John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor, film producer, dancer, and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, appearing on the television series "Welcome Back, Kotter" (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and "Grease" (1978). His acting career declined through the 1980s, but enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s with his role in "Pulp Fiction" (1994), and he has since starred in films such as "Get Shorty", "Broken Arrow", "Face/Off", "Swordfish", "Be Cool", "Wild Hogs", "Hairspray", and "The Taking of Pelham 123".
Battlefield Earth (film)
Travolta's involvement in "Battlefield Earth" was first publicized in late 1995. He told the "New York Daily News" that ""Battlefield Earth" is the pinnacle of using my power for something. I told my manager, 'If we can't do the things now that we want to do, what good is the power? Let's test it and try to get the things done that we believe in.'" It was assumed from the start that Travolta would star in and produce the film, which would be distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; J. D. Shapiro was to write the screenplay. Shapiro was eventually fired because he refused to accept some suggestions from the studio producers that changed the tone of his script, including removing key scenes and characters. In 1997, Travolta's long-time manager, Jonathan Krane, signed a two-year deal with Twentieth Century Fox under which that studio would release "Battlefield Earth" instead of MGM, but the deal with Fox also fell through. James Robert Parish, author of "Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops", comments that both MGM and Fox regarded the project as too risky on several grounds: Its heavy reliance on special effects would be very expensive, pushing the budget up to as much as $100 million; Hubbard's narrative was seen as naïve and outdated; and the "Scientology factor" could work against the film, negating Travolta's star power. As one studio executive put it, "On any film there are ten variables that can kill you. On this film there was an eleventh: Scientology. It just wasn't something anyone really wanted to get involved with."