Brad Pitt Considered Fight Club “The Best Movie He's Ever Gonna Be In,” Despite Being Booed by Audiences and Experts at the Film Festival
Brad Pitt disagrees with the audience that booed the film by him considered the best he will ever star in. Years later, Fight Club has lived to see a much better reception.
Fight Club is regarded as one of the cult films, despite the fact that it has entailed a few controversies, such as censorship in China and Helena Bonham Carter's infamous line, which was made when the producer didn't like the first version deemed offensive. So David Fincher came up with an even worse one, which caused quite a stir.
Fight Club, unfortunately, was not a financial success. The film was met with a negative reception, as underscored by the audience's reaction during a screening at the Venice Film Festival, where it was booed. Brad Pitt, recalling the event during an interview with The Ringer, said that a large part in causing such a reaction was precisely the line of the character played by Helena Bonham Carter.
It gets to one of Helena’s scandalous lines – “I haven’t been fu**ed like that since grade school!” – and literally the guy running the festival got up and left. Edward and I were still the only ones laughing.
Edward Norton, recounting his film festival experience, mentioned how Fight Club was booed, which didn't bother Pitt, who was thrilled to be a part of this Fincher movie (via The Academy).
It got booed. It wasn’t playing well at all. Brad turns and looks at me [and] says, “That’s the best movie I’m ever gonna be in.” He was so happy.
Audience reaction did not negatively affect Pitt's faith in Fight Club. And in the end it is the actor who can have the last laugh, as Fincher's film gained a cult following years later. The production gained a second life when it came out on DVD and Blu-ray, gaining the affection of viewers who became familiar with the picture at home.
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