Greg Mottola recently spoke to Uproxx about the unorthodox way he and Jon Hamm handled budget restraints during shooting of his new crime caper, Confess, Fletch, which is currently playing in theaters. Mottola opened up about what happened when he set out to direct a film based on one of Gregory Mcdonald‘s mystery novels, saying that star Hamm pitched in to help complete shooting on the film when the budget wouldn’t allow for the time needed to finish.
Mottola revealed that Hamm, who plays the title character of the film, sacrificed a portion of his salary to get Confess, Fletch made. Mottola said, “So, basically, what we did is Jon gave back sixty percent of his salary to the budget. I gave back some of my salary, not as much as Jon because he’s richer than me and I’ve got three kids. And we bought three more days of shooting. We got it up to 30 days in Boston and one day in Rome. And we said, f*** it, we’re insane, we’re dumb. We’re going to make this movie. And then Miramax really supported us, creatively. They didn’t fight us on people we wanted to cast.”
Confess, Fletch is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Mcdonald and tells the story of a former investigative reporter who is accused of a murder while investigating the case of a missing art collection. In addition to Hamm, Confess, Fletch stars Roy Wood Jr., Lorenza Izzo, Kyle MacLachlan, Annie Mumolo, John Behlmann, John Slattery, Lucy Punch, Marcia Gay Harden, and Ayden Mayeri. Mottola directed the film from a script by himself and Zev Borow. Hamm also served as a producer on the film in addition to starring, alongside Bill Block and Connie Tavel.
While Confess, Fletch may not be making huge waves at the box office, the film is a big critical success, currently holding a certified fresh rating of 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Amidst all the positive buzz Confess, Fletch is currently receiving, Mottola is already planning a sequel, which will be based on the journalism conference-set novel Fletch’s Fortune. Mottola briefly discussed his potential sequel with Uproxx, saying, “I’ve got lots of ideas [for] how to bring that into all the insane worlds of today.”
While still playing theatrically, Confess, Fletch will premiere on Showtime on October 28.
