John Carpenter almost quit Hollywood after Memoirs of an Invisible Man

John Carpenter prefers to experience horror on screen, not on set.

The legendary director, while reflecting on his decades-long career, admitted that he almost quit filmmaking after the experience of 1992’s “Memoirs of an Invisible Man.” Based on the 1987 sci-fi novel by HF Saint, the film starred Chevy Chase as a businessman who becomes invisible after an experimental procedure. Frequent Carpenter collaborator Sam Neill plays a government employee who tries to capture Chase’s character. Also starring Daryl Hannah, Michael McKean and Stephen Tobolowsky.

“Chevy Chase, Sam Neill — who I love and who I’ve been friends with for a long time — and Warner Bros., I’ve worked for them and it’s been nice,” Carpenter said. Species, before adding: “No, it wasn’t pleasant at all. i’m lying to you It was a horror show. I really wanted to quit the business after the film.”

Carpenter continued, “God, I don’t want to talk about why, but let’s just say there were personalities in that movie. You must not name who is to be killed. No, no, that’s terrible. It must be lit. No no no. Anyway, everything is fine. I survived.”

While not naming that individual, the “Halloween” auteur then clarified that Neill, for example, is “a great actor, I love working with him,” and compared Neill’s acting style to that of Kurt Russell. “He comes prepared. He knows what he’s going to do, Carpenter said. “He reacts to other characters who are there. I mean, he’s just a dream come true.”

Memoirs of an Invisible Man was a box office flop, earning $14.4 million against a $40 million budget.

While Carpenter didn’t name actor Chase as the source of his bad experience directing the film, screenwriter William Goldman (“Princess Bride”) did. confirmed at the time that Carpenter was only brought on board after Chase beat out original director Ivan Reitmann.

Chase was recently revealed to have allegedly made racist comments toward his “Community” co-star Donald Glover, who later created the critically acclaimed FX series “Atlanta.” Chase is not expected to reprise his role in the upcoming Peacock movie “Community,” with series creator Dan Harmon wondering if Chase’s return is “still legal.”

“Chevy was the first to realize how incredibly talented Donald was, and he expressed his jealousy by trying to dump Donald,” Harmon told The New Yorker in 2018 about his alleged racism toward Chase Glover. “I remember apologizing to Donald after a particularly rough night when Chevy made some non-PC slurs and Donald said, ‘I’m not even worried about that.’

Chase stated in February 2022 that after four seasons on the show, there were rumors of his exit from Community. “I am who I am. And I like where — who I am. I don’t care. And that’s part of me is that I don’t care,” Chase said on CBS’ “Sunday Morning.” “And I’ve thought about it a lot. And I don’t know what tell you, man. I just don’t care.”

Chase also hasn’t been asked to return for “Confess, Fletch,” a reimagined revival of the novel adaptation that previously starred him.

Register: Stay up to date with the latest movie and TV news! Subscribe to our email newsletter here.