Richard Linklater Laments Not Getting Paid for One of His Biggest Hits, DAZED AND CONFUSED
Richard Linklater has made some great movies over the years, including Before Sunrise, School of Rock, A Scanner Darkly, Boyhood, and more, but it all started back when he made his first big movie, Dazed and Confused in 1993. As a young filmmaker in his early 30s, Linklater made the indie success for $7 million, and it was not only a hit in the box office, but a major cult classic that has stood the test of time. Some people may think that even if a director never made another film, they could live on the success of a project like that for some time, but in this case, they would be wrong.
In a recent interview with The Daily Beast (via Variety), Linklater was asked if he made money off Dazed and Confused, to which he responded, “Fuck no! It’s like… where’s my money? How come a movie that cost less than $7 million has $12 million in interest against it?”
When asked how Dazed and Confused can be a cult hit for nearly three decades and counting and not make money for him, Linklater responded:
“I don’t know. Ask Universal! Hollywood accounting. I remember really asking for a piece of the soundtrack, because I picked all the songs, and they were like, ‘Oh no…First film, you know?’ N.W.A is still pissed off about that first contract. Everybody has that first story of getting screwed with their first project. That film was an indie success. It made more than it cost theatrically, and over the years it’s been everywhere.”
Linklater said the home video market for Dazed and Confused produced at least $30 million dollars or so of revenue, but he did not get a single piece of it. Universal did not respond to Variety’s request for comment on the subject. The director went on to say:
“That’s such a cliché to bitch about. But I did go through the Hollywood experience. Here I complain, but they did greenlight the film, and they wouldn’t greenlight the film today. Cast of unknowns? Period film when not much happens, riding around? One film out of Sundance? I don’t think there’s a pitch for that movie today, so I sit here very, very blessed that I came along at a time when studios were going, ‘Hey, we’ll make this and this and then throw some chump change over to these guys.’ I’m still grateful I got the film made, and got it made the way I wanted it to.”
Linklater wrote an essay for The Guardian in 2019 in which he said he still had PTSD from battling the studio over making Dazed and Confused his way. The director said that Universal president Tom Pollock had the studio on high alert over Linklater after fearing the director would make an “arty, jerk-offski movie” like his 1990 breakthrough Slacker. Linklater added that his love for improvisation on set also worried the studio.
So I guess it’s good that the movie got made, and that it got Linklater’s name out there, paving the way for his future work. But dude, he is owed for the work he did! He made a fun movie that people still enjoy, and he hired Matthew McConaughey for his first movie. I say the studio should throw him a check. They don’t have to, but it’d be a lot cooler if they did.