After a few not-so-successful turns at the box office, Zemeckis ended up making his next film at 20th Century Fox after reading a screenplay written by Diane Thomas, a waitress from Malibu. Initial test screenings for ROMANCING THE STONE went so poorly that Fox fired Zemeckis from directing COCOON, and begrudgingly released the film expecting nothing more than another flop in a series of financial flops for the filmmaker. Thankfully the movie-going public vehemently disagreed and STONE was a runaway hit, catapulting Zemeckis -- and a young Danny DeVito -- into the Hollywood heavens, proving instantly that it was far more than a throwaway Indiana Jones rip-off, and if anything, a playful riff on that particular blockbuster. As per usual Zemeckis never wastes an opportunity to exercise his ability to transform a seemingly paint-by-numbers screenplay into something far more interesting and worthwhile than it ever needed to be. Zemeckis begins his obsession with high-functioning alcoholics when we meet Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner), a steamy adventure/romance novelist who spends most of her time with her cat and imagination. Life is flipped in an instant when one Colonel Zolo (Manuel Ojeda) murders her building's super and destroys her apartment searching for a treasure map sent by her sister, who is being held for ransom in Colombia. Joan jets to South America to save her sister and crosses paths with exotic bird smuggler Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas), who begrudgingly agrees to help her navigate the country. The film is scrumptiously convoluted at every turn, but where it plays so differently than many other romance/adventure pictures of the day, is through Zemeckis' atypical approach to the burgeoning relationship between Jack and Joan. Endless conversations full of push and pull bickering, flirtation, and fascinating gender politics create an appropriately boozy and grass-laden atmosphere as they attempt to evade smugglers throughout Colombia. Zemeckis's ability to balance impossible plots with thrilling action sequences, along with Alan Silvestri's score (their first collaboration), helped each element swirl so harmoniously together that studio heads were forced to recognize that Zemeckis was a hot property worth gambling on.