# Who greenlighted this cinematic shitshow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 1, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703 "2026-05-01T18:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/181 "2026-05-10T23:57:26Z")
Good movies can bomb, bad movies can succeed. It’s the most unpredictable aspect. I’m sure a few people interjected about box office success, but that’s not how I would ever define a shitshow. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/182 "2026-05-11T00:03:20Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Good movies can bomb, bad movies can succeed. It’s the most unpredictable aspect. I’m sure a few people interjected about box office success, but that’s not how I would ever define a shitshow. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Right, but of course if it made a fucktonne of money, then it was not a bad idea- even if a bad film. Just making a profit? Nope. Making boatloads of cash? then it had to be a least a sorta good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/183 "2026-05-11T00:19:29Z")
Monetarily-wise? Maybe. Underestimating the human capacity for stupidity is a fool’s game. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/184 "2026-05-11T00:26:54Z")
Let’s put Congo into some perspective. It was expected to make near Jurassic Park money. Barely making its budget and marketing cost back is not as impressive as it might seem. A large budget film has to make triple its budget to turn a profit. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/185 "2026-05-11T05:33:21Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > but that’s not how I would ever define a shitshow. But saying that you think a movie is bad, is not the way we’re defining a shitshow here. There are already thousands of threads with people talking about movie they don’t like; this one is supposed to be slightly different. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/186 "2026-05-11T14:34:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Oh yes it was! > > I saw the trailer and thought, “This could be the greatest film EVAH!” It looked stunning. A perfect example of retro-futuristic styling. > > Then I saw it. “Utter crap” doesn’t begin to describe my feelings. So, yes, it made money from me the first week. But never again. _De gustibus_…and all. I loved it myself. Interesting film based on the look and feel of 1930s “Air Ace” magazines and things like the Superman cartoon “Mechanical Monsters” I liked the look and feel of its “Digital Backlot” and throwaway gags like the sunken S.S._Venture_ as they approach the Island. Or the use of the zeppelin mooring mast on the Empire State Building. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/187 "2026-05-11T14:39:56Z")
As a lover of old pulp mags, I really enjoyed _Sky Captain_ when it was released, but I assume the “look” hasn’t aged well. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/188 "2026-05-11T16:07:47Z")
“Star Fleet Academy,” anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/189 "2026-05-11T16:26:05Z")
The writer/director had never made a movie before, and has not made one since. Sometimes, all the ingredients are top-shelf, but the cook just isn’t very good. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/190 "2026-05-11T16:45:53Z")
A television series, not a movie…and it was nicely made and well loved. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/191 "2026-05-11T17:13:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The writer/director had never made a movie before, and has not made one since. Sometimes, all the ingredients are top-shelf, but the cook just isn’t very good. The short that he made that “sold” the film, and fired up a lot of people, was top-notch. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgM7plKEVE4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgM7plKEVE4) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/192 "2026-05-11T17:17:59Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > As a lover of old pulp mags, I really enjoyed _Sky Captain_ when it was released, but I assume the “look” hasn’t aged well. The **look** of _Sky Captain_ was compelling. The script was awful, and that’s before we get into the whole exhumation of Sir Lawrence Olivier. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > _Popeye_ was damn near a perfect movie pitch. Start with the success of _Annie_ and the fact that Paramount already owned the movie rights to its own stable of comics characters. Sign Robin Williams, the hottest thing in show business at the time. Jules Feiffer writes the script, Robert Altman directs, and you surround Williams with note-perfect character actors like Ray Walston and Shelley Duvall (who had just finished making _The Shining_.) > > Sure, the production was a disaster and the finished movie was, shall we say, uneven, but it did gross $60 million on a $20 million budget, so you can’t fault Paramount for greenlighting it. I give some of the blame to Paul Williams. The soundtrack was just plain turgid throughout. But the rest of the film wasn’t exactly snappy either. Great casting, good concept, but Altman made it dull. My personal contribution to the list: **The Ridiculous Six**. I mean, I know Adam Sandler greenlit this absolutely appalling “Western” featuring his buddies (yes, including Rob Schneider) but man, it was bad. 0% on RT. But it got sold to Netflix nonetheless, so maybe he got some of his $60m back. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/193 "2026-05-11T17:19:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The writer/director had never made a movie before, and has not made one since. It’s not for lack of trying. He’s been involved with several budding productions, most of which got scratched. > **[Kerry Conran](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Conran)** > > Kerry Scott Conran is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for creating and directing the 2004 pulp science fiction film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. > Conran was born in Flint, Michigan. He was educated at the California Institute of the Arts. He grew up watching such classic adventure movies and serials as King Kong, Lost Horizon, Metropolis, and Flash Gordon on a local television channel. > He was impressed by the whimsy and imagination of these films. He explained in... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/194 "2026-05-11T17:23:43Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > > > _Popeye_ was damn near a perfect movie pitch. Start with the success of _Annie_ and the fact that Paramount already owned the movie rights to its own stable of comics characters. Sign Robin Williams, the hottest thing in show business at the time. Jules Feiffer writes the script, Robert Altman directs, and you surround Williams with note-perfect character actors like Ray Walston and Shelley Duvall (who had just finished making _The Shining_.) > > > > Sure, the production was a disaster and the finished movie was, shall we say, uneven, but it did gross $60 million on a $20 million budget, so you can’t fault Paramount for greenlighting it. > > I give some of the blame to Paul Williams. The soundtrack was just plain turgid throughout. But the rest of the film wasn’t exactly snappy either. Great casting, good concept, but Altman made it dull. I blame Jules Feiffer, myself. Feiffer was a great cartoonist in his own right, but his book _The Great Comic Book Heroes_ is misguided. His Popeye script was based on the original E.C. Segar strips, while most people knew Popeye through the cartoons (especially the Fleischer Studio cartoons), and these are two different universes. Most notably when Popeye says that he hates spinach. Going back to the strips might be “purer”, but you gotta recognize that the Popeye most people knew and loved was the cartoon Popeye. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/195 "2026-05-11T17:29:16Z")
I watched _Popeye_ on cable, maybe a year or so after it came out. One criticism I had read in the original reviews – and which was very true as I tried to watch it – is that Altman’s trademark “overlapping dialogue” made it hard to follow the dialogue and the plot. It seemed, to me, like there were often multiple conversations going on at once, and a lot of muttering, which might work in a more “adult-oriented” film like Altman’s other films, but not so much in a general-audience film that’s expected to be kid-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/196 "2026-05-11T18:36:15Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It seemed, to me, like there were often multiple conversations going on at once, and a lot of muttering Pithy, muttered asides are a trademark of the _Popeye_ strips and cartoons. These are hopelessly buried in an Altman voxscape (not a real word, I know). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/197 "2026-05-11T18:46:56Z")
And Robin Williams ended up having to redub a significant amount of his own dialogue anyway because the boom mics on an already-noisy outdoor set weren’t up to the task of capturing his sotto voce muttering while he was clenching a pipe in his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/198 "2026-05-11T19:29:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > A television series, not a movie…and it was nicely made and well loved. Just not by enough people willing to pony up a Paramount + subscription to sustain it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/199 "2026-05-11T19:32:35Z")
I don’t think it qualifies, for reasons previously stated. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/200 "2026-05-11T19:35:09Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > My personal contribution to the list: **The Ridiculous Six**. I mean, I know Adam Sandler greenlit this absolutely appalling “Western” featuring his buddies (yes, including Rob Schneider) but man, it was bad. 0% on RT. Yeah, bad reviews all over, but obviously we cant see the Box office, since there really is none. However, I would guess it would have been very low. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703.md?page=11)