After negotiations with Mančevski fell through, Mark Rydell was contracted to direct the biopic in February 1996. Rydell was also close friends with Dean; the two studied together at Actors Studio in Manhattan, New York during the early 1950s. DiCaprio dropped out of the lead role entirely when his asking price was determined to be too high after the actor's success with "Romeo + Juliet" (1996) and "Titanic" (1997). Meanwhile, Rydell worked with Horovitz on another rewrite, and Warner Bros. planned to fast track production. Don Was was hired to write and compose the film score, but he was later replaced by John Frizzell. Shortly after Rydell's hiring, Stephen Dorff entered discussions to portray James Dean. Ethan Hawke would later turn down the role.