Wordsmiths

Steven Spielberg called for a “return to the word” at the Oscars last year--but this?

In the case of “Rainman” (a one-time Spielberg project), the Dustin Hoffman-Tom Cruise starrer at United Artists to film in April with Sydney Pollock directing, Outtakes estimates it’s about $10,000 per page.

Writer Barry Morrow’s original script was so admired, it attracted the likes of Hoffman and director Marty Brest. But not content to let a good thing stand, it’s been reworked by, among other reworkers, Ron Bass (“Black Widow”), Richard Price (“Color of Money”) and Michael Bortman (“Who Will Love My Children”). Now, Pollack has employed both of his favorite script docs, David Rayfiel (“ ‘Round Midnight”) and Kurt Luedtke (“Out of Africa”).

Our industry Deep Throat--noting that none of the above reworkers rework for scale--claimed that almost $1.5 million has been spent on writers to date, an amount only exceeded by the star salaries.