Why did Hollywood turn a Marxist revolutionary into a 1969 box office disaster?
In short: When 20th Century Fox released Che!, a biographical drama starring Omar Sharif, they hoped to capitalize on the revolutionary's rising cultural fame. Instead, the film became a notorious critical failure, losing millions of dollars and earning a permanent spot on lists of the worst movies ever produced by Hollywood.
Directed by Richard Fleischer, the 1969 production aimed to depict the life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara from his arrival in Cuba during the mid-1950s until his demise in Bolivia a decade later. Despite the studio's attempt to frame the project as a neutral character study, the film faced immense pressure from conflicting political groups. Producer Sy Bartlett insisted the team intended to focus on the person rather than the movement, yet the final product struggled to find a coherent identity.
The production process was fraught with instability. Filming took place in Puerto Rico because South America was deemed too volatile for the crew. Behind the scenes, the project suffered from executive interference. Fleischer later admitted that board members systematically stripped away any sympathetic portrayals of Guevara, resulting in a hollow narrative that failed to satisfy either side of the political spectrum. Critics, including Roger Ebert, panned the film as a cynical cash grab inspired by the popularity of Guevara posters.
The financial results were equally grim. Fox required $9.4 million in rentals to break even, but by late 1970, the film had generated less than half that amount. By September 1970, the studio estimated a loss of nearly $3.4 million. The film was eventually labeled a "cardboard, pseudo-historical drama" in The Book of Lists, and it remains a case study in how a lack of genuine creative conviction can turn a high-profile biopic into a commercial and artistic disaster.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Che!
- Also: Wikidata — Che! · CC0
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