead characters?
RL: George Clooney would make a great Matt Wilder, as
would Samuel L. Jackson or Tom Cruise; Julia Roberts or Ashley Judd as Laura Bishop;
Jeff Bridges as President Marsh, (I don't care that he already played the president in THE
CONTENDER, the guy is amazing); Terence Stamp as Professor Cowling; and Jet Li as Batu
Khan.
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