Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese recalls the mixed reception that his satirical film The King Of Comedy received when it was initially released. Featuring a stellar cast of Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard, Diahnne Abbot, and Scorsese’s frequent collaborator Robert De Niro, this movie follows Rupert Pupkin, a passionate yet unsuccessful comic who becomes obsessed with achieving fame and fortune. In hopes of becoming successful, Pupkin goes to extreme lengths, eventually stalking and kidnapping his idol Jerry Langford, a famous late-night talk show host. The King Of Comedy was met with some negative reviews upon its release in 1982, and it ended up a flop at the box office.
Entertainment Weekly culls a video from Scorcese’s daughter’s TikTok account where the acclaimed director recalls the precise moment that The King Of Comedy was eviscerated on live television ahead of the release of his forthcoming Killers of the Flower Moon. “People hated it when it came out”, Scorsese said, explaining that Entertainment Tonight labeled the movie the flop of the year. Read his full comment below:
“People hated it when it came out, No, it was the flop of the year. That’s what it was called on Entertainment Tonight, New Year’s Eve ’83-’84. It’s okay, it’s alright.’
Why The King Of Comedy Received Mixed Reviews
![“Flop Of The Year”: Scorsese Recalls A Robert De Niro Classic Hated Upon Release, 4 Decades Later](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/jerry-Lewis-The-King-Of-Comedy.jpg)
Upon the release of The King Of Comedy in theaters back in 1982, the film was a massive box office failure, grossing only $2.5 million against its $19 million budget. There were a number of reasons why The King of Comedy wasn’t initially well received by viewers. For one, its drastic shift in visual style compared to Scorsese’s older works like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull might have been a little jarring for some. The famous director shied away from his more common flashy visual style in favor of something more raw and grounded.
Another factor that might have contributed to the movie’s flopping was its unrelenting dedication to portraying a harrowing bleakness. With The King Of Comedy, Scorsese had no intentions of comforting his audiences in any way, as the story is filled with deep-seated cynicism and twisted black comedy. De Niro once commented on the film bombing at the box office, claiming that the movie “wasn’t so well received because it gave off an aura of something that people didn’t want to look at or know.”
Over the decades, The King Of Comedy’s reputation has grown massively, becoming one of Scorsese’s most highly-rated works. Before his death, the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited the movie as one of his favorite films while several other notable figures in the film industry have also lauded the movie for its ambition and risk-taking. The movie has also served as a source of inspiration for many other movies and characters, most notably the screenplay for the 2019 film Joker.
Source: EW