Bruce Willis has celebrated some major successes during his career. However, two movies are the result of a dispute with Disney – and the way out of high debts.
Bruce Willis is one of the most famous actors in Hollywood. Especially since the late 1980s, he has starred in many well-known films. These include modern classics like Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, or 12 Monkeys.
However, the 1990s were not only crowned with success. In one project, Willis even got into such disputes that he suddenly faced a looming lawsuit.
Conflicts on the Disney Set
What problem did Willis have? In 1997, Bruce Willis was supposed to direct a comedy for Disney called Broadway Brawler. With a budget of 28 million US dollars and a popular lead actor, the film was expected to easily recoup its budget.
But during production, problems arose: Bruce Willis was often in a bad mood and quarreled with the people on set. He was even responsible for the firing of individual crew members, including the director. Similar difficulties were faced by filmmakers Luc Besson and Antoine Fuqua with Willis.
Disney halted production on the film and suddenly had to deal with high losses. A lawsuit was impending, as the studio held Bruce Willis responsible. They sought around 17 million US dollars from him as compensation. Because that was too much for the actor, he agreed to a deal instead.
What kind of deal was it? Willis was to direct three more films for Disney. He contracted 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, telling the story of an asteroid heading towards Earth. This film cost 140 million US dollars to produce but grossed 553 million (via boxofficemojo.com).
The third film from the deal is called The Kid and is comparatively less known today. This movie also paid off at the box office.
So we see: Some of the films with which Bruce Willis is still associated today should not have actually been made with him. His behavior on the set of Broadway Brawler was probably not appropriate, yet we owe the conflict with Disney two films that have cult status today. Another legendary actor has raised an important question: Is Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings better?
