Studios Expected Clint Eastwood's Last Western To Be A Box Office Flop

Clint Eastwood's 2021 Western "Cry Macho" is set in the year 1979 and centers on Mike (Eastwood), an elderly ex-rodeo star who is hired by his boss Howard (Dwight Yoakam) to travel to Mexico and retrieve Howard's 15-year-old son Rafo (Eduardo Minett) from his wicked ex-wife (Fernanda Urrejola). Because Mike is so old, however, he can travel without being interrupted. When he finds Rafo, though, he quickly discovers the boy is at risk. Indeed, Rafo is already heading down a dangerous path, even participating in a cockfighting ring. Thus, Mike convinces Rafo to come back to the United States with his prize rooster, Macho, in tow. 

Like many of Eastwood's films, "Cry Macho" is gentle, calming, and reassuring, with Mike serving as a grandfather figure to Rafo. The movie barely played in theaters as many venues were still closed because of COVID-19, and it was simultaneously released on HBO Max, all with little fanfare. Combined, these factors pretty much guaranteed "Cry Macho" would be a box office failure. Sure enough, the film only earned $16.5 million at the box office against a $33 million budget. It seemed to attract more attention on streaming, but was considered a commercial failure all the same. It's a pity, too, as "Cry Macho" is not a bad movie by any stretch, with /Film's review deeming it "a surprisingly well-worn and welcome postscript" to Eastwood's filmmaking career.

With that being said, it appears Warner Bros.' then-new CEO David Zaslav was angry about the film's financial under-performance. Since taking over as the head of WB, Zaslav has infamously taken a slash-and-burn approach to the studio's output, canceling and shelving multiple high-profile projects (R.I.P. "Batgirl"), selling off valuable IP like "Batman: Caped Crusaders" to other companies, unwisely rebranding ancient brands, and trying to turn a profit by marketing reality TV schlock. He has made many bad decisions.

A 2022 report in The Wall Street Journal revealed that Zaslav even assembled a meeting with other WB honchos to grill them about "Cry Macho," with many of them admitting they had expected the film to flop.

The Wall Street Journal article described Zaslav as being confounded as to why anyone would want to green light a Clint Eastwood Western in the first place. When pressed, the other leaders at WB admitted they, too, felt "Cry Macho" was a non-starter and likely wouldn't turn a profit. Even so, they greenlit the film anyway, knowing that Eastwood, although 90, still made his movies quickly and always came in under budget. Also, several of Eastwood's films had been giant hits for the studio, including his 2014 biopic "American Sniper" (which made $547.6 million at the global box office on a $59 million budget), his true story-inspired 2016 drama "Sully" ($243.9 million against a $60 million budget), and even his lesser-seen fact-based 2018 crime drama "The Mule" ($174.8 million on a $50 million budget). Eastwood was reliable.

That wasn't enough for Zaslav, though, who admonished the studio heads for letting Eastwood make a film they had doubts about. They all felt that a Western would tank, but allowed Eastwood to make it out of a sense of loyalty and, one might assume, respect for his prolific, decades-long legacy in Hollywood. Zaslav, in response, said that WB doesn't owe anyone any favors and proceeded to quote Cameron Crowe's 1996 movie "Jerry Maguire" by stating, "It's not show friends, it's show business."

It's worth recalling the above line is spoken by Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr), the soulless a-hole who ousts Jerry, blowing up his career.

Of course, one can't be sure if "Cry Macho" would have tanked so hard had it not been released during a pandemic. If WB had given the film a full marketing push in a world that hadn't been turned upside-down, it may very well have grossed at least as much as "The Mule" did at the box office. "Cry Macho" is a slow-moving, traditional morality tale about gentleness and world-weariness winning out over money, anger, and selfishness. It's slight, but quietly life-affirming. Maybe WB's execs didn't believe in it, but ... well, it's still okay to let a proven celebrity with many recent hit films take the reins.