MovieChat Forums > Honky Tonk Freeway (1981) Discussion > Why did this end up costing so much mone...

Why did this end up costing so much money?

posted 12 years ago by indisposedinmymind
2 replies | jump to latest

I know there is a big car pile-up in the film, but that isn't until the very end. Why else would this cost $24M (a lot of money in 1980/81). It couldn't have been the cast who were mostly character actors, rather than A-list stars. Did this film have a troubled production? It isn't talked about like the big flops of that time (like Heaven's Gate and Raise the Titanic) and seems to be mostly forgotten.

"You average, typical, blocking the view of a God-damn, average, victim Bastard!"

[–] mrenaut-1 12 years ago

A lot of the vehicles used were fairly new, the pile up was pretty expensive as probably was blowing up the freeway, painting the town pink, paying the extras in the town...
Plus it was shot on location in Florida and New York so I guess all that mounted up.

I've heard the original edit was 3 hours long so maybe half the budget ended up on the cutting room floor?

People should spend more time watching movies and less time bitching about IMDB spoilers.

[–] pmiano100 11 years ago

They also spent a huge amount promoting it, hoping it would be a hit among "redneck movie" fans. Relatively low budget films appealing to Southern and Mid-Western blue collar audiences were popular then. Sadly it didn't pan out, and some careers, most notably William Devane's, were crippled. The younger actors like him were forever relegated to character roles.

Don't underestimate the salaries though. Well-regarded character actors like Cronyn and Tandy could cost a fair amount. Like mrenaut-1 says, it all mounted up. Still, the gross was pitiful. Although the monetary loss wasn't that huge in terms of dollars, even for 1980-81, percentage wise it was a huge flop. It make less than 10% of the expenses. Even for a "B" picture, it was a huge disappointment.