Til Schweiger’s films dominated German cinema for almost ten years. The “Schweiger comedy” established itself as a subgenre. Their characteristics: sentimentality, sepia tone, pop soundtrack, homeland, family and subtly sprinkled vulgar jokes. The highlight of this era was Honig im Kopf, with over 7 million viewers the most successful film made by Schweiger.
A few years later, the director superimposed his masterpiece with a grotesque failure. Today honey in the head at 8.15 p.m. on Sat.1 on TV. The repetition follows at 1.10 a.m. at night. We almost tell them tragic story of the failed remake.
Til Schweiger turned a US remake of honey in his head – and would rather have left it
Honey in the Head – Trailer (German) HD
Honey in the Head is about Amandus (Dieter Hallervorden), who suffers from dementia. Niko’s father (Til Schweiger) and grandfather of eleven-year-old Tilda (Schweiger’s daughter Emma Tiger Schweiger) are getting worse and worse. Moving to a nursing home seems inevitable. Then Amandus and Tilda run away and travel to Venice one last time.
the History of honey in the head is universal and it brings generations together. The immense success of the film in Germany was no coincidence. The idea a Remake for the international, mainly English-speaking market to shoot was quite obvious. The fact that something like this can work was recently shown by the 2022 Oscar winner, Coda, who performed on the French hit Do you understand the Béliers? based.
And so Schweiger shot his success again, this time with Nick Nolte (as Amadeus instead of Amandus) in the leading role and other stars like Emily Mortimer and Matt Dillon. Tilda (Matilda in the remake) is portrayed by Nolte’s real-life daughter, Sophia Lane Nolte. So in the remake, too, there is a family connection within the cast. Only this parallel didn’t help the film.
Watch the trailer for Head Full of Honey
Head Full Of Honey Trailer (German) HD
The bizarre magnitude of Head Full of Honey’s flop
The mission “to repeat the success of honey in my head internationally” went spectacularly wrong. The remake was released in 2018 – although it was hardly seen by anyone. The film was so bad that to call it a flop would be an understatement. Head Full of Honey, as it is called in English, practically never took place in the cinema landscape. A stark contrast to the success of the original.
When it launched in the US, the Schweiger factory was crushed by criticism and only made a little over 12,000 US dollars. One reason: Studio Warner had completely dispensed with marketing and only let the tragic comedy run in a few cinemas, writes Der Spiegel.
It continued like this when the remake started in Germany and the rest of the world. The draw produced bizarre numbers. Head Full of Honey only attracted 155 people on the second weekend in Germany. Overall grossing is $138,844 worldwide. And that after funding of 4.6 million euros from the German Film Fund.
It should come as no surprise that Til Schweiger called Head Full of Honey the “low point” of his career.
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How did you like the two films?