On this day April 25, 1986, the neo noir crime drama 8 Million Ways to Die premiered in theaters. Directed by Hal Ashby, the film starred Jeff Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Alexandra Paul, and others in a gritty story about a disgraced cop who gets pulled into a violent underworld of drugs and deception in Los Angeles.
The movie had a troubled production, including on set rewrites and post production conflicts that kept the director from having final say on the cut. Despite its tense storyline and stylized approach, the film struggled at the box office and brought in just 1.3 million on an 18 million dollar budget. Still, it eventually gained a small following among fans of character driven crime stories.
Fun fact: The studio re edited the final version without the director’s involvement, changing key scenes and removing parts of the original ending.
Trivia question: What well known director lost control of 8 Million Ways to Die during post production after being removed from the editing process?
The movie had a troubled production, including on set rewrites and post production conflicts that kept the director from having final say on the cut. Despite its tense storyline and stylized approach, the film struggled at the box office and brought in just 1.3 million on an 18 million dollar budget. Still, it eventually gained a small following among fans of character driven crime stories.
Fun fact: The studio re edited the final version without the director’s involvement, changing key scenes and removing parts of the original ending.
Trivia question: What well known director lost control of 8 Million Ways to Die during post production after being removed from the editing process?
