From 'Heaven's Gate' To 'Star Wars,' Must-Read Tweets From Michael Cimino's First 24 Hours On Twitter

Technically, Heaven's Gate/The Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino (@Cimino1939) isn't yet verified on Twitter, but we'll allow the man the benefit of the doubt: He's barely been Tweeting for 24 hours and already his account is a must-read.

1980's Heaven's Gate was such a notorious overbudget box office bomb that you can consider "pulling a heaven's gate" Hollywood shorthand for bombastic failure, and yet: "A number of inexcusable, misleading things have been said about me," Cimino Tweeted after his account sprang up yesterday.

With Heaven's Gate enjoying renewed interest and critical appreciation (not to mention the estimable Criterion treatment), engaging with cinephiles three decades later could be Cimino's ticket back into the game. "Being infamous is not fun," Cimino said last summer at the Venice Film Festival. Welcome to Twitter, Mr. Cimino!

Give the guy a follow here and cross your fingers for some real talk along the lines of these Tweets about his Heaven's Gate infamy, how he wanted to make The Empire Strikes Back as "a Western with lasers," and his vision for turning the Kevin Bacon punch-dancing classic Footloose into a Grapes of Wrath-esque musical comedy.

Film recommendation... or modified haiku?

https://twitter.com/Cimino1939/status/277084126685835264

On Heaven's Gate breaking even — and only 32 years after release!
https://twitter.com/Cimino1939/status/276923813256626176

On that one time someone called him a chubby Garry Shandling, which I think we can all agree would suck:

https://twitter.com/Cimino1939/status/276856775142170624

How he almost kicked off his Sunday shoes until Paramount got nervous and fired him, which is the greatest cinematic tragedy of all because who wouldn't want a five-hour Footloose??

https://twitter.com/Cimino1939/status/277161394661625858

On making his pitch to make The Empire Strikes Back:

https://twitter.com/Cimino1939/status/276934619939606528

...and the follow-up explanation that makes me wonder if @cimino1939 is fake/just messing with us:

https://twitter.com/Cimino1939/status/277110387256750081

Lastly, and most importantly! On his next would-be project, and his hireability: Take note, Hollywood!

https://twitter.com/Cimino1939/status/276860837933744128

[@cimino1939]