Posted in: Disney, Movies | Tagged: disney, film, holes

Holes Producer Talks Disney's Initial Concern with the Film Adaptation

The beloved Disney film Holes is turning 20, and one of its producers is revealing the studio's biggest concern prior to release.

It's rather shocking that Disney's beloved title Holes is now reaching its 20th anniversary — a film that earned nearly $75 million at the box office with a very overall positive reception that's managed to withstand a sometimes critical industry's standards. For those of you who need a slight refresher, the 2003 American neo-Western comedy-drama film Holes is directed by Andrew Davis with a screenplay by Louis Sachar, based on his novel of the same name, and published in the summer of 1998. It centers on a wrongfully convicted boy (Shia LaBeouf) who is sent to a brutal desert detention camp, where he joins the job of digging holes for a mysterious reason.

Despite the film adaptation's established background and a strong cast (both at the time and in the years to follow) consisting of Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson, and LaBeouf, we're just now discovering that a theatrical release almost didn't happen due to Diesney's monetary concerns.

Disney's Concern About Holes International Reception

When speaking with Collider to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the cult classic film, its producer Mike Medavoy was asked about the film's ability to connect with audiences long-term, leading him to reveal, "Well, it's interesting because the book had already done really well. People read the book — especially younger people. For this kind of film, you need to get a broader audience than just young kids. And that's basically what it did. Disney was so nervous about the foreign markets — they were afraid of sending it to the foreign markets."

He then elaborates, "Had not done as well as it did in the domestic market, I have a feeling a lot of the foreign markets wouldn't have been played. The film probably could have done better if they'd had more confidence in it at the time. It did pretty well, obviously, but, you know." That we do… and the rest is history!

Holes is currently available to stream on Disney+ if you're looking to revisit the now-20-year-old title.

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