Movies - TV
An Indecisive Studio Meant Bad News For Brendan Fraser's Monkeybone
By TRAVIS YATES
As the new millennium approached, Brendan Fraser had just finished the action spectacular "The Mummy," which grossed over $155 million, and the supernatural romantic comedy "Bedazzled," which grossed over $90 million. Just when it looked like everything he touched turned into box office gold, "Monkeybone" happened, and its failure may fall on the studio.
Twentieth Century Fox shelled out $75 million and teamed Fraser with "The Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick for a strange dark comedy that blended animation and live-action. The production for “Monkeybone” was plagued from the start — the studio exec that greenlit the film was fired, and Selick believed the studio gave up on the film when that happened.
After the film was edited three times, the studio had lost so much faith in the movie that it pulled ads ahead of the February 23, 2001, release date. So when positive reviews from The L.A. Times, The New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly came out, there was no way to promote them — it’s no wonder “Monkeybone” went on to gross a mere $7.6 million worldwide.