November 19, 1980: “Heaven’s Gate” Sinks United Artists

November 19, 1980: Heaven's Gate premieres. This "revisionist Western" was director Michael Cimino's follow-up to the critical darling The Deer Hunter, and had a lot of talent: Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Terry O'Quinn, Mickey Rourke, and, in his film debut, Willem Dafoe. It should have worked.

But Cimino was a nut, and everyone chafed against his directing. Filming ran long. The movie eventually came in at 3 hours and 39 minutes, about twice as long as the average filmgoer's attention span for a movie without explosions. There were accusations of the horses and cattle being abused.

And, at a time when inflation was rampant in America, the cost ran up to $44 million. That doesn’t sound like much now, and with over 40 years' worth of additional inflation, it would be $153 million, which would now be a lot for a Western without much special effects, but not for a science-fiction blockbuster.

But it only made back $3.5 million, and bankrupted United Artists, one of the great Hollywood studios. MGM bought them out. It became the standard by which all movie bombs are measured.

When Kevin Costner made Dances With Wolves 10 years later, and costs ran high, people joked that it would be Kevin's Gate. Instead, it was a hit, and won the Oscar for Best Picture. They said the same thing about his film Waterworld, but that made a profit, too. They said the same thing about The Postman. and they were finally right. I guess, having made 2 baseball-themed movies (and, since, 2 more), Costner should have known: Three strikes, and you're out.

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November 19, 1980 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 112-104 at the Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) in Piscataway, New Jersey. George Gervin scored 38 points.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Golden State Warriors, 110-101 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-91 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Colisée de Québec

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-4 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Boston Bruins, the St. Louis Blues, the New York Islanders, the Calgary Flames, the Colorado Rockies, the Washington Capitals and the Hartford Whalers were not scheduled.