ishtar failed for one reason - too much bad press. People start to take it too seriously it after a while. Critics were saying that the movie cost too much because of Hoffman, Beatty, and (director) Elaine May's salaries. There were articles about how Elaine had paid for realistic sand dunes and then paid alot of money to have them moved around and eventually removed. These tales, whether true or not, wind up in the papers and audiences somehow feel that these problems will somehow manifest themselves in the film. Audiences feel that a bloated budget on a film will make it an unenjoyable film. Waterworld, Heaven's Gate, Howard the Duck, etc, etc... Personally, I was not a financier in those films, so I couldn't care less if the film cost a billion dollars, as long as it was enjoyable. Back to "Ishtar" I thought Hoffman and Beatty singing, "tellin' the truth is dangerous business" was hilarious. Once the public's mind is poisoned, however, there's no changing it. That's why many big budgeted films with critical disapporoval do so poorly at the box office. ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]