Michael Douglas’ “One Helluva Ride,” out next week, is one of the most earnest and entertaining celebrity memoirs you’re likely to read, covering his career as an Oscar-winning actor and producer along with his occasionally bumpy personal life — both in incredible detail.
But the book almost didn’t make it to bookstores on time, TheWrap can exclusively report.
According to insiders with knowledge of the situation, it nearly missed its deadline, which would have been catastrophic for publisher Grand Central Publishing, as the book was set to publish on Oct. 6. A multimillion-dollar advance had been paid to Douglas, with foreign rights sold in 25 countries and an extensive media tour plotted that included interviews with the New York Times, Associated Press and NPR, as well as appearances on shows hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Maher and Joe Rogan (plus, of course, the hosts of “The View”). The pressure was on.
“We knew Michael’s book was going to go far and push boundaries,” one insider said. “But we didn’t expect it to go as far as it did, and to have that level of detail about his personal life and receipts for the most unbelievably wild and hilarious stories.”
In the book, Douglas tells stories that he hasn’t ever shared, revealing new details about some of his most famous productions, along with previously untold stories from private life (both, as you can imagine, are full of revelatory, drop-your-book-in-your-lap moments). It’s a hoot.
Less fun, publishing insiders also tell me, was the process that the book had to go through to get approved. The contents of the memoir required a long, cumbersome and in-depth legal vetting both in the United States and in England. Some incredibly last-minute editing was required after private conversations were shared between Douglas and some of the major celebrities, leading ladies, political figures, movie stars, rock stars and cultural figures featured in the book. It’s not exactly a matter of national security, but it’s close.
Additionally, 80 never-before-seen photos, many from Douglas’ personal collection, were added at the last minute, with the book finally cleared and approved for publication just minutes before deadline.
Grand Central Publishing chose not to comment on the necessary changes.
When you read the book, you feel that freewheeling looseness, that willingness to open up. (An early portion covers Douglas’ time as a hippie where clothes were merely a suggestion and his antiauthoritarianism remained a key part of his rebellious spirit.) It’s this looseness that makes you, as a reader, feel like you’ve bumped into Douglas at an industry event or a cocktail party and he’s sharing with you anecdotes that would never make it into a formal publication.
His introduction to the book reads: “Life is messy and therefore so are some parts of this book. Much of what you’re about to read, I’ve never told anyone before.”
“There will be some intimate relationships revealed here for the first time. I called each woman involved and received their permission to share our story.”
Douglas had been pursued by every major publisher for decades to tell his story – an actor born into a family dynasty, who stepped out of his father’s shadow, won two Academy Awards (won for producing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” early in his career, the other for acting in Oliver Stone’s seminal “Wall Street”) – before signing onto a multimillion dollar deal with Grand Central, publishing the “unfiltered story of his life in a raw, career-sweeping memoir.”
“Michael was always on my dream list,” said one publisher.
Of course, that dream went a little awry.
Insiders say the publisher wasn’t prepared for the number of “jaw-dropping stories” of never-before-revealed relationships that had been hidden for decades, along with rampant drug use, raw depictions of his time in rehab and his honest, emotional fight against stage IV cancer, just as he was starting his new life (and new family) with actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Of course, what makes Douglas’ story so rewarding is that he went through all of this outrageousness while making some of the most iconic, hot-button movies of his generation (“The China Syndrome,” “Romancing the Stone,” “Fatal Attraction” and “Falling Down” are all covered in the book), only to find humility after his cancer battle and an incredible career upswing with his turn as Liberace in Steven Soderbergh’s sequined “Behind the Candelabra,” which won him an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG award.
We’ll have more with Douglas ahead of the publication of “One Helluva Ride” on Oct. 6.
