Before becoming the main star of the #MeToo movement in 2017 and being sentenced in 2020 to 23 years in prison for sex offenses, producer Harvey Weinstein already had a reputation for being unscrupulous in Hollywood.
One of the stories circulating behind the scenes was revealed by director, writer and actor Kevin Smith in his new book, The Secret Stash of Kevin Smith: A former producer sabotaged The Good Rebel at the box office to avoid paying. more money to Robin Williams.
Died in 2014, the actor’s involvement was essential to greenlit the $ 10 million 1997 film, written and starring the virtually unknown Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, with a budget of $ 10 million. his box. office success and put him in the Oscar race.
Harvey Weistein
Kevin Smith, a close friend of the main actors, became a co-executive producer of the film, which gave him access to some information, namely that the Robin Williams contract included a bonus in the form of a higher percentage of the US box office after passing the competition. A $ 100 Million Stamp.
In order not to share the proceeds, Harvey Weinstein decided to remove the film from theaters ahead of schedule.
In an interview with the Daily BeastKevin Smith recalled this part of the book and explained that he wasn’t sure if there was a 50/50 dollar split, but he remembers the day The Good Rebel started hitting theaters and how he found it. It’s weird because he raced for the Oscar with nine nominations and was still collecting a lot of income.
“And they did it because keeping the movie in theaters meant that most of the proceeds would go to Robin when, when it came to video, the split wasn’t that heavy in his favor. [O filme] I was paralyzed due to greed, ”he explained.
In fact, by checking the available data no BoxOfficeMojo site confirms that “O Bom Rebelde” began to lose numbers sharply between the weekend of February 27 to March 1 and from March 6 to 8, when revenues fell from $ 96.3 million to $ 103.4 million.
The bleeding of theaters continued week after week, even after the film won two Academy Awards at the March 23 ceremony (Robin Williams as supporting actor and original screenplay).
Regardless, its popularity made the drop in revenue week after week much smaller than the drop in room count: before Harvey Weinstein got what he wanted, the US box office grossed $ 138.4 million.
