Editing Schindler's List (section)

=== Development ===
Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the ''Schindlerjuden'', made it his life's mission to tell the story of his savior. Pfefferberg attempted to produce a [[Biographical film|biopic]] of Oskar Schindler with [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) in 1963, with [[Howard Koch (screenwriter)|Howard Koch]] writing, but the deal fell through.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=425}}{{sfn|Crowe|2004|p=557}} In 1982, Thomas Keneally published his historical novel ''[[Schindler's Ark]]'', which he wrote after a chance meeting with Pfefferberg in Los Angeles in 1980.{{sfn|Palowski|1998|p=6}} [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] president [[Sidney Sheinberg|Sid Sheinberg]] sent director Steven Spielberg a ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' review of the book. Spielberg, astounded by Schindler's story, jokingly asked if it was true. "I was drawn to it because of the paradoxical nature of the character," he said. "What would drive a man like this to suddenly take everything he had earned and put it all in the service of saving these lives?"{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=424}} Spielberg expressed enough interest for Universal Pictures to buy the rights to the novel.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=424}} At their first meeting in spring 1983, he told Pfefferberg he would start filming in ten years.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=426}} In the end credits of the film, Pfefferberg is credited as a consultant under the name Leopold Page.{{sfn|Freer|2001|p=220}}

[[File:Krakow Ghetto 39066.jpg|thumb|left|The liquidation of the [[Kraków Ghetto]] in March 1943 is the subject of a 15-minute segment of the film.]]

Spielberg was unsure if he was mature enough to make a film about the Holocaust, and the project remained "on [his] guilty conscience".{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=426}} Spielberg tried to pass the project to director [[Roman Polanski]], but he refused Spielberg's offer. Polanski's mother was killed at Auschwitz, and he had lived in and survived the Kraków Ghetto.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=426}} Polanski eventually directed his own Holocaust drama ''[[The Pianist (2002 film)|The Pianist]]'' (2002). Spielberg also offered the film to [[Sydney Pollack]] and [[Martin Scorsese]], who was attached to direct ''Schindler's List'' in 1988. However, Spielberg was unsure of letting Scorsese direct the film, as  "I'd given away a chance to do something for my children and family about the Holocaust."{{sfn|Thompson|1994}} Spielberg offered him the chance to direct the [[Cape Fear (1991 film)|1991 remake of ''Cape Fear'']] instead.{{sfn|Crowe|2004|p=603}} Scorsese would later admit in an interview that while he believed his version of the film might've been good, he had no regrets passing it to Spielberg stating that "it would not have been the hit that it became".{{sfn|Fleming|2023}} [[Billy Wilder]] expressed an interest in directing the film as a memorial to his family, most of whom were murdered in the Holocaust.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=427}} [[Brian De Palma]] also refused an offer to direct.{{sfn|Power|2018}}

Spielberg finally decided to take on the project when he noticed that [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust deniers]] were being given serious consideration by the media. With the rise of [[neo-Nazism]] after the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], he worried that people were too accepting of intolerance, as they were in the 1930s.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=427}} Sid Sheinberg greenlit the film on condition that Spielberg made ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'' first. Spielberg later said, "He knew that once I had directed ''Schindler'' I wouldn't be able to do ''Jurassic Park''."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=416}} The picture was assigned a small budget of $22&nbsp;million, as Holocaust films are not usually profitable.{{sfn|Palowski|1998|p=27}}{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=416}} Spielberg forwent a salary for the film, calling it "[[Blood money (restitution)|blood money]]",{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=416}} and believed it would fail.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=416}}

In 1983, Keneally was hired to adapt his book, and he turned in a 220-page script. His adaptation focused on Schindler's numerous relationships, and Keneally admitted he did not compress the story enough. Spielberg hired [[Kurt Luedtke]], who had adapted the screenplay of ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'', to write the next draft. Luedtke gave up almost four years later, as he found Schindler's change of heart too unbelievable.{{sfn|Thompson|1994}} During his time as director, Scorsese hired [[Steven Zaillian]] to write a script. When he was handed back the project, Spielberg found Zaillian's 115-page draft too short, and asked him to extend it to 195 pages. Spielberg wanted more focus on the Jews in the story, and he wanted Schindler's transition to be gradual and ambiguous instead of a sudden breakthrough or epiphany. He also extended the ghetto liquidation sequence, as he "felt very strongly that the sequence had to be almost unwatchable."{{sfn|Thompson|1994}}