The Hudsucker Proxy reportedly cost $40 million to make. It earned just $2.8 million at the domestic box office.
Warner Bros. released it on March 11, 1994. Paul Newman co-starred in the Coen brothers comedy as Sidney J. Mussburger, a scheming executive. Tim Robbins starred as the naive Norville Barnes.
Cinemablend’s Hugh Scott noted the big leap it took to produce the film:
“The Hudsucker Proxy was the Coen Brothers first foray into big(ish) budget filmmaking and the result at the box office reflects a disappointment, but like virtually every other Coen Brothers movie, it’s since become a cult classic.”
Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus lauds its daring perspective but points out how it felt flat in execution.
“Intriguingly strange and visually distinctive, The Hudsucker Proxy is ultimately almost — but not quite — as smart and absorbing as it needs to be.”
Aside from budget concerns, it took a decade to get it made at all.
How The Hudsucker Proxy Spent a Decade Waiting to Be Made
Joel and Ethan Coen began writing the script with director Sam Raimi in 1981, per Film Yap. Joel had been an assistant editor on Raimi’s The Evil Dead.
The trio finished it in 1985, while working on Raimi’s Crimewave. But the Coens, with only Blood Simple to their names, couldn’t afford the film they envisioned.
Raising Arizona and Barton Fink later boosted their standing. Producer Joel Silver optioned the script in 1991. He pitched it to Warner Bros., with PolyGram adding financing, per Film on Paper. The Coen brothers retained final-cut approval.
Film Yap highlighted Newman’s performance in a rare villainous role:
“Tasked to deliver a high-priority letter upstairs, Norville finds himself in the office of board member Sidney J. Mussburger. Relishing this rare villainous role, the late, great Paul Newman keeps his eyes beady and his heart greedy.”
Audiences have been kinder than critics. The film’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 79%, against 64% from critics.
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