Kurt Russell's Forgotten 1980 Flop Had Its Release Completely Ruined By The Studio

Sony Pictures

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Sometimes, good movies don't get a fair shake upon their initial release. It's just the nature of the beast that is Hollywood. A variety of factors can lead to such unfortunate happenings, such as bad marketing or studio politics. But one would think that a comedy starring Kurt Russell directed by the guy who would go on to make "Back to the Future" would be a top priority for any studio. That's not how it shook out.

Robert Zemeckis directed Russell in the 1980 comedy film "Used Cars," which was co-written by his frequent collaborator Bob Gale. Unfortunately, studio execs nearly killed Zemeckis' career before it could even begin, and what happened with this movie was absolutely part of that rough early run.

The film centers on Rudy Russo (Russell), a car salesman who's also an aspiring politician and works for the nice guy car dealer Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden). When Luke dies, Rudy takes over the lot but faces stiff competition from Roy L. Fuchs (also Warden), who wants his brother's business for himself. So, they each devise zany promotions to gain the upper hand.

In the DVD commentary track for "Used Cars," Zemeckis explained, "This movie never really had a chance because it was never really released in the entire country. This was totally botched by the studio." Gale then proceeded to clarify that the reason it was botched was, oddly enough, because an early screening went too well:

"We had a sneak preview, I think it was in Dallas, Texas, it was like the highest scores in the history of Columbia Pictures at that time. So, they said, 'Oh, we gotta get this out! These are like 'Smokey and the Bandit' numbers. We gotta get this movie out as quick as possible.'"

Sony Pictures

"Used Cars" was originally scheduled for August, but it was bumped up to July when Columbia got excited. Eventually, the film hit theaters on July 11, 1980. The problem? It ended up going up against an '80 comedy classic in the form of "Airplane!" (aka. the scientifically funniest movie of all time), a film that became a massive word-of-mouth sensation.

"They didn't have a [marketing] campaign, they didn't have a release schedule or anything," Bob Gale added. "They released it one week after the movie 'Airplane' came out. So, everybody was going to see 'Airplane,' and we were only in half of the country. We didn't have an ad campaign that was any good. Because it tanked in half the country, the other half of the country didn't even want to take it."

Robert Zemeckis' car salesman comedy made just $12 million at the box office against an $8 million budget, getting buried by "Airplane!" along the way. It was just one of a handful of big flops that Kurt Russell suffered in a five-year span. Ironically, many of those flops are now considered classics, including "The Thing" (which got buried by "E.T." at the box office during its original run). The box office isn't the be all.

"Used Cars" has similarly gone on to become a cult favorite thanks in no small part to the home media market, with Wyatt Russell even naming it his favorite Kurt Russell movie. That still doesn't make a situation like this any easier to swallow for the creatives who pour their blood, sweat, and tears into making a movie, only to have it bungled by the studio powers that be.

You can grab "Used Cars" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon.