The Misses
“In The Soup” (1992)
From the same Sundance class as “Reservoir Dogs” and “El Mariachi” (and winning the Grand Jury Prize that year, no less), this Steve Buscemi-starring flick about a struggling screenwriter, from director Alexandre Rockwell, was expected to go on to great things even before the Tarantino and Rodriguez films blew up. But it failed to ignite much interest, going to now-defunct small-fry Triton Films (best known for putting out “Apocalypse Now” doc “Hearts of Darkness“) for a sum unrelated by history, and made a mere $250,000 at the box office. After collaborating with Tarantino and Rodriguez (and fellow Class of ’92 grad Allison Anders) on the omnibus “Four Rooms,” Rockwell was barely heard from again.
“Next Stop Wonderland” (1998)
A decent little rom-com that marked the proper directorial debut of Brad Anderson, with Hope Davis and Philip Seymour Hoffman among the cast, “Next Stop Wonderland” became the hot sensation of the festival in 1998, with Harvey Weinstein picking up the film for Miramax for a hefty $6 million, declaring, “I want to be in the Brad Anderson business.” But not for much longer: the pair fell out when Harvey Scissorhands made Anderson reshoot the ending (presumably not helped by a middling $4 million take for the film), and they’ve never worked together since. Anderson perhaps most notably made “The Machinist” since then, but he’s more recently split his time between TV work and questionable genre fare like the upcoming “The Call.”
“Happy, Texas” (1999)
Three years after “The Spitfire Grill” (which was hardly a smash, but at least made its price tag back) set the record for Sundance purchases at $10 million, it was equaled by “Happy, Texas,” a modest comedy about two escaped convicts (Steve Zahn and, for some reason, Jeremy Northam) posing as a gay couple. Locked in a bidding war with Fox Searchlight, Harvey ended up spending the full ten mil on the picture, only to see it die on release that October, the film taking under $2 million. It’s since become a byword for Park City hubris, and director Mark Illsley has had only one credit since.
“Girlfight” (2000)
With the failure of “Happy, Texas” still ringing in their ears, buyers were much more cautious the following year; the highest profile buy was “Girlfight,” the boxing drama that introduced the world to its young star Michelle Rodriguez. Paramount, Fine Line and USA Films were all in the hunt, but it was Sony‘s Screen Gems that won out, hoping for a commercial crossover hit, paying $2.5 million for the privilege. Sadly, it didn’t come off. Karyn Kusama‘s film made only $1.5 million at the box office, and the director took her vengeance by subjecting audiences to “Aeon Flux” and “Jennifer’s Body.”
“Introducing The Dwights” (2007)
A Sundance flop so obscure that you’ve barely heard of it, “Introducing The Dwights” was known as “Clubland” when it premiered at the festival, a charming, if unexceptional rom-com starring Brenda Blethyn and Emma Booth (then tipped as the next big thing). Warner Independent Pictures won the bidding war, paying a not-inconsiderable $4 million for the picture. But they botched the release, retitling it in the most generic way possible, and opening it on the July 4th weekend, opposite the first “Transformers.” It made under $400,000 before it left screens, and a year later, WIP ceased to exist.