12 Things That Were Really To Blame For Hollywood's Biggest F*ck Ups
10. Zack And Miri Make A Porno Bombed Because Nobody Knew Its Name
After years developing a shared fictional universe for him and his mates to make knob jokes in, Kevin Smith abandoned his so-called View Askewniverse which peaked with Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, an in-joke-filled self-referential-fest totally inaccessible to anybody who hadn't followed the director's work from Clerks to Chasing Amy in favour of what was supposed to be a much more mainstream-friendly flick. It was to star Seth Rogen, who was at the time flying high with the one-two punch of Knocked Up and Superbad. It wasn't going to be bogged down in all the recurring characters and running jokes of Smith's old films. It was going to be an Apatow-style gross-out comedy that audiences had been eating up. Sure-fire recipe for success, right? Nope. The film wasn't a total failure, but it was the worst box-office opening ever for the previously bankable Rogen, and certainly didn't manage the level of success as the Apatow stable of comedies. Which is a shame, because this is the first of these total f*ck ups that didn't deserve to be it's a pretty funny, and surprisingly warm, comedy. About two broke friends deciding to get into the adult movie business. Therein lies the rub, allegedly: nothing to do with the cast, or people being sick of Rogen's face, or burn out from Kevin Smith films. It's because of the amount of cinemas, newspapers, radio and TV stations which refused to carry advertising for a film called Zack And Miri Make A Porno. Especially when coupled with a poster featuring the titular characters getting intimate. So instead, the movie was marketed as Zack And Miri and featured two stick figures holding hands. Who wouldn't wanna see that, eh?
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
