This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week, the theme is "blockbuster flops":
Er, not that Blockbuster, although thanks to streaming they flopped. No, these are movies that were supposedly going to be blockbusters at the time of release, but failed badly at the box office. This one was a bit difficult for me in that I had two movies that came to mind right away. But I don't watch summer blockbusters for the most part, so I don't know much about which ones are remembered to be epic flops. A search at Wikipedia quickly revealead a good third candidate. So, without further ado, here are my three selections:
Heaven's Gate (1980). Michael Cimino, having had a critical success after The Deer Hunter, was given wide latitude on his next film, which turned out to be an epic western about a land war in Wyoming. Epic in scope at three and a half hours, it was also an epic flop at the box office, effectively bankrupting United Artists and destroying Cimino's career.
Ishtar (1987). Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman try their hand at a Crosby and Hope "road" movie, this one having the two leads as a pair of songwriters who try to make a go of singing and wind up in a middle eastern country and a whole lot of political intrigue. Despite two name stars and a talented writer-director in Elaine May, the movie was a disaster when it was released thanks in part to the stories about its difficult production.
Hudson Hawk (1991). I remember the hype over the movie, but it wasn't until I saw the name in the Wikipedia list of all-time flops that I realized I could use it here. A heist film starring Bruce Willis as a recently released burglar who is being blackmailed into doing all sorts of jobs, it for whatever reason doesn't have quite the reputation as a flop that my first two selections do.
Now to see what everybody else has selected.
Campbell’s Kingdom
3 hours ago
3 comments:
Ishtar is such a misfire starting with the fact that Beatty and Dustin Hoffman don't work as a team and that the movie is just such an unfunny mess.
Hudson Hawk reeks of Bruce Willis's inflated ego and again a poor script.
We match! Heaven's Gate has some beautiful images, the rollerskating dance is wonderfully realized, but they are merely snippets in a dull slog.
I picked three that all had troubled production histories and then landed with a thud.
Cutthroat Island (1995)-Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) inherits her late buccaneer father's galleon and one-third of a map to buried treasure located on Cutthroat Island. The map had been tattooed on her father's scalp, and to find the treasure, she must locate and scalp his two brothers. But Morgan's swashbuckling uncle, Dawg Brown (Frank Langella), wants the treasure for himself, and does battle with his headstrong niece and her unwilling accomplice, Latin-speaking physician William Shaw (Matthew Modine). Really not a bad film, it’s no masterpiece but an okay action flick but its production was deeply troubled and delayed ending up costing somewhere in the vicinity of 115 million 1995 dollars and grossing merely 10 million in the States. Adjusted for inflation it is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest money loser of all-time with a loss of $148 million. Star Geena Davis was married (not for long) to the film’s director Renny Harlin.
Heaven’s Gate (1980)-In 1870 Jackson County, Wyoming a battle erupts between the area's poverty-stricken immigrants and its wealthy cattle farmers. Sheriff James Averill (Kris Kristofferson), tries to strike a balance but the politically connected ranch owners fight the immigrants with the help of mercenary Nathan Champion (Christopher Walken). While the battle rages Champion competes with Averill for the love of local madam Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert). It’s nearly four hour runtime is a trial even though it has some beautiful images. Michael Cimino’s infamous follow up to The Deer Hunter was plagued by his ego run amok and cost overruns. Originally budgeted for 11 million (48 million today) its eventual cost of 44 million ($190 mill in current dollars) and box office take of only 3 million (12 million) caused the collapse of United Artists studio.
Supernova (2000)-When Nightingale 229, a deep space hospital ship, answers an emergency distress signal from a distant galaxy, the crew (including James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster and Lou Diamond Phillips) soon finds itself in danger from the mysterious young man (Peter Facinelli) they rescue, the alien artifact he smuggled aboard and the gravitational pull of a giant star about to go supernova. Once again an extremely troubled production period (three directors came and went, the original director twice!) the film’s budget was 90 million (135 million today) and tanked on release taking in a little under 15 million (22 million) worldwide.
I've read about Ishtar and what a disaster that was but I haven't seen it, nor any of your other picks this week.
I actually saw Ishtar in the theatre! I recall not thinking it was horrendous but I should see it again and see if i agree with my youthful self. I still have to see Heaven's gate but do recall how badly it flopped. I never cared to see Hudson Hawk and still don't I am late commenting here
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