They cast a favorite leading man of the day and not just one but two of the more popular young up-and-coming ingenues, plus a once popular, now a bit faded but still with a little drawing power, actress as the femme fatale.
The Director was proven to be in touch with the current zeitgeist, and could be counted on to lure the targeted demographic, good for at least a two-week box office run.
Of course there would be a huge marketing campaign, tied to promotional appearances on various talk shows by the cast members and maybe a "win a chance for a walk-on role" contest.
Everything would be done according to the formula, and even if the the formula was so well-known it had become an embarrassment, no one connected to the project could work up even half a blush. The formula made money, and that was all that mattered.
Not one word was spoken on the set about art, or integrity, or craft.
Hell, there were more accountants milling about most days than actors or actresses, even on days that required a crowd of $100.00 and lunch extras to fill in the background for the big party scenes.
The script had long been dis-avowed by the original writer, and even three of the four writers brought in to punch it up.
So the only screen credit for a writer went to a woman who had added 4 lines of dialogue in the mandatory break-up scene, and another 5 in the make-up scene.
In spite of the overall crass approach to the production of the film, there were still a few bright spots in the final print. One of the ingenues actually had solid acting chops, and there was a full 5 minutes of largely improvised dialogue between the leading man and a bank teller (played by an actor who once starred in a sitcom that revolved around a pet store and it's zany staff) that left just about every member of the audience laughing.
Of course, all of the bright spots were shown in the trailer.
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