But when The Long Kiss Goodnight turned out to be a major box-office bomb-much like The Last Action Hero (1993), for which he received $1 million to rewrite-Black was blamed and he all but disappeared. The latter title earned a whopping $4 million payday, an unheard-of amount for a spec script at that time. He followed the hit with shared writing duties on The Monster Squad (also 1987) and Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), then The Last Boy Scout (1991), and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996).

His foremost script for Lethal Weapon in 1987 earned him six figures, and earned Warner Bros. Shane Black has been active in Hollywood since he first emerged as a screenwriter in 1986, having freshly graduated from UCLA’s drama school. But the film would mark a comeback for more than one Hollywood talent, most notable among them its writer-director. It was here in which the famously troubled actor demonstrated his banter-laden, motor-mouthed persona so ingrained into the world of superheroes today. Originally called “L.A.P.I.” and inspired by countless gumshoe novels, specifically one by author Brett Halliday, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang may be the sole reason Robert Downey Jr. The often hilarious, fourth-wall breaking neo-noir marked the directorial debut of longtime Hollywood staple Black, and its goodwill with both audiences and its second-chance stars would later grant Black enough due respect to warrant his turns on Iron Man 3 (2013) and the similarly-themed The Nice Guys (2016). Overlooked upon its initial release and somewhat overestimated upon its rediscovery, Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is best viewed once, but perhaps only once to preserve its snarky, self-awareness.

Kiss kiss bang bang