Trivia / Star 80

• Acclaimed Flop: Although highly acclaimed, especially for Eric Roberts' performance, it never left limited release, topping at around 500 theaters (wide release is about 600 theaters) before closing with just an earning of $6.4 million, about half of its budget.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $12 million. Box office, $6,472,990.
• Creator Killer:
  • This would be the last film Bob Fosse ever directed before his death in 1987. Interestingly enough, he died as he was trimming down the film for the TV version.
  • This was just one of the many flops The Ladd Company had in the early 80s that led to their termination with Warner Bros.
• Disowned Adaptation: Hugh Hefner despised the film so much (and namely regarding how he was portrayed) that he sued producers shortly after it premiered.
• Dueling Works: With Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratton Story starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Bruce Weitz, which came out two years earlier.
• Fake Nationality: Dorothy Stratten and Paul Snider were Canadian, but are played Americans Mariel Hemingway and Eric Roberts. Same goes for Dorothy's mother, who's played by American actress Carroll Baker.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Daryl Hannah was considered for Dorothy Stratten.
  • Richard Gere was considered for Paul Snider.

---