Legendary horror director originally turned down controversial film that sparked anger at Cannes

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A legendary director with a career spanning five decades has shared how he almost didn’t make his iconic 90s film that wreaked havoc at the Cannes Film Festival.

David Cronenberg is famed for making terrifying and stomach-churning horror films such as The Fly, Dead Ringers, Videodrome, and Crimes Of The Future.

But he originally turned down helming an adaptation of J. G. Ballard’s thriller novel Crash, a film he did eventually make in 1996.

Starring James Spader, Holly Hunter, Rosanna Arquette and Elias Koteas, Crash follows film producer James Ballard (Spader) who, after surviving a car crash, becomes involved with a group of symphorophiliacs who are aroused by car crashes.

Appearing at London Soundtrack Festival alongside longtime collaborator Howard Shore, Cronenberg shared how he initially turned down making Crash into a film.

The director said he was approached by Naked Lunch producer Jeremy Thomas about reading Ballard’s book, but described it as ‘very clinical’, ‘very disturbing’, and ‘not a likeable book.’

David Cronenberg shared how he initially said no to making 1996 thriller Crash (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

‘I said no to making Crash. Then I ran into Thomas at a film event years later – it might have been Toronto Film Festival – and said to him “I think I want to make Crash.” So it must have ruminated in my mind,’ he told press including Metro.

Crash premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May 1996 and polarised audiences, something that Cronenberg used to his advantage.

‘It was Alexander Walker who said “This is a film beyond the bounds of depravity”, which I thought was a great review. I think we quoted it in the marketing.’

He continued: ‘It’s a bit more romantic than the novel… I certainly was seduced by the beauty of my actors and the lighting that Peter Suschitzky did which was phenomenal.’

The revered director said the film’s crew had ‘300 angry journalists wanting to attack them’ at Cannes when Crash screened (Picture: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

It received the Special Jury Prize when then-jury president Francis Ford Coppola announced the award ‘for originality, for daring and for audacity.’

Speaking about its controversy, Cronenberg remarked that when the 4K remaster of Crash was shown at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 the ‘very young audience’ was ‘not in the slightest bit scandalised.’

‘When we showed the film at Cannes it was quite scandalous. We had 300 very angry journalists all wanting to attack us. We had to open another room with a separate video feed to accommodate them.

‘At one point after many of them yelled about how depraved it was, there was one guy who stood up, I think he was Norwegian, and he had a different way of attacking the film.

Cronenberg mused that a crowd who viewed the film in 2019 had a far tamer reaction to Crash than those at its premiere (Picture: Columbia Tri Star/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

‘He said “I think the film is a complete betrayal of the novel. It’s not the novel.” But Ballard, who was sitting with us, said “Well actually I think the movie is better than the book.” So the guy just sort of had to sit down very slowly.’

Cronenberg’s appearance in London comes ahead of the release of his latest film, The Shrouds, set to be released next month.

Starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce, the film follows 50-year-old widower Karsh (Cassel), who is inconsolable after the death of his wife Becca (Kruger) and decides to invent GraveTech, a revolutionary and controversial technology to help him stay feeling close to his spouse’s body.

Crash is available to watch on Tubi for free.

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