Bruce Willis has enjoyed some great success throughout his career. However, two films are the result of a dispute with Disney – and the way out of high debts.
Bruce Willis is one of Hollywood’s most famous actors. He has appeared in many well-known films, especially since the end of the 80s. These include modern classics such as Die Hard, Pulp Fiction and 12 Monkeys.
But the 90s weren’t all success. During one project, Willis even got into such arguments that he suddenly found himself facing the threat of a lawsuit.
Die Hard – German trailer for the action film with Bruce Willis
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Conflicts on the Disney set
What problem did Willis have? In 1997, Bruce Willis was supposed to make a comedy for Disney called Broadway Brawler. With a budget of $28 million and a popular leading actor, the film should easily recoup its budget.
But problems arose during production: Bruce Willis was often in a bad mood and argued with people on set. He was even responsible for individual crew members being fired, even the director. Filmmakers Luc Besson and Antoine Fuqua also had similar difficulties with Willis.
Disney stopped work on the film and suddenly had to deal with high losses. A lawsuit was threatened because the studio saw Bruce Willis responsible. They wanted around $17 million in compensation from him. Because that was too much for the actor, he agreed to a deal instead.
What kind of deal was that? Willis would make three more films for Disney. He was contractually obliged to do so. And as luck would have it, at least two of these three films became real box office hits.
We’re talking about The Sixth Sense, the paranormal thriller by M. Night Shyamalan, which grossed 672 million worldwide on a budget of 40 million US dollars (via boxofficemojo.com).
The second hit was Armageddon by Michael Bay, which tells of an asteroid flying towards Earth. This film cost $140 million to produce but still grossed $553 million (via boxofficemojo.com).
The third film from the deal is called The Kid and is comparatively less well known today. This film also paid off at the box office.
So we see: Some of the films that Bruce Willis is associated with to this day actually shouldn’t have been made with him. His behavior on the set of Broadway Brawler was probably incorrect, but we still owe the conflict with Disney two films that have cult status today. Another legendary actor has clarified an important question: Is Star Wars or Lord of the Rings better?