An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (the onscreen title is simply Burn Hollywood Burn) is a 1997 comedy film and is regarded as one of the worst films of all time, scooping five awards (including Worst Picture) at the 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards. The film had an estimated budget of $10 million and grossed at least $52,850, being that it was only released in 19 theaters.

The film's creation set off a chain of events which would lead the Directors Guild of America to officially discontinue the Alan Smithee credit in 2000. Its plot (about a director attempting to disown a film) eventually described the film's own production; director Arthur Hiller requested that his name be removed after witnessing the final cut of the film by the studio.

Plot
A director by the name of Alan Smithee has been allowed to direct Trio, a big-budget action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jackie Chan. The studio recuts the film, and when Smithee sees the results (which he describes as being "worse than Showgirls") and realizes that he cannot use a pseudonym (because the only one allowed is "Alan Smithee") he steals the film and goes on the run, threatening to burn it.

Cast

 * Eric Idle as Alan Smithee
 * Ryan O'Neal as James Edmunds
 * Coolio as Dion Brothers
 * Chuck D as Leon Brothers
 * Richard Jeni as Jerry Glover
 * Leslie Stefanson as Michelle Rafferty
 * Sandra Bernhard as Ann Glover
 * Cherie Lunghi as Myrna Smithee
 * Harvey Weinstein as Sam Rizzo
 * Gavin Polone as Gary Samuels
 * MC Lyte as Sista Tu Lumumba
 * Marcello Thedford as Stagger Lee
 * Nicole Nagel as Aloe Vera
 * Stephen Tobolowsky as Bill Bardo
 * Erik King as Wayne Jackson
 * Dina Spybey as Alessandra


 * Cameos as themselves
 * Sylvester Stallone
 * Whoopi Goldberg
 * Jackie Chan
 * Robert Evans
 * Robert Shapiro
 * Shane Black
 * Mario Machado
 * Lisa Canning
 * Joe Eszterhas
 * Larry King
 * Peter Bart
 * Dominick Dunne
 * Billy Bob Thornton
 * Billy Barty
 * Norman Jewison (uncredited)

Production
The film was written (and produced, though he was not credited for it) by Joe Eszterhas. The released film credits the Alan Smithee pseudonym as director. Arthur Hiller, the film's real director, objected to the way Eszterhas recut the film, and as a result, had his name removed. But in his autobiography Hollywood Animal, Eszterhas claims that Hiller still sat in the editing room with him to make certain suggestions. In his entry on Burn Hollywood Burn for his "My Year of Flops" column, pop culture critic Nathan Rabin sarcastically commented that Hiller's decision to use the Alan Smithee credit was "very transparently not a stupid, stupid gimmick to raise interest in a terrible film."

Reception
Film critic Roger Ebert gave zero stars, his lowest possible rating.

The film currently holds an 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "A witless Hollywood satire whose hammy, obvious jokes are neither funny nor insightful of the movie business."