Cold Turkey’s commercial difficulties were later summarized with unusual bluntness by United Artists chairman Arthur Krim in an internal evaluation of the company’s inventory. Krim described the project as an “old commitment” to Dick Van Dyke combined with what had initially seemed like a promising American-market idea, but he complained that the film had become an overpriced production centered on a supposedly “has-been personality” by the time of release. According to the assessment, Lear and the production had gone more than one million dollars over budget, leaving the studio with what Krim considered a minor comedy that had little value outside the United States—especially because its satire depended so heavily on mid-American culture. Krim concluded that the picture would only have made economic sense at approximately half its cost. The film nevertheless earned about $5.5 million in U.S. and Canadian theatrical rentals, giving the shelved and over-budget production a stronger afterlife than the studio’s internal verdict suggested.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s
United Artists Blamed Dick Van Dyke, Lear’s Budget, and the Film’s Limited Appeal
Cold Turkey / 1970s
Cold Turkey’s commercial difficulties were later summarized with unusual bluntness by United Artists chairman Arthur Krim in an internal evaluation of the company’s inventory. Krim described the project as an “old commitment” to Dick Van Dyke combined with what had initially seemed like a promising American-market idea, but he complained that the film had become an overpriced production centered on a supposedly “has-been personality” by the time of release. According to the assessment, Lear and the production had gone more than one million dollars over budget, leaving the studio with what Krim considered a minor comedy that had little value outside the United States—especially because its satire depended so heavily on mid-American culture. Krim concluded that the picture would only have made economic sense at approximately half its cost. The film nevertheless earned about $5.5 million in U.S. and Canadian theatrical rentals, giving the shelved and over-budget production a stronger afterlife than the studio’s internal verdict suggested.
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