# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/121 "2026-05-05T01:02:27Z")
Wikipedia says _Freddy Got Fingered_ turned a profit from DVD sales, so by the measures previously used in this thread, it was greenlit by a genius. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/122 "2026-05-05T01:20:45Z")
I’ll tell you a greenlighting that was puzzling at the time, and is still puzzling: [The Lone Ranger (2013)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210819/), with Johnny Depp playing Tonto. Presumably this was just an opportunity for Depp to do a bunch of riffing in his Depp-like way, but there is nothing about that particular IP that suggests that it could ever be successful. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/123 "2026-05-05T01:22:39Z")
I saw that, and to be honest, the best thing about it was the use of the William Tell Overture. ---
**Author:** ![Flopnoodle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@Flopnoodle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flopnoodle)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/124 "2026-05-05T01:29:28Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > In defense of the Sharknado films (which I haven’t actually seen) Its a movie you can only see for the first time once. ---
**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 5, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/125 "2026-05-05T02:40:31Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > And also we’re going to imply that a white man wrote Johnny B Goode. No, either “Johnny B Goode” was imported via a white teenager into that timeline from the original universe, or else _nobody wrote it._ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/126 "2026-05-05T03:08:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wikipedia says _Freddy Got Fingered_ turned a profit from DVD sales, so by the measures previously used in this thread, it was greenlit by a genius. Not necessarily. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/127 "2026-05-05T03:26:32Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’ll tell you a greenlighting that was puzzling at the time, and is still puzzling: [The Lone Ranger (2013)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210819/), with Johnny Depp playing Tonto. The best thing about that movie was that it completely erased 1981’s **The Legend of the Lone Ranger** from our memories. Legend was most notable for the studio taking out an injunction against Clayton Moore (TV’s Lone Ranger) from appearing in the character he had inhabited for four decades. It also starred an unknown actor named Klinton Spilsbury, who was chosen over Bruce Boxleitner, Stephen Collins, Nicholas Guest, and Kurt Russell. Before the movie, Spilsbury had used the name Max Keller and had two bit parts. During production hie read his lines so badly they redubbed ALL his lines using another actor. After the movie, he returned to modeling. It’s interesting that the movie starred a complete unknown, but featured such known quantities as Christopher Lloyd, Jason Robards, and Richard Farnsworth. The director, William A. Fraker, hadn’t directed in eight years. After the movie, he wouldn’t direct anything for another seven. He was better known, and far better regarded, as a cinematographer. Producer Sir Lew Garde later said he felt the big problem was that the script spent the first hour and ten minutes focusing on the backstory before John Reed finally put on the mask and became the Lone Ranger. The film cost $18 million and made $12.6 million at the box office. On top of everything else it wound up against Raiders of the Lost Ark in theaters. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/128 "2026-05-05T04:45:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Wikipedia says _Freddy Got Fingered_ turned a profit from DVD sales, so by the measures previously used in this thread, it was greenlit by a genius. > > Not necessarily. Well. That is a thoughtful and well thought out explanation. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/129 "2026-05-05T12:51:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Well. That is a thoughtful and well thought out explanation. As usual. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/130 "2026-05-05T13:01:33Z")
"The day may come when “Freddy Got Fingered” is seen as a milestone of neo-surrealism. The day may never come when it is seen as funny. -Roger Ebert ---
**Author:** ![schnebs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@schnebs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnebs)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/131 "2026-05-07T05:10:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > As I’ve said before, I once saw a double feature of _Halloween_ and _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_…and it was the latter that gave me nightmares. It was pretentious crap by people that had no love for the source material. It was a drug-addled mess from beginning to end. In fact, Robin Gibb said before the film’s release, " Kids today don’t know the Beatles’ _Sgt. Pepper_ . Ugh, I remember seeing this movie as a kid. I loved the Beatles even back then, but it felt like whoever put this together had to cram in Every. Single. Beatles. Tune. In. The Catalog. into this movie, with the flimsiest justification possible, and each with an inappropriate celebrity as the singer. Steve Martin’s turn as Dr. Maxwell (as in “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”) was fun, but that was about it. I’m not sure what song I’d pick for the worst Beatles cover in this movie, but there were plenty of candidates. ---
**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 7, 2026, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/132 "2026-05-07T06:04:57Z")
> [@schnebs](#): > > Steve Martin’s turn as Dr. Maxwell (as in “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”) was fun, but that was about it. I really like Earth, Wind & Fire’s cover of “Got to Get You Into My Life.” > [@schnebs](#): > > I’m not sure what song I’d pick for the worst Beatles cover in this movie, but there were plenty of candidates. George Burns “singing” “Fixing a Hole.” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1QpJt4Y-HUY/hqdefault.jpg "Fixing A Hole feat George Burns") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QpJt4Y-HUY) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/133 "2026-05-07T15:00:43Z")
I still like Aerosmith’s cover of Come Together. That’s…about it for the film. I refuse to even give it a second chance 45 years on. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/134 "2026-05-07T18:12:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Well. That is a thoughtful and well thought out explanation. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wikipedia says _Freddy Got Fingered_ turned a profit from DVD sales, so by the measures previously used in this thread, it was greenlit by a genius. No one here actually said that. So, not necessarily- just barely making a maybe sorta profit doesnt make a film good or mean whoever greenlit that film didnt screw up. Altho -making a _shit-tonne_ of money does at least mean that whoever greenlighted that film (no matter how bad it is) didnt make a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/135 "2026-05-07T18:35:26Z")
Meanwhile on the nets I am reading ferocious scorn and derision for Andy Serkis’ _Animal Farm_ so it seems another candidate may be added shortly to the “what were they thinking” file. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/136 "2026-05-07T19:20:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > making a _shit-tonne_ of money does at least mean that whoever greenlighted that film (no matter how bad it is) didnt make a mistake. from the best line in TV thread: It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. ---
**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 7, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/137 "2026-05-07T19:57:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > making a _shit-tonne_ of money does at least mean that whoever greenlighted that film (no matter how bad it is) didnt make a mistake. Or as I said upthread, that they got incredibly lucky. ---
**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 7, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/138 "2026-05-07T20:00:14Z")
Or word didn’t get out that it was utter crap until after some initial money was made. People go in wide-eyed…and exit open-mouthed. ---
**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 7, 2026, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/139 "2026-05-07T20:26:19Z")
I would say that no matter how vitriolically a film might be hated by many, if 1/4 of the people who saw it say “I liked it/ thought it was okay”, then as a minority opinion at least it can’t be blanketly labeled 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 7, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703/140 "2026-05-07T20:39:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Or word didn’t get out that it was utter crap until after some initial money was made. People go in wide-eyed…and exit open-mouthed. Sky Captain and the world of Tomorrow- > **[Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Captain_and_the_World_of_Tomorrow)** > > Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (often shortened to Sky Captain) is a 2004 science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law and Marsha Oglesby. It stars Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie. > Conran spent four years making a black and white teaser using a bluescreen set up in his living room and a Macintosh IIci. He was able to show it to Avnet, who was so impressed that Avnet spent ... Which wasnt crap, but it had a great opening weekend, then…crickets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-greenlighted-this-cinematic-shitshow/1029703.md?page=8)