How the all-time great sci-fi comedy was sabotaged by greedy ’80s execs for being too good
How the all-time great sci-fi comedy was sabotaged by greedy ’80s execs for being too good
By Jonathan Klotz | Published: 2025-11-03 03:03:00 | Source: GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT
Written by Jonathan Klotz | Published
Hollywood is full of cautionary tales about studios getting too involved in a film’s production, which might force the executive to cast a casting director for a role, add a giant mechanical spider, or, in the case of Joe Dante’s 1987 classic, Interior spaceBad marketing decisions. Sarcastic attitude The wonderful trip, Interior space It was filled with Dante’s quirky sense of humor and a unique blend of low-brow physical comedy and high-brow sci-fi concepts that made it a huge success through sheer force of will.
The problem is that the movie was so good that Warner Bros. executives decided not to accept it. They didn’t think it needed marketing. As a result, they ran one of the worst movie marketing campaigns of the 1980s
Great trip to Martin Short
Interior space The film starts out as serious as a movie about miniaturizing pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) and injecting his ship into a rabbit, until it takes a very awkward turn into madcap comedy. The ship, to keep it out of the hands of an evil secret organization, is instead injected into grocery clerk Jack Potter (played by a deranged Martin Short).
This starts a race against time to return Tuck to his normal size before he runs out of oxygen by obtaining the computer chips needed to run the program. Jack must team up with Tuck’s ex-girlfriend, Lydia (Meg Ryan), Impersonating criminal agent The Cowboy (Star Trek: Voyager Icon Robert Picardo), and kept his anxiety under control
Unlike wonderful trip, Which leaves the entire crew unconscious, Interior space Allows Jack and Tok to interact. It was a nice twist that separated Dante’s twisted vision from the original and gave both Short and Quaid plenty of opportunities to play off each other.
Live animation
You can say that Interior space It should not be taken seriously. According to Joe Dante, the original script was more straightforward until Steven Spielberg optioned it for his new studio, Amblin Entertainment, and encouraged his team to push the script to the point where it became a live-action cartoon.
Against all odds, the studio loved it, and the film became a huge cult classic. When it first hit theaters, it was considered a huge disappointment
Dante has been candid in interviews about what went wrong Interior space Theatrical presentation, explicitly calls out the film’s poster, which depicts giant fingers holding a small crook and his ship. It’s hard to see anything but the fingers, and the poster fails to convey any of the sci-fi joy that made the film a favorite among those who gave it a chance.
Even the film’s title, which Dante likened to a ride at Disneyland, fails to convey the feel or tone of the story. Which makes sense, because it was a working title they kept after failing to come up with anything better
Theatrical flipping to blockbuster home video
in theatres, Interior space It grossed about $52 million, which isn’t bad for a family-friendly sci-fi comedy, but the budget was reportedly $26 million. When the film arrived on VHS, it was a huge success, bringing in an estimated $50 million through rental copies thanks to word of mouth. While the term “cult classic” may be overused today, even Dante admits that the film went unnoticed until it became available in stores.
Interior space It’s a delightfully bizarre film, full of the kind of physical humor and silly gags that Hollywood has become so sensitive to as studios now pretend comedies don’t exist. The practical special effects no longer hold up today, but that’s now a big part of the film’s kitsch charm. If you’ve never seen the film, you should give it a chance, if only for Martin Short’s maniacal performance in his prime. SCTV Fame.
Hollywood didn’t make them like that anymore, and even then, they had no idea how to market a film that dared to break the mold. Today you can find Interior space As, of course, the rent paid on YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at homeand Google Play Movies.
(tags for translation)80s
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