Why do you think the 1978 film 'The Wiz' flopped?

[Oliverlogan263]

I've always been curious because it seemed well put together and had a great cast—Diana Ross, MJ, Richard Pryor, etc.

Do you think it was the script?

Were we not ready for a black version?

[Anonymous]

It is EXTREMELY difficult to re-make or use the source material to make a version of a timeless classic. We're used to it now, good or bad, because everything is being re-made, but back then, I felt like it was like there were 20 great classic movies that literally everyone had seen, Wizard of Oz being one of them, and then everything else. When you grow up loving and in this case, singing the classic songs, you don't want to see someone else do it.

I highly doubt that even if this had been done during that time with all white actors, it would have done well, but the good thing for this film is it didn't wither on the vine. It gained popularity over the years and now is a classic in it's own right. I can think of another tiny little film called Rocky Horror Picture Show, also a musicall, released a few years earlier in the 70s that absolutely bombed, but now is an absolute cult classic.

[purplepoppy]

Wrong type of movie for the era. Musicals had long vanished from popularity only remaining in favour with grannies who grew up with them in the 30s. That generation generally didn't like black folk especially ones reworking a childhood favourite.

I admit I've never watched it but I have seen the trailers and I really couldn't sit through ten minutes of that shit.

[FunkyMonkee]

Nobody wanted to see a black version. Timing might've been part of it. Like, had they done it today, it'd probably be a huge hit, at least with the woke crowd.

[Oliverlogan263]

They just spent too much money making it. They could not make their money back or profit. They spent $24 million making it, which was the highest budget ever spent on a musical at the time. It lost about $10 million.

Also, it could’ve been people and critics did not like changing Dorothy from a girl to a woman since Diana Ross was in her 30s to play Dorothy in the movie. It was made during the beginning of the “Star Wars” era. Everyone was expecting more elaborate special effects.

[FunkyMonkee]

How much did "Jaws" and "Star Wars" make?
I'd still say it was because nobody wanted to see such a drastically different version. It also came out during the blaxploitation era so, not many whites went to see it figuring it was mostly made for a black audience.

[Oliverlogan263]

Here it is for the box office revenues of Jaws and Star Wars at the time:

- Jaws (1975): Budget of $7 million. Became the highest grossing film of all time at that point, making $260 million domestically.

- Star Wars (1977): Budget of $11 million. Made $775 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film ever and smashing all previous box office records.

So when The Wiz was made in 1978 with a then-record budget of $24 million for a musical, it was coming off the enormous successes of Jaws and Star Wars. Audiences had huge expectations given the escalating blockbuster trends.

Not only that, as you rightly point out, the blaxploitation era alienated many white audiences who assumed it was predominantly for black viewers. The drastic changes from the beloved 1939 film also turned off fans of the original.

With that kind of budget, it truly needed monumental box office to break even. But the racial politics of the time and resistance to such major changes doomed it from the start. It was an overly ambitious project at the wrong time culturally.

[FunkyMonkee]

Yep, that's what I said. Had thy put it out in the past 10 years, it would've probably been a huge hit except that the music was too `70's and there was no rap in it.
Back then, it was just too much like, "The Jefferson's Do Broadway". It was just too cheesy an idea for those days.
And, everyone went to see Jaws and Star Wars, that's why they made so much on those movies. They also weren't trying to copy and modernize an original.

[exitseven]

I do not remember it being a flop. It was not a blockbuster but I think people did go out to see it. I never saw it however.

[Oliverlogan263]

They said it wa a commercial failure. They’ve spent $24 million production only earned $13.6 million at the box office. n

[exitseven]

Okay

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[7Phoenix7]

I didn't know that it flopped lol. I remember kind of liking it as a kid.

[Oliverlogan263]

I loved it too as a kid, them damn subway puppets scared the hell out of me when I was a kid watching it lol. I don't think it really did flop from the perspective of fans who saw it. They just spent too much money making it. They could not make their money back or profit. They spent $24 million making it, which was the highest budget ever spent on a musical at the time. It lost about $10 million.

[DizzyDesii]

The puppets scared me soooo bad lmao! The monkeys faces too

[DizzyDesii]

Probably because Diana and michael werent “bleached and attractive” yet. But the soundtrack was amazing. I love that film

[Nikki1989]

Bad acting, bad script, and pretty bad at everything else.

[Anonymous]

Is it just a knockoff of the Wizard of Oz? If so, there's your answer.

[AngryCarl]

Because nobody watched it.