How ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Screenwriter Larry McMurtry Convinced Annie Proulx to Let Him Adapt Her Short Story | Exclusive

When “Brokeback Mountain” hit theaters in late 2005, it quickly became that simplest and yet rarest thing: a work of art that moves a sizable audience and then becomes a cultural phenomenon. It was the equivalent of drilling for oil and setting off the Spindletop gusher. The movie anticipated and perhaps even accelerated society’s acceptance of gay rights, including the right to marry. 

Making a good film was practically impossible in the best of circumstances. For a writer in the late 1990s to remain in control was unheard of.