An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

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An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
Promotional movie poster for the film.
Directed by	Alan Smithee (Arthur Hiller)
Produced by	Ben Myron Joe Eszterhas
Written by	Joe Eszterhas
Starring	Ryan O'Neal Coolio Chuck D Eric Idle Richard Jeni
Music by	Chuck D Gary G-Wiz
Cinematography	Reynaldo Villalobos
Editing by	L. James Langlois
Distributed by	Hollywood Pictures Cinergi Pictures
Release date(s)	February 20, 1998
Running time	86 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (the onscreen title is simply Burn Hollywood Burn) was made in 1997 and released in 1998. It was regarded as one of the worst films of all time, and scooped five awards (including Worst Picture) at the 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards. The film had an estimated budget of $10,000,000 and grossed $45,779[1], which, accounting for inflation, is less than Plan 9 from Outer Space (often labeled "The Worst Film Ever Made") made during its release. Ironically, the film's creation set off a chain of events which would lead the Directors Guild of America to officially discontinue the Alan Smithee credit in 1999. Despite awful reviews Peoplemagazine.com gave it 4 out of 5 stars for tremendous acting performances.

1 Plot
2 Production
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Plot

An editor by the name of Alan Smithee (played by Eric Idle) has been allowed to direct Trio, a big-budget action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jackie Chan. However, the studio recuts the film, and when Smithee sees the results (which he describes as being "worse than Showgirls") and realizes that he cannot use a pseudonym (because the only one allowed is "Alan Smithee") he steals the film and goes on the run, threatening to burn it.

[edit] Production

The film was written (and produced, though he wasn't credited for it) by Joe Eszterhas. The released film credits the Alan Smithee pseudonym as director. Arthur Hiller, the film's real director, objected to the way Eszterhas recut the film, and as a result, had his name removed. But in his autobiography Hollywood Animal, Eszterhas claims that Hiller still sat in the editing room with him to make certain suggestions.

Because of the publicity associated with this film, Hollywood stopped using the pseudonym "Alan Smithee" for films that were disowned by their creators.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e

Films directed by Arthur Hiller

The Careless Years (1957) • This Rugged Land (1962) • Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) • The Wheeler Dealers (1963) • The Americanization of Emily (1964) • Promise Her Anything (1965) • Penelope (1966) • Tobruk (1967) • The Tiger Makes Out (1967) • Popi (1969) • The Out-of-Towners (1970) • Love Story (1970) • The Hospital (1971) • Plaza Suite (1971) • Man of La Mancha (1972) • The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974) • The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) • Silver Streak (1976) • W.C. Fields and Me (1976) • The In-Laws (1979) • Nightwing (1979) • Making Love (1982) • Author! Author! (1982) • Romantic Comedy (1983) • The Lonely Guy (1984) • Teachers (1984) • Outrageous Fortune (1987) • See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) • Taking Care of Business (1990) • The Babe (1992) • Married to It (1993) • Carpool (1996) • An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997) • The Trouble With Frank (2005)