What Hollywood Did to His Novel . . . and He Loves It : Movies: Walter Wager watched uneasily as his novel was worked over by a succession of screenwriters, but he is pleased with the results.

For years, authors have raged about how Hollywood treated their books. Here is the shocking story of what happened when my suspense novel was recently filmed as “Die Hard 2.”

Early one afternoon in June, 1988, the telephone rang in my study 17 floors above Manhattan’s lively Upper West Side. The caller was Tim Knowlton, head of “film rights” at the Curtis Brown literary agency that has ably represented me for a lot of years.

Young and direct, Tim cut to the chase.

“How would you like a feature based on your ’58 Minutes’?” he asked in a voice as creamy as gelato. “We have an offer from Larry Gordon. He’s got a deal with Fox.”

When Macmillan published “58 Minutes” in December, 1987, I considered it one of my best books and expected a movie bid. After six months without any, I’d have welcomed an offer from anyone, including Attila the Hun. I knew that Lawrence Gordon was a top producer and 20th Century Fox was a major studio with ample resources. They were much more likely to get a picture made than Attila.

I didn’t go through Harvard Law School for nothing. I shrewdly asked what the offer was, and beamed when Tim quoted a number appealingly higher than the sums I received for “Telefon” and “Twilight’s Last Gleaming.”

When Tim added that the option payment up front was $25,000, I inquired whether we might raise that figure as my wife and I were off to China in late August and some extra walking around money might put a bounce in my stride. Tim replied that he would ask for both more option money and an additional $50,000 in the purchase price.

“Didn’t get the 50,” he announced when he called back an hour later.

“That’s OK,” I told him.

“No, I got 25-- and your extra option money. Enjoy China!”

Tim then informed me that the executive in the Gordon apparat who discovered “58 Minutes” and pushed it was Lloyd Levin. I phoned him three days later to say hello. He seemed to be the absolute antithesis of the popular image of the glib goonish Hollywood producer. He called me “Mr. Wager,” explained that he’d admired my books and had been looking for one to film. He sounded courteous, intelligent, serious and professional.

Since Larry Gordon is one of the biggest tycoons in the movie world, I don’t know how many arms he has. Whatever the number, I was pleased by my agent’s report that Lloyd was Gordon’s right-hand man and Lloyd meant to get this picture made. This was reassuring during weeks of Byzantine negotiations on contract details. I suspect that the Fox lawyers were young and short. Who else would be so fierce?

Letters, phone calls and faxes flew across the country. I think Federal Express stock went up two points. Finally we got contracts as long as Stephen King novels just four days before we were to board our Finnair jet to Beijing. The money came 48 hours later, and we went.

On our return in September, I heard that a hot young screenwriter had been signed and a first draft was expected by year’s end. Having done screenplays myself, I politely asked for a copy. No problem, Lloyd replied. So far so good.

Nine weeks later my wife and I went to see the excellent “Field of Dreams” and were delighted to note that L. Gordon was the producer and L. Levin was also involved. Until then, I was ignorant of the great variety of successful films that Gordon and his team had done.

We had seen one of his recent productions--a powerhouse action picture starring Bruce Willis--a week before flying to China. An electrifying fast-as-a-rocket film, this “Die Hard” made by Gordon, his brother and Joel Silver was already a great success. We hoped that the Gordon Co. would do half as well with my story.

I saw no connection between the two, of course. At the time, no one else did either.

When no copy of the first draft arrived by late March, I politely renewed my request. When the weeks crawled by without a response, I suspected that there might be a problem. There are always problems in movie-making, so I concentrated on a new book.

A note from Lloyd requesting my opinion came with the first draft in May. It was not without merit, but I was underwhelmed. I wrote back agreeing that it “needed some work” but expressing confidence that the pros at the Gordon Co. would steer the project through to a splendid film.

Be polite; think positive. It can’t hurt.

Months slipped by swiftly. We went to Holland and Belgium in August to do travel articles. In October it was Moscow and Helsinki. On our return, there were three messages from Tim Knowlton on the answering machine. Before I could phone him, he called me.

“Sit down,” he instructed. “They’re going to start shooting ’58 Minutes’ in a month, but they’ve changed the name. It’s going to be ‘Die Hard 2’ with Bruce Willis, a $40-million production.”

In shock, I uttered an exclamation that I am unable to repeat here.

Lloyd Levin called me a day or two later. He wanted to make sure that I wasn’t angry, and assured me that they hadn’t meant to turn my book into a “Die Hard” sequel when we made the deal. I believed him. Lloyd is a complete gentleman, an utter pro and a total mensch.

Then I heard that Doug Richardson’s script was being redone by Steven DeSouza who’d done such a fine rewrite of the first “Die Hard.” I immediately checked him out through my spies, and felt relieved. Anybody who won a car in a contest in Philadelphia, drove to Hollywood and earned a solid reputation as a skilled and witty writer of successful action pictures was likely to be OK. He turned out to be better than that.

When the large check reached my agent, I asked him to make the photo blow-ups that hang on my wall. Then I went to an eye doctor for a prescription for new glasses. The film came up, of course, in a brief chat with the receptionist who told me that she knew I didn’t do the book on which the original “Die Hard” was based, for she was a friend of the author’s sister.

“Rod Thorpe,” I responded. “Fine writer. I’ve read several of his novels.”

Some weeks later Thorpe phoned me from Los Angeles to assure me that he was embarrassed by her accusing manner. Since I’ve been accused of a lot worse, I told him that receptionists working in cubicles without windows are often high-strung and I didn’t blame him a bit. I found him a gracious man in excellent spirits, buoyed by the healthy payment he got for this sequel.

Things got better and better. In April, a pleasant gent named Scott Levine in Fox’s public relations office in New York sent me a Fox T-shirt. Then Lloyd sent a “Die Hard 2” shirt which I wore on our trip to Egypt. No one there knew what it meant, but then nobody there know what Donald Trump or Roseanne Barr mean.

On returning from that 30-Lomotil journey, we heard reports that the Gordon-Silver-Gordon production had cost more than $60 million and looked terrific. Scott Levine cautiously confirmed this, and was kind enough to provide a dozen tickets for the press screening in the National Theater on Times Square, where we saw “Die Hard” in August, 1988.

Everyone there enjoyed the film immensely, and people were predicting it would be the summer’s blockbuster. That’s entirely possible, for the actors, director, producers and writers all did very well. My basic idea and some of the story survived, but the first-class script is different in many significant ways and I think the imaginative film writer deserves a very large chunk of the glory. Rod Thorpe’s characters also played a key role. Willis was top notch, of course.

Two days after the screening, I was in a neighborhood grocery discussing the picture with Honest Abe, the owner, when a clerk agreed that it was a wonderful film. He’d already seen a bootleg videotape, and was spreading the glad tidings. Maybe it will help the box office.

To summarize, people who think of movie producers as larcenous vulgarians will be shocked to learn that this writer was treated with unfailing honesty, courtesy and respect by all concerned. I have no beef whatsoever about anyone.

With the film playing on more than 2,500 screens, I’m moving ahead with another book. I’d be happy to discuss it with the producers of “Die Hard 2” tomorrow. Of course, they could be busy with other projects. You know--if you should run into Attila--you might mention it to him too.