Bad began as a low-budget project but became the most expensive film Andy Warhol had produced, costing approximately $1.25 million. Australian producer Robert Stigwood initially backed the picture and then withdrew, forcing Warhol to finance the production with money from his portrait commissions. His business manager Fred Hughes invested $200,000 and arranged another $800,000 from businessman Peter Brant. The film was made before a U.S. distributor had been secured, leaving Warhol exposed when the completed picture proved difficult to market. After New World Pictures acquired the American rights, Hughes and bookkeeper Vincent Fremont asked the company to remove the baby-throwing scene, arguing that it damaged the film's black humor. New World left it in place and, according to Fremont, provided little promotional support. The picture was also temporarily confiscated and banned in Germany because of its violence, including the infant sequence, and was only later approved after cuts. Fremont believed the censorship delay destroyed the film's theatrical momentum, while Warhol ultimately lost roughly $400,000—losses that discouraged him from financing further films.
Preparing the daily feature…
AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s
Warhol's $1.25 Million Gamble Collapsed Under Censorship and a Disastrous Release
Andy Warhol's Bad / 1970s
Bad began as a low-budget project but became the most expensive film Andy Warhol had produced, costing approximately $1.25 million. Australian producer Robert Stigwood initially backed the picture and then withdrew, forcing Warhol to finance the production with money from his portrait commissions. His business manager Fred Hughes invested $200,000 and arranged another $800,000 from businessman Peter Brant. The film was made before a U.S. distributor had been secured, leaving Warhol exposed when the completed picture proved difficult to market. After New World Pictures acquired the American rights, Hughes and bookkeeper Vincent Fremont asked the company to remove the baby-throwing scene, arguing that it damaged the film's black humor. New World left it in place and, according to Fremont, provided little promotional support. The picture was also temporarily confiscated and banned in Germany because of its violence, including the infant sequence, and was only later approved after cuts. Fremont believed the censorship delay destroyed the film's theatrical momentum, while Warhol ultimately lost roughly $400,000—losses that discouraged him from financing further films.
The daily feature is taking an intermission. There’s still an entire archive to explore.