Bruce Willis takes pride in one of his biggest flops

Before its release in 1991, there was every reason to believe that Michael Lehman’s heist comedy Hudson Hawk would be a hit. It was written by star screenwriter Steven E. D’Souza, who has already had huge success in films like “48 Hrs.” “Commando”, “Jumping Jack Flash” and “The Running Man”. His biggest success was 1988’s “Die Hard,” and he was tapped to write the sequel two years later. “Hudson Hawk” will re-team D’Souza with “Die Hard” star Bruce Willis, and the film will boast performances by Danny Aiello, fresh off of “Moonstruck,” as well as James Coburn, Richard E. Grant, Sandra Bernhard and Andie MacDowell. Meanwhile, Liman also had a huge hit in 1988 with Heathers. Not to mention, his crazy movie “Meet the Applegates” flopped in 1990. The sensitivity was there.

Hudson Hawk is an exotic duck. Willis plays the cat thief, newly released from prison, who is once again linked to stealing expensive items from vaults and museums. He becomes embroiled in a blackmail plot involving a pair of eccentric millionaires (Grant and Bernhard) and the cutting of a crystal that once belonged to Leonardo da Vinci, which is said to have alchemical powers. There are cartoonish chase scenes, a swarm of killers named after candy bars, and a sinister butler with swords hidden in his sleeves.

“Hudson Hawk” tank. It was produced for $65 million, but grossed only $17 million domestically. It was also largely panned by critics, and was nominated for a few Razzies. For years, the Hudson Hawk has been used as an example of one of the worst bombs ever. Adjusted for inflation, it lost more than $100 million.

After watching the film, the extreme reaction seems strange. Many who saw the “Hudson Hawk” liked itincluding an interviewer from the Huffington Post who spoke with Willis about his career in 2012. The interviewer brought it up, and Bruce Willis declared that he was still proud of the project.

By the way, the Hudson Hawk is a blast. It’s cartoony and lively, and features some very funny and over-the-top performances from some very committed actors. It’s one of those movies where everyone, including the main character, is pretty much a weirdo. For example: One of the features of Hudson is that it saves the exact playing times of hundreds of pop songs. When he and his partner in crime Tommy (Aiello) pull off a heist, they punctuate their movements by singing old standards. An early heist appears to be singing “Swingin’ on a Star” to themselves.

Willis knew it was a broad comedy from the jump, and despite its initial flop, he really liked the movie. He said:

“I love it so much. I’m still proud of that movie. It was a little outside of what people (expected) it. You know, some people come to the theater and say, ‘I just want to see him do this kind of movie.’ (…) It was a satirical film. We were trying to make each other laugh — make the actors laugh. We had a really funny cast. Not many people were able to watch the film because critics cherry-picked this picture. You know, take out the trash.”

Willis, predictably, takes a dim view of critics, saying that too often, critics criticize a particular film for no reason. And he has a point. There can be something of a “blood in the water” mentality about certain films, and both the press and the public will pick a film – sometimes bad, sometimes good – and decide that it symbolizes the worst habits of Hollywood. One may remember that the same thing happened with “Gigli.” Or, more recently, “Morbius.” Bad movies, yes, but they hardly hit the rock bottom that cinema has reached.

The reason “Hudson Hawk” was so crazy was because Willis was able to kind of take over the production. As described in the article/filmWillis once received a phone call from Warner Bros. To inform him that his then unreleased film “The Bonfire of the Vanities” had tested remarkably well, and that audiences liked the character of Welles. Warner Bros. decided to The song “Bonfire” was re-cut to give Willis more screen time.

This gave Welles a sense of entitlement with “Hudson Hawk” which was still being written at the time. Welles decided that D’Souza’s script should be weirder, and Dan Waters was brought in to write newer, weirder drafts. “Hawk” producer Joel Silver hated having the lead actor take on the lead role in the film, and even D’Souza couldn’t really rein in all of Welles’ eccentric urges. As such, Welles more or less had the creative freedom to make the film he wanted. What he wanted was wild, crazy, energetic and musical.

“Hudson Hawk” may have been a hit in theaters domestically, but it did well overseas, where it made back most of its budget. It also found a new audience on home video, which is where most of its ardent fans discovered it. Four years after its release, “Hudson Hawk” was still making money on VHS, and its ratings were beginning to grow on the midnight movie circuit. “I keep hearing it referred to as a cult film,” Willis told The Huffington Post. “And from the studio’s point of view, it makes a profit.”

Perhaps ironically, “The Bonfire of the Vanities” also bombed, but has yet to receive a positive re-suit.