$40 Million Flop: Star-Studded Adventure Film Bombs Spectacularly 38 Years Ago

The tragic galaxy of cinematic ventures that crashed at the box office includes many cautionary tales, despite the astronomical budgets poured into them by studios, and their high-profile stars seemingly guaranteed to attract crowds.

A two-time Oscar winner for Best Actor, in 1980 for “Kramer vs. Kramer” and in 1989 for “Rain Man,” Dustin Hoffman is a legendary figure in film. His career peaked from the late 60s to the early 80s with iconic roles in “Midnight Cowboy,” “Little Big Man,” “Marathon Man,” Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs,” “Papillon,” Bob Fosse’s “Lenny,” and “Tootsie.”

Just before his triumph in “Rain Man,” Hoffman starred in a film that would become one of the biggest flops of the decade, a largely forgotten adventure comedy: “Ishtar” in 1987.

What was it like? Here’s an overview.

On paper, everything seemed promising. The film was directed by Elaine May, who had been nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the classic “Heaven Can Wait” in 1979, starring Warren Beatty. Beatty also co-starred with Hoffman in “Ishtar,” along with the French actress Isabelle Adjani, who was at the time Beatty’s partner.

Produced with a substantial budget of 51 million dollars, equivalent to over 145 million dollars today when adjusted for inflation, the film earned a dismal 12.7 million dollars globally, causing its studio, Columbia, to lose about 40 million dollars.

The plot revolves around two singer-songwriters dreaming of becoming the next Simon and Garfunkel, despite lacking the requisite talent. They end up taking a gig in a hotel in Morocco and inadvertently become entangled in a CIA operation in the fictional country of Ishtar.

Filmed in Morocco in 1985 amid challenging political conditions in the Maghreb, and in New York, with contributions from celebrated cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (a favorite of Bernardo Bertolucci and of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now”), the production attracted media attention even before its release due to significant cost overruns on an already massive budget, and rumors of conflicts between director Elaine May, Beatty, and Storaro, as detailed in an intriguing article by Vanity Fair in 2010. Changes in leadership at Columbia Pictures during post-production also contributed to the film’s troubled release.

The failure was a massive blow for Warren Beatty, who produced and starred in the film, and permanently damaged his friendship with director Elaine May, despite their previously successful collaboration on “Heaven Can Wait.”

“Ishtar” significantly derailed the career of the young director. After this film, May only returned to directing once more, for a documentary about Mike Nichols. She did, however, write scripts for the American remake of “La Cage aux Folles” and “Primary Colors,” earning her second Oscar nomination for the latter.

Interested in seeing this film? It is still available on DVD, although the edition dates back over twenty years.