Shame this movie was not a big hit when it was released :/ $55 million to make and more to advertise it made $149,022,650 worldwide which really isn't massively great back then to call this a hit.
I wonder why
It doesn’t have a clear protagonist so it’s a difficult story for a general audience to engage with, so word of mouth probably wasn’t great.
Also it’s a grim comedy-horror, those can be a hard sell.
Finally, people wanted to see Willis in Die Hard style fare, and here he is on the poster with glasses and a moustache. John McClane this ain’t.
Yep.
You hit the nail on the head.
people wanted to see Willis in Die Hard style fare, and here he is on the poster with glasses and a moustache. John McClane this ain’t.
Seeing Willis in interviews is toe-curling, apparently he’s a nightmare to work with and hates his fans. He created one of cinema’s greatest heroes with John McClane, and he seemed like a decent guy back then, so it’s depressing what a miserable prick he’s turned into.
He tried a bunch of different roles, and excelled in unusual dramatic ones like Twelve Monkeys, The Sixth Sense and Pulp Fiction. The 90’s were a good time for Willis, but come the new millennium things started to go downhill, the low-points being Die Hards 4 and 5 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
Maybe it was the failure of his singing career, or the fact that his self-produced labour of love Hudson Hawk was met with derision and scorn, or maybe he’s getting old and doesn’t naturally fit ‘old mentor’ roles so can’t find his groove. Whatever, he’s deeply unhappy, spoiled, egotistical, and seems to have completely sold out.
Maybe it was the failure of his singing career, or the fact that his self-produced labour of love Hudson Hawk was met with derision and scorn, or maybe he’s getting old and doesn’t naturally fit ‘old mentor’ roles so can’t find his groove.
apparently he’s a nightmare to work with and hates his fans.
he’s deeply unhappy, spoiled, egotistical, and seems to have completely sold out.
Absolutely false. Hilariously so. Willis was literally famous for comedy before Die Hard was even filmed.
Moonlighting was a very big deal at the time.
Absolutely false. Hilariously so. Willis was literally famous for comedy before Die Hard was even filmed.
People forget that Bruce Willis was mainly a comedy actor, before, during and after Die Hard.
On the upside it does have cult status now which means it may well outlive a lot of the monster hits of its day. Probably doesn’t mean a great deal to the studio who may have lost money on it, but an enduring legacy is something special.. just look at Rocky Horror which was also an underperformer when released but is now considered a classic. I know a lot of people who really love Death Becomes Her.
shareI remember the general rule, before so much of the box office take started coming from foreign markets, was that if a movie made twice its production budget then it would turn a profit. So nearly tripling its budget would qualify it as a hit, especially in 1992. Plus, it would've gone on to make even more money through video rentals and sales, and fees for the TV rights.
There's no way the studio lost money on this film.
It's a very fun and entertaining film.
I'm pretty sure it was something of a hit back in 1992. It did make profit and won an Academy Award and BAFTA for it's special effects.
It's just one of those films that's receeded into cult status. It's not a major 90s hit that everyone knows and people keep talking about, but it does have it's fans.
International rescued it. $50mil on a $50mil budget is low for such a high profile actors and director. It's a crowd pleaser.
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