In the 1970s, an aspiring actress named Diane Thomas was waitressing and developing a screenplay in her spare time, a script that would later be titled Romancing the Stone. After a year, when Thomas had finally completed the screenplay and sent it around to various studios, and miraculously, the story was picked up by 20th Century Fox. Michael Douglas, who starred in the film, explains to the Los Angeles Times that the script had a “spontaneity” and that there was “a total lack of fear in the writing.” Thomas’ story had spirit and heart, and earned the admiration of several studios right away.
The idea was bought in 1979 and by 1984, Romancing the Stone was finally available on the big screen, starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito. The film follows a New York City romance author, Joan Wilder, who is forced to go to Columbia to rescue her sister. Joan’s sister is being held for ransom by criminals, who also happen to be looking for a particularly expensive treasure, and Joan must endure many discomforts during the adventure.
Diane Thomas’ development of one of the most successful adventure romance movies of all time earned her a spot at Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Company, where she would have written screenplays (and finished one, the Spielberg film Always). Only a year and a half after Romancing the Stone was released, Thomas was involved in a tragic car accident and passed away at the age of 39. Although Thomas didn’t live to continue her groundbreaking work with the adventure-romance genre, her contributions to the industry live on in the sequel to Romancing the Stone, titled The Jewel of the Nile, and elsewhere.
Even though these influences are out there, there is still the question of where adventure-romance movies are today. What happened to discourage the development of similar films? Aside from True Lies, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the recent The Lost City, the adventure-romance film is rarely tackled in an adult way. Let’s take a look at Romancing the Stone and the lost art of Adventure Romance Movies.
The Unexpected Hit of Romancing the Stone
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Apparently, before Romancing the Stone debuted in 1984, studio insiders predicted that the film would fail. To their surprise, the movie became 20th Century Fox’s big hit of the year and earned $115 million worldwide at the box office ($330 million in today's money). Despite the story’s obvious success, critic reviews were mixed. Some critics, such as The Washington Post, claimed that the movie was a rip-off of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and in places felt “contrived" (Spielberg would actually hire Thomas to write on the third Indiana Jones movie).
However, respected movie critic Robert Ebert said that although Romancing contains the same “spirit and sense of humor” as Raiders, it carries its own charm. Ebert describes it as a “high-spirited chase picture that takes us, as they say, from the canyons of Manhattan to the steaming jungles of South America.” Ebert suspected that the love for this genre comes from authentic characters and villains, such as Danny DeVito’s unique role as an evil gangster, hell-bent on following Joan and Jack to the treasure. He's excellent here, displaying the same malicious glee he's mastered over the years.
Ebert also mentions that the movie is entirely driven by Joan until she arrives in Columbia, where she must rely on Jack’s local knowledge of the area. For this reason, Romancing the Stone doesn’t entirely land in the realm of “damsel in distress” stories, and actress Kathleen Turner is a pretty capable, head-strong woman on her own. While some other critics may have dismissed it (though the film now has an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score), audiences loved it at the time. Romancing the Stone is humorous and reveals enough twists and turns that it isn’t a repeat of similar films, and it employs an excellent cast. Diane Thomas gives us exactly what we ask for, a romance, a tense adventure, and a treasure.
Where Are the Romance Adventure Movies Now?
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It’s no secret that films like Romancing the Stone don’t often appear today. There are a couple of reasons for this, particularly because the romance-adventure drama is attached to some stereotypes and ideas that aren’t relevant today. As we talked about above, although Romancing doesn’t directly land in the “damsel in distress” category, it still features a man taking the lead for most of the film and rescuing Joan throughout, which is something recent films have usually tried to steer clear from.
Another idea to consider is the traditional treasure-hunting narrative seen in the Indiana Jones franchise and in snippets in Romancing. Emily Kavanagh of Collider explains that many treasure-hunting stories are “steeped in imperialist ideology” and “glorify modern acts of colonialism by showcasing the robbery of cultural artifacts as something glamorous.” Most people are aware of this today, and so developing a movie with this ideology would feel dated to those who bothered to see it.
That being said, there is hope for this genre. The 2022 film The Lost City starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum establishes early on that treasure hunting is cruel and destructive. Bullock’s character, Loretta, understands that the island they visit is still inhabited and that the local civilization has been robbed and damaged by treasure hunters. The film is also driven forward by Loretta’s knowledge and motivation; despite her romance, she is still able to protect herself. The Lost City follows some of the same details as Romancing the Stone but modernizes the genre and makes it accessible to today’s audience, presenting a clear path forward for other great romantic adventures. Romancing the Stone is available for streaming on Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime.