Robin Williams' Ambitious But Flawed '90s Movie Was A Legendary Box Office Bomb
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Robin Williams had an absolutely legendary run in the 1990s, becoming a hugely bankable, Oscar-winning actor. In 1993, "Mrs. Doubtfire" made Williams the hottest nanny at the box office, taking in $441 million, second only to "Jurassic Park" that year. So, it seemed like Warner Bros. may have had reason to be optimistic about director Bill Forsyth's "Being Human" in 1994. Unfortunately, it would go on to become a legendary flop.
"Being Human" centers on Hector (Williams), a human soul who gets the chance to live five separate lives through different periods of history. He is reincarnated as a Celt, an enslaved Roman, a Scottish crusader, a man shipwrecked in Africa, and a modern-day New Yorker. Yet, even though the same souls keep popping up around him, including his family, Hector makes the same mistakes over and over again. Through these many trials, he learns what it means to be human.
Williams was surrounded by a great cast in the film, including the likes of John Turturro ("The Big Lebowski"), Bill Nighy ("The Phantom of the Opera"), and Vincent D'Onofrio ("Full Metal Jacket"), among others. Forsyth had also had luck with smaller movies, among them his critically well-received oil industry dramedy "Local Hero." That all begs the question: What went wrong?
It really comes down to Forsyth being somewhat unprepared to step into a bigger sandbox and handle the scope of production. The movie carried a reported $40 million budget, which was large for the time. He also clashed with WB, which made things tricky during the post-production process, resulting in a worst-case scenario for all involved.
Being Human fell victim to creative differences and production issues
According to Sense of Cinema, Bill Forsyth's early cut of "Being Human" was 160 minutes. Following bad test screenings, though, that version was butchered in the editing room and trimmed all the way down to 85 minutes. However, that cut didn't inspire confidence, either. As the legend goes, an audience member asked Forsyth following a preview screening if he had anything to do with the production. He naturally replied that he had. The woman then told him, "Dig a hole and bury it."
Studios and directors arguing over cuts is nothing new, of course. David Ayer blasted 2016's "Suicide Squad" as "not my movie" and has consistently expressed a desire to see his version released. Meanwhile, "Blade Runner" has many, many cuts, and it wasn't until the "Final Cut" was released years later that Ridley Scott's true vision made it to screen. The problem, in this case, is that no such cut seemed to be doing the movie any good. It was bad all the way around.
Needless to say, things weren't looking good. The movie had a troubled shoot, and it only got worse once it was in the can. There was no version of the movie that anyone was happy with, which is never a great sign when it comes to commercial prospects.
There are plenty of box office bombs that are truly worth a watch. Many great movies just have a hard time finding their audience. Unfortunately, "Being Human" was largely dismissed by critics of the day, although it has garnered some re-evaluation over the years. It currently holds a 54% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and that lousy initial reception pretty much doomed the movie. There was no saving it.
Being Human was one of the biggest box office bombs of 1994
Against a wave of lousy reviews and bad press, "Being Human" hit theaters on the weekend of May 6, 1994. The film was doomed from the start. It wasn't a particularly busy weekend at the box office, as "With Honors," another Warner Bros. release, topped the charts in its second frame with just $3.7 million. The biggest new movie of the weekend was "3 Ninjas Kick Back" ($3.5 million), the sequel to one of the best so-bad-it's-good movies ever made.
Bill Forsyth's ill-fated collaboration with Robin Williams failed to even crack the top 10, taking in less than $1 million in its debut. The movie is said to have made less than $5 million worldwide on a $40 million production budget, which doesn't even account for marketing costs. That made it one of the biggest box office bombs of 1994. For context, "The Lion King" made Disney the king of the box office that year, pulling in nearly $800 million globally. High highs and low lows, the story of Hollywood.
Williams would go on to have a damn fine career up until his passing in 2014. Every actor has their ups and downs, and this was just a down for him. For Forsyth, on the other hand, this pretty much killed his career as a director. He only made "Gregory's Two Girls" in 1999 after this. Plenty of directors have suffered commercial misfires and had the opportunity to recover, but this one was so bad that it just about ended Forsyth's run as an impactful filmmaker.
Right or wrong, someone had to shoulder the blame. Forsyth got stuck holding the bag.