Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops

by James Robert Parish

Overview

A longtime industry insider and acclaimed Hollywood historian goes behind the scenes to tell the stories of 15 of the most spectacular movie megaflops of the past 50 years, such as Cleopatra, The Cotton Club, and Waterworld. He recounts, in every gory detail, how enormous hubris, unbridled ambition, artistic hauteur, and bad business sense on the parts of Tinsel Town wheeler-dealers and superstars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Clint Eastwood, and Francis Ford Coppola, conspired to engender some of the worst films ever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470358641
Publisher:	Trade Paper Press
Publication date:	05/02/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	776,665
File size:	507 KB

About the Author

JAMES ROBERT PARISH (jamesrobertparish.com) is a former entertainment reporter and publicist and the author of numerous books on Hollywood, including The Hollywood Book of Breakups and It's Good to Be the King.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1 Cleopatra (1963).

2 The Chase (1966).

3 Paint Your Wagon (1969).

4 The Wild Party (1975).

5 Popeye (1980).

6 The Cotton Club (1984).

7 Shanghai Surprise (1986).

8 Ishtar (1987).

9 Last Action Hero (1993).

10 Cutthroat Island (1995).

11 Showgirls (1995).

12 Waterworld (1995) and The Postman (1997).

13 Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000).

14 Town&Country (2001).

Afterword.

Appendix A: Filmography.

Appendix B: Hollywood Feature Films That Were Box-Office Disappointments in Domestic Theatrical Release (1960a??2004).

Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

A film hit or miss often forms two sides of the same coin, notes veteran entertainment observer Parish (The Hollywood Book of Scandals) in this gleefully readable, well-researched study of hubris in Hollywood. Parish's 15 choice box-office busts since 1963's Cleopatra demonstrate how "the combination of ill-matched personalities and tangled situations can result in chaos during the making of a must-succeed, extremely costly Hollywood feature." Parish's criteria in choosing his stinkers include the toppling of major stars (such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1993's frenzied Last Action Hero); wild overspending and lavish promotion that don't translate into a noteworthy product (Paramount's extravagant 1969 Paint Your Wagon); and a shaky idea that would never have taken off if not for the overweening enthusiasm of a big name, e.g., Warren Beatty's protracted albatross, Town and Country (2001). Occasionally, Parish's insider snooping lends some intriguing tidbits, such as the literary history behind the making of Merchant Ivory's 1975 The Wild Party (starring Raquel Welch) and director Elaine May's costly detail obsession as evidenced by the bulldozing of Moroccan sand dunes for the Beatty-Hoffman loser Ishtar (1987). While most of these film disasters have been well documented elsewhere, Parish depicts an industry in harrowing transition. Agent, Stuart Bernstein. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

What actually constitutes a flop? According to Parish (Katharine Hepburn: The Untold Story), films that are flops have big-name stars (Cleopatra), an idea without substance (The Last Action Hero), or a lot of hype prior to release (Showgirls). Examining a broad selection of bombs, from Shanghai Surprise to Ishtar, he profiles 14 films and furnishes detailed background on their production history, along with entertaining anecdotes. This is a good source for information on The Wild Party (1975), Popeye (1980), and The Cotton Club (1984); different genres are represented, including science fiction (Waterworld), swashbucklers (Cutthroat Island), and musicals (Paint Your Wagon). Ishtar was considered a "modern-day successor to road pictures" and known as "Warrengate," alluding to Heaven's Gate and Warren Beatty. A bit of a novelty, this book will mainly interest cinephiles. Recommended for libraries serving their ranks.-Barbara Kundanis, Batavia P.L., IL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Not only instructive, but intensely pleasurable.” —Wall Street Journal “A gleefully readable, well-researched study of hubris in Hollywood.” —Publishers Weekly "A smart, well-researched account of Hollywood's 'iconic flops.'" —Peter Bart, Variety "Writing with informative dispassion, Parish avoids the easy temptation to turn his book into bitchy gossip. He even has you cheering for those who narrowly elude impending doom." —Washington Post Book World “Fiasco is a know-it-all backstory of infamous film flops, wittily reminding us how often, and in so many ways, Hollywood can screw up the best laid plans.” —Patrick McGilligan, author of Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light

From the Publisher