anything about the success of this film and its successor in their first run in movie theaters? They are called "classics" (and I completely agree, watched them several times), but I could not find anything about their box office results. Help would be appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance!
shareHello? Please, somebody...
shareOh, come on, just passed by this thread again, recognised that it´s still empty. SOMEONE has to know something! Please give me some information, would be appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance.
share...from having attended both films many times during their intitial releases, they pretty much played to packed houses. They were huge successes, enough to warrant the sequal (much later) and a spate of similar tongue-in-cheek adventures, including one made-for-tv swashbuckler called PANACHE, starring Rene Auberjenois. However, in true hollywood fashion, the bookkeepers were able to show a loss on the films, so that percentages were not paid; I believe Lester talks about this in his biography. Anyway, they were very popular with myself and all my friends, except one, who dismissivly called it "The Three Musty Queers". I think he just liked the pun and secretly enjoyed the films.
shareThanks heybhc!
Interesting stuff to read, appreciate it!
The first one did better in first run theaters, the second didn't get as long a run in theatrical release. The truth is, they both probably made plenty of money, but as another poster wrote, the pencil pushers surely showed a loss. Unless a studio needs a blockbuster hit, films almost always show a loss for various reasons, tax writeoffs,depreciation, chicanery with the foreign markets, or other reasons. I don't recall seeing box office results for these movies, I just remember seeing them myself in theaters. I hope any DVD versions are widescreen.
share The 2nd one disappointed the fans, obviously because they didn't read the novel. The whole story was shot & the film was so long, they cut it in 2 & released them as 2 films. The 2nd half of the book is more tragic & serious. Lester made the first half funny. Hard to do w/strangulations & executions.
About the bookkeeping--the cast sued the studio & won, when they realized the studio was getting tickets sales for 2 films--but only paid the cast for one film.
Carpe Noctem
Both films made good money and revitalized the Swashbuckler for a time! Big hits and VERY popular! All those made for TV movies with Richard Chamberlin(Man in the Iron Mask and Count of Monte Cristo) took place after these movies too....they were all darn great!But the genre lapsed again soon after!
These two movies really ARE the best versions of the novel,hands down!