Many film and television projects were significantly affected by the events of September 11, 2001. George Carlin’s 12th HBO special, originally slated to be called I Kinda Like It When A Lotta People Die, was understandably reworked following the attacks. An episode of Friends in which Chandler and Monica are detained at an airport was similarly changed before it aired. And Jackie Chan was scheduled to shoot a movie at the World Trade Center that morning; the film was eventually shelved.
Another project we can add to the list is the 2002 Tim Allen comedy Big Trouble, co-starring Rene Russo, Dennis Farino, Zooey Deschanel, and Sofia Vergara. Based on the 1999 Dave Barry novel of the same name, the ensemble film follows a variety of characters whose lives are brought together by a mysterious suitcase bomb. The bomb eventually ends up at an airport, where it’s inadvertently triggered. FBI agents then have to consider the very real possibility that they’ll have to shoot down a plane in order to avoid a nuclear disaster.
Disney Had to Delay This Tim Allen Movie Because of 9/11
Big Trouble was originally scheduled to be released on September 21, 2001. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. Even after sinking $40 million into advertising, there was no way the folks at Disney were gonna unleash a movie like that on the world following a major terrorist attack. Touchstone spokeswoman Vivian Boyer issued a statement at the time, saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this terrible tragedy.”
That December, Disney rescheduled Big Trouble’s release for April 5, 2002. But because of the 9/11 connection, the studio decided not to dump too much extra money into marketing, resulting in very little buzz for the already-delayed movie. Not only did it not last long in theaters, but it also turned out to be a huge box-office bomb. When all was said and done, Big Trouble pulled in just over $8 million worldwide on a $40 million budget and was largely ignored by moviegoers; it received mostly mixed reviews.
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