Editing Total Recall (1990 film) (section)

===Development under De Laurentiis Entertainment Group===
[[File:Dino de laurentiis crop.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=A 2009 photograph of Dino De Laurentiis|Producer [[Dino De Laurentiis]] (pictured in 2009) thought [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] was not suitable to lead the film. ]]
De Laurentiis considered [[Richard Rush (director)|Richard Rush]], [[Lewis Teague]], [[Russell Mulcahy]], and [[Fred Schepisi]] to direct the film, before choosing [[David Cronenberg]] in 1984.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=62}}{{sfn|Roberts|1990|p=6}} Cronenberg was unfamiliar with Dick's work but was interested in the script. Even so, problems remained with the third act and Cronenberg spent the next year writing twelve separate drafts.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=62}}{{sfn|Cronenberg|2006|p=78}} In his finished script, Quaid's true identity is Chairman Mandrell, the dictator of Earth who, following a failed assassination attempt on his life, is convinced by Mars Administrator Cohaagen to confront the organization that suppressed his memory. Cohaagen later reveals that Quaid is an inconsequential government worker chosen to play the role of Mandrell to facilitate Cohaagen usurping control of the Earth. Quaid defeats Cohaagen and assumes the identity of Mandrell.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=65}} Cronenberg was responsible for the mutant characters, including Kuato (originally called Quato), and further developed an idea by Shusett about mutant animals, known as Ganzibulls, in the Martian sewers; Cronenberg made them mutant camels.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|pp=64–65}}

Cronenberg found himself at odds with Shusett regarding the tone, as Shusett and De Laurentiis did not want it to be as serious as the science fiction film ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982)—an adaptation of Dick's novel ''[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]'' (1968).{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=63}} Shusett described Cronenberg's work as bringing the film back to Dick's original short story, whereas they wanted an adventure closer to "''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' go to Mars".{{sfn|Murray|1990|p=52}}<ref name="WiredPKD"/>{{sfn|Cronenberg|2006|p=8}} Cronenberg did not want to make that film and chose to quit. He was also frustrated by his disagreements with Shusett and De Laurentiis, and the casting of [[Richard Dreyfuss]] in the lead role.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=63}} Dreyfuss had requested further rewrites to have Quaid reflect the everyman persona he had established in his previous films, rather than the action-focus of the Shusett/O'Bannon story. Cronenberg had wanted to cast [[William Hurt]] as the lead instead and focus more on the concepts of memory and identity.{{sfn|Murray|1990|p=52}}{{sfn|Hughes|2012|pp=63–64}} [[Christopher Reeve]], [[Jeff Bridges]], and [[Harrison Ford]] were also considered for Quaid.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:{{sfn|Murray|1990|p=52}}{{sfn|Murray|1990b|p=30}}<ref name="WiredPKD"/>{{sfn|Vest|2009|p=48}}<ref name="FORD"/>}} De Laurentiis threatened to sue Cronenberg for quitting but was placated by Cronenberg agreeing to work with him on a different film.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=63}} A few years later, De Laurentiis offered Cronenberg the opportunity to make ''Total Recall'' as he had wanted, but Cronenberg was not interested and did not want to argue with Shusett again.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=63}}

De Laurentiis sought to keep the budget low following the financial failure of ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984), and wanted to reduce costs by eliminating Mars entirely, but Shusett and O'Bannon dissented.{{sfn|Roberts|1990|p=6}}{{sfn|Rodley|1997|p=120}} Problems with finalizing the script and the high budget continued to stall ''Total Recall'' for the next few years.{{sfn|Murray|1990|p=52}}{{sfn|Roberts|1990|p=6}} In 1987, De Laurentiis again considered hiring Rush as director, but De Laurentiis disliked the finale featuring a breathable atmosphere on Mars while Rush supported the idea. De Laurentiis accepted he was wrong after hiring director [[Bruce Beresford]], who also supported the ending.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=66}} Around this time, writer [[Gary Goldman (screenwriter)|Gary Goldman]] was offered an opportunity to refine the script, but he turned it down to focus on his own project, called ''Warrior'', that he was working on alongside director [[Paul Verhoeven]] at [[Warner Bros. Pictures]].{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=66}} Beresford began preparations for a version of ''Total Recall'' described by Shusett as less gritty and more "[[Steven Spielberg|Spielbergian]]" in tone, and [[Patrick Swayze]] was cast as Quaid. Set construction was underway in Australia when DEG filed for bankruptcy in 1988.<ref name="WiredPKD"/>{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=66}}<ref name="ringer june2020"/> Approximately 80 crew were fired and the sets had to be destroyed.{{sfn|Hughes|2012|p=66}} By this point, the project had already accrued $8{{nbsp}}million in pre-production costs, and $6{{nbsp}}million in [[turnaround (filmmaking)|turnaround]] costs—a process allowing other studios to purchase the idea.{{sfn|Murray|1990b|p=72}}<ref name="LATimesDec1988"/>{{sfn|Murray|1990|pp=52–53}}
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