Hollywood A-lister Sylvester Stallone rose to prominence as a classic action star. His films are a great contribution to the emergence of the action genre in the American film industry. Therefore, starting his career in the late 70s, iconic films like Rocky, Rambo, and The Expendables came into existence with his finesse. Yet, like every other success story, Sly’s empire also witnessed downfalls.
Director John Herzfeld, an old friend of Stallone’s, added the worst possible addition to Stallone’s shining portfolio with 2014’s Reach Me. Budgeted at $5 million, the movie faced a fateful turn of events that left its production in jeopardy. The film had to be completed by raising funds through crowdfunding platforms.
Sylvester Stallone’s biggest flop
Even though the 77-year-old actor was already established by the time Reach Me hit theatres, the film was widely panned by critics. Owing to the poor plot, it is listed as one of the lowest-rated films of Stallone, with 4% on Rotten Tomatoes. As per Courthouse News Service, the film also lost one of its investors after an accounting dispute and the production went broke. According to The Wrap, Norman Zada backed off mid-production and demanded a return of $1 million.
Consequently, producers Rebekah Chaney and Cassian Elves, along with Stallone and Herzfeld launched a campaign on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform. Setting a goal of $250,000, the campaign was successful but the producers scrapped it to switch to a better platform with an international audience.
Hence, another campaign on Indiegogo was launched, for $50,000, and within a week, $178,640 was raised, per the platform’s site. A failed attempt, the film grossed a meager $26,013, per IMDb, against Sylvester Stallone’s $400 million net worth.
Sylvester Stallone’s Reach Me was a passion project
In a 2014 interview, director Herzfeld opened up about a myriad of things and the little details that went into making Reach Me. Essentially an Indie film, Herzfeld was keen on working on sharing a worthy message. Thus, he told Deadline,
“I always wanted to do a movie [about] positive thinking and belief in oneself.”
While the cast line-up was sparkly, the storyline was not. Interestingly, Herzfeld reached out to Stallone, having known him since their college days at the University of Miami. Stallone’s agreement to do the movie drew in other talented actors, even at minimum salaries. The director also contacted his friends of friends, and his wife, Rebekah Chaney joined in as a cast, and co-producer.
Napoleon Hill’s self-help book, Think And Grow significantly influenced his direction in Reach Me. However, the tight budget seemed to be a problem for Herzfeld. He further spoke,
“I wrote the initial Reach Me draft about 10 years ago, but it was a much more expensive movie. It would have been an ensemble movie [like] 2 Days In The Valley. That wasn’t easy, but it got done.”
Herzfeld claimed that their luck with California tax incentives angered some private investors, which drastically affected the film’s production in the larger picture. Reach Me remains the Hollywood megastar’s biggest flop.