10 Things We Learned From Oliver Stone On Joe Rogan Experience
9. Platoon Was Originally Rejected
Despite going on to become one of the most successful (both commercially and critically) war movies of all time, it may come as a surprise to hear that the idea for a Platoon movie was originally rejected by the Pentagon and many movie studios.
In Stone's mind, it was clear nobody wanted to see an honest portrayal of what actually happened in Vietnam, with his original idea being rejected by 'the powers that be' when he first wrote it in 1976. Later down the road it was classed as a great script but too much of a 'downer' compared to film likes Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Deer Hunter (1978).
The film also nearly got made in 1983, however it was shot down again after the board of directors at MGM said they were against it, so the company claimed they wouldn't be able to distribute the film.
Eventually, the project was resurrected when Michael Cimino (the director of The Deer Hunter) said he wanted to produce the movie with Stone in the directing chair. The film was finally produced by British production company Hemdale and made on an incredibly low budget ($6 million). It was also shot back-to-back with his other war drama Salvador.