The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 1991
Bruce Willis co-wrote his own $65M tentpole and rewrote it on set, losing TriStar $50M
Hudson Hawk grossed just $17M domestically, and constant on-set rewrites and effects demands were later blamed for helping end TriStar's independence.
TriStar Pictures · 1991-05-24
What happened
TriStar Pictures greenlit Hudson Hawk, an action-comedy co-written by and starring Bruce Willis, as a heavily hyped summer tentpole with a budget of about $65-70 million, giving Willis unusual creative influence over a story he had originated himself years earlier.
Production was marked by constant on-set script rewrites driven by Willis, along with delays and cost overruns, including reported visual-effects demands used to mask his thinning hairline that added to the film's mounting expenses.
The film opened to scathing reviews and grossed just $17 million domestically, resulting in an estimated $50 million loss for TriStar. It swept three Golden Raspberry Awards and became one of the factors cited in TriStar's subsequent merger into the struggling Columbia Pictures.
Why it happened
- Giving a star extensive creative control, including on-set script rewrites, removed the usual production discipline over cost and schedule.
- The studio approved effects spending driven by the star's personal vanity concerns rather than the story's actual needs.
- Heavy pre-release hype set expectations the finished, chaotically-produced film couldn't meet.
- Nobody intervened as constant on-set changes signaled the production had lost a stable creative direction.
The lesson
A star co-writing and controlling a production in real time on set removes the normal checks that keep a budget and schedule under control.
Aftermath
Hudson Hawk's failure became a factor cited in TriStar Pictures' subsequent absorption into Columbia Pictures, and it remains a standard example of unchecked star control over a big-budget production.
Sources
- Hudson Hawk — Wikipedia
- SlashFilm — The Misunderstood Box Office Flop That Nearly Ruined Bruce Willis' Career
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