An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)

Original title

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

Directed by

Arthur Hiller

Genre

comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 22m

Rated

R

Rating

3.9 of 10 from 56 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A mockumentary about a director named Alan Smithee who steals the negatives of his own film and goes on the run. His name is the traditional pseudonym used by directors who want to disown a project. The film itself was so bad that its real director tried to disown it too.

satiricalchaoticmetaself-referentialcynicalcampyirreverentfast-paced

What happens

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (stylized on-screen as Burn Hollywood Burn) is a 1997 American mockumentary black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by Joe Eszterhas and starring Eric Idle as a director unfortunately named Alan Smithee, a traditional pseudonym used in Hollywood for directors disowning a project. The film follows Smithee as he steals the negatives to his latest film and goes on the run. An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn was universally panned by critics and tanked at the box office. It won five awards (including Worst Picture) at the 19th Golden Raspberry Awards. The film's creation set off a chain of events which led the Directors Guild of America to officially discontinue the Alan Smithee credit in 2000 after its use for decades when an American director disavowed a film. The plot, about a director attempting to disown a film, described the film's own production; Hiller requested that his name be removed after witnessing the final cut, and he is credited as Alan Smithee. An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn was also the final film produced by Cinergi Pictures to be released before the company declared bankruptcy. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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