Though it has since become a cult classic, the star and writer of oneSaturday Night Livespinoff movie admits its bombing hit them pretty deeply at first. Lorne Michaels' iconic sketch comedy show has not only seen its fair share of recurring sketches, but many also use their popularity on it to springboard onto the big screen. This adaptation trend got off to a strong start in the ’80s and early ’90s thanks to the successes ofDan Aykroyd and John Belushi’sThe Blues Brothers, Tim Robbins’Bob Robertsand Mike Myers and Dana Carvey’sWayne’s World.
The years that followed sawSaturday Night Live-based movies met with lesser and lesser success, with the likes ofAykroyd’sConeheads, Julia Sweeney’sIt’s Pat, Al Franken’sStuart Saves His Familyand Tim Meadows’The Ladies Manall flopping at the box office. Though there were a few modest box office successes during the time, namely Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan’sA Night at the Roxburyand Ferrell and Molly Shannon’sSuperstar,the majority of films based on sketches from the show only found their fanbases on home media, with one in particular building a major cult following.
MacGruber’s Box Office Bombing Was “Very Hard” For Will Forte
It Also Taught Him The Importance Of Making The Movie “You Want To Make”
The last officialSaturday Night Live-based movie came in the form of 2010’sMacGruber, adapting theMacGyverparody sketch into a feature-length action comedy with Will Forte reprising his role and co-writing the script with Jorma Taccone, who also made his feature directorial debut on the film, and John Solomon. Also starring Kristen Wiig as his love interest, Ryan Phillippe as a straight-laced military lieutenant and Val Kilmer as the villainous Dieter von Cunth,MacGrubersaw mixed reviews from criticsand was a box office flop, ultimately grossing $9.3 million against its $10 million production budget.
During an appearance on the latest episode ofFirst We Feast’sHot Ones, Forte was asked about howMacGruber’s box office bombing impacted him. The co-writer/star acknowledged that, within the first few weeks of its release,it was “very hard” for him and his team to come to terms with, though later decided to say “f–k it” and celebrate that they got to make the movie they wanted to make, and still remains “weirdly very proud of that movie” 15 years later. Check out Forte’s reflection in the quote and video below:
The main thing that I learned from that experience, because we were very weirdly proud of that movie, as disgusting as it is. We got to make the exact movie that we set out to make. It bombed, and it was very hard, but knowing, “Oh, this was the exact movie we wanted to make” made it so much easier. After a couple of weeks, we said, “You know what, f—k it. We love this movie, let’s not let these headlines of ‘MacGruber Bombs’ taint this experience for us. Let’s just be proud of what we did.” Do the movie you want to make, not try to make decisions for other people. If you’re making the decisions for yourself, you’re able to live with it, no matter what happens.
Our Take On MacGruber’s Bombing & Forte’s Reflection
The Movie’s Cult Following Is More Important Than Its Box Office
Given the movie was only Forte’s second leading-man role in a film after 2007’sThe Brothers Solomon, on which he was also a writer, it’s understandable whyMacGruber’s box office bombing proved hard for him at the time. That being said,it certainly wasn’t theworst-performingSaturday Night Livemoviefinancially, asIt’s Patinfamously made just shy of $61,000 at the box office against its reported $8 million production budget. See howMacGrubercompared to otherSNLtheatrical releases on Rotten Tomatoes and the box office in the chart below:
71%
92%
79%
84%
37%
38%
60%
63%
0%
29%
$60,822
30%
53%
$912,082
46%
11%
69%
32%
59%
42%
47%
35%
$9.3 Million
$10 Million
As Forte notes, the bigger takeaway for him and his creative team is thatthey madeMacGruberthe way they ultimately wanted to, a rarity when dealing with studios. However, even while its box office may indicate a lackluster connection with viewers, the movie’s long-standing cult following certainly speaks to the opposite, with even Christopher Nolan expressing his admiration for the film. More than Forte, the same is true of many of Jorma Taccone’s projects, withHot Rodsimilarlybeing a financial failure, but having a very passionate fanbase.
Arguably the biggest sign of why the movie’s fanbase is all the more impressive is that, after over a decade of campaigning for a sequel,aMacGrubersequel showwould be produced in 2021, and went on to garner acclaim from critics and audiences alike, holding 85% and 81% approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. While I would have liked to see the film perform better on its original release, it is heartening to hear Forte remains proud of the film and took away meaningful lessons from its reception to take into future projects.
MacGruber
Cast
MacGruber: Starring Will Forte, MacGruber is a comedy that follows the eponymous former special operative who is pulled out of retirement to combat his longtime adversary, Dieter Von Cunth, who threatens Washington, DC with a nuclear warhead. Released in 2010, the film blends action and humor.
