History Trivia / HeavensGate

* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: An extremely rare DisproportionateRetribution example, if you can believe it. Creator/WillemDafoe was fired just for ''laughing in the set''. This film was supposed to be his debut. He still ended up in a few shots of the final cut and narrated the Documentary version of Final Cut.

** The film killed Kris Kristofferson's career as a leading man. Throughout the '70s, he had been a major star of both films and music, balancing a successful career as a country and folk singer-songwriter with an acting career that saw him take leading roles in critically acclaimed hit films like ''Film/AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore'' and ''Film/{{A Star Is Born|1976}}''. After this, he never had a lead role in a hit film again, finding work only in supporting or bit roles in genre films such as the ''[[Film/BladeTrilogy Blade]]'' trilogy. He had neglected his music career during his most of his time in Hollywood and his post-''Heaven's Gate'' solo albums received middling reviews and sales. His only major hits afterward came as part of the country supergroup The Highwaymen. Interestingly, Kristofferson loves the film, and cited it as one of his favorite of his films long before the 2012 re-release of its director's cut brought critics around to the film.

** The reputation of ''Heaven's Gate'' has, however, improved in the years since its initial release. Cimino assembled a 216-minute "director's cut" of the film which won acclaim at film festivals in 2012, and Kris Kristofferson and Creator/JeffBridges still speak fondly of their experiences making and seeing the film.

* ControlFreak: A meta-example with Cimino. Stories were thrown around about him tearing down a model city because it didn't meet his specifics, refusing to shoot a scene until a cloud he liked rolled into frame and shooting over 1,000,000 feet of film. And those stories are considered ''scratching the surface''. There is a reason why he earned the nickname "The Ayatollah" from the cast and crew.

** Creator/JeffBridges was briefly considered for Nate Champion, while Creator/ChristopherWalken was briefly considered for James Averill.

** Creator/MichaelCimino had wanted to make a film about the Johnson County War, an 1892 battle between rich Wyoming landowners and European immigrant settlers, since 1971; the good press surrounding his 1978 film ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' and its dual Oscar wins for Best Director and Best Picture finally gave Cimino the industry clout to get Creator/UnitedArtists to agree to finance the film, with initial budget estimates starting at $7.5 million but rising to $11.6 million by the time production began.

** Location shooting in Montana finally wrapped in October 1979,[[note]] By this point, local cars sported bumper stickers reading "To Hell with ''Heaven's Gate''", and Cimino had a very public falling out with production manager and longtime friend Charlie Okun at the wrap party.[[/note]] with only a Harvard-set prologue and Rhode Island-set epilogue to film. Given their experience with ''Film/LoveStory'', however, Harvard understandably refused permission to film on campus, so the prologue was instead shot at [[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} Mansfield College, Oxford]].[[note]] Creator/JohnHurt had returned to England in a hurry after filming wrapped in Montana to honour his commitment to ''Film/TheElephantMan'' - a film for which he signed on to alleviate boredom while waiting for anything to do on the ''Heaven's Gate'' set - and took a few days off to film his scenes in the Harvard segment.[[/note]] Though this was the only part of the shoot to finish on time and on budget, Cimino was refused permission to film near Christ Church on Sunday, and had to prepare and shoot the scene in secret just after dawn before the Sunday morning services. The final production budget came to nearly $40 million, over three times the original figure.

** Location shooting in Montana finally wrapped in October 1979,[[note]] By this point, local cars sported bumper stickers reading "To Hell with ''Heaven's Gate''", and Cimino had a very public falling out with production manager and longtime friend Charlie Okun at the wrap party.[[/note]] with only a Harvard-set prologue and Rhode Island-set epilogue to film. Given their experience with ''Film/LoveStory'', however, Harvard unsurprisingly refused permission to film on campus, so the prologue was instead shot at [[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} Mansfield College, Oxford]].[[note]] Creator/JohnHurt had returned to England in a hurry after filming wrapped in Montana to honour his commitment to ''Film/TheElephantMan'' - a film for which he signed on to alleviate boredom while waiting for anything to do on the ''Heaven's Gate'' set - and took a few days off to film his scenes in the Harvard segment.[[/note]] Though this was the only part of the shoot to finish on time and on budget, Cimino was refused permission to film near Christ Church on Sunday, and had to prepare and shoot the scene in secret just after dawn before the Sunday morning services. The final production budget came to nearly $40 million, over three times the original figure.

* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: An extremely rare DisproportionateRetribution example, if you can believe it. Creator/WillemDafoe was fired just for ''laughing in the set''. This film was supposed to be his debut.

** Location shooting in Montana finally wrapped in October 1979,[[note]] By this point, local cars sported bumper stickers reading "To Hell with ''Heaven's Gate''", and Cimino had a very public falling out with production manager and longtime friend Charlie Okun at the wrap party.[[/note]] with only a Harvard-set prologue and Rhode Island-set epilogue to film. Given their experience with ''Film/LoveStory'', however, Harvard unsurprisingly refused permission to film on campus, so the prologue was instead shot at [[{{Oxbridge}} Mansfield College, Oxford]].[[note]] Creator/JohnHurt had returned to England in a hurry after filming wrapped in Montana to honour his commitment to ''Film/TheElephantMan'' - a film for which he signed on to alleviate boredom while waiting for anything to do on the ''Heaven's Gate'' set - and took a few days off to film his scenes in the Harvard segment.[[/note]] Though this was the only part of the shoot to finish on time and on budget, Cimino was refused permission to film near Christ Church on Sunday, and had to prepare and shoot the scene in secret just after dawn before the Sunday morning services. The final production budget came to nearly $40 million, over three times the original figure.

** The first signs of trouble appeared during casting of the female lead. The male leads - Kris Kristofferson, Creator/ChristopherWalken, and Creator/JohnHurt - were more character actors than box office stars when casting began in 1979, and UA hoped that they could bolster the cast's marquee power with a high profile lead actress, but after Creator/JaneFonda and Creator/DianeKeaton rejected the role, Cimino insisted on then little-known French actress Isabelle Huppert, whose English was hesitant and heavily-accented. United Artists [[ExecutiveMeddling insisted that another actress be found]]; Cimino threatened (not for the last time) to take the film to Creator/WarnerBrothers, and UA capitulated (even afterwards, Bach at one point told Cimino ''to his face'' that his leading lady was so unappealing that the audience was going to wonder why Kristofferson and Walken "[weren't] fucking each other instead of her").

** The film killed Kris Kristofferson's career as a leading man. Throughout the '70s, he had been a major star of both films and music, balancing a successful career as a country and folk singer-songwriter with an acting career that saw him take leading roles in critically acclaimed hit films like ''Film/AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore'' and ''Film/AStarIsBorn''. After this, he never had a lead role in a hit film again, finding work only in supporting or bit roles in genre films such as the ''[[Film/BladeTrilogy Blade]]'' trilogy. He had neglected his music career during his most of his time in Hollywood and his post-''Heaven's Gate'' solo albums received middling reviews and sales. His only major hits afterward came as part of the country supergroup The Highwaymen. Interestingly, Kristofferson loves the film, and cited it as one of his favorite of his films long before the 2012 re-release of its director's cut brought critics around to the film.

* CreatorKiller: The film destroyed Creator/MichaelCimino's career, contributed to the collapse of the Creator/UnitedArtists studio, and ended the "UsefulNotes/NewHollywood" [[UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem post-studio-system]] era in which director/auteurs were [[ProtectionFromEditors given carte blanche to do pretty much whatever they wanted]]. Thus, it not only destroyed the careers of the people who created it but ended an era that produced many of the best films in history.

** Filming began at Glacier National Park in Montana in April 1979 and was expected to finish in June, with a projected release date of December 1979. However, [[PrimaDonnaDirector Cimino's almost fanatical dedication to his artistic vision for the film]] meant the shoot was five days behind schedule after just six days, and the delays and inflated costs grew from there. Getting to the filming site from the cast and crew's hotel in Kalispell took two hours each way. Many cast and crew members were on site (and on the payroll) for months just to complete a few hours of shooting. Cimino insisted on taking full advantage of the location's [[SceneryPorn natural beauty]] by shooting many scenes at twilight, scenes which could thus only be shot during a time window of a few minutes each day. Cimino [[SuperOCD also insisted on countless retakes]]; a single-second shot of Kristofferson cracking a whip took an entire day and 52 takes to film.

** Location shooting in Montana finally wrapped in October 1979,[[note]] By this point, local cars sported bumper stickers reading "To Hell with ''Heaven's Gate''", and Cimino had a very public falling out with production manager and longtime friend Charlie Okun at the wrap party.[[/note]] with only a Harvard-set prologue and Rhode Island-set epilogue to film. However, Harvard refused permission to film on campus, so the prologue was instead shot at [[{{Oxbridge}} Mansfield College, Oxford]].[[note]] Creator/JohnHurt had returned to England in a hurry after filming wrapped in Montana to honour his commitment to ''Film/TheElephantMan'' - a film for which he signed on to alleviate boredom while waiting for anything to do on the ''Heaven's Gate'' set - and took a few days off to film his scenes in the Harvard segment.[[/note]] Though this was the only part of the shoot to finish on time and on budget, Cimino was refused permission to film near Christ Church on Sunday, and had to prepare and shoot the scene in secret just after dawn before the Sunday morning services. The final production budget came to nearly $40 million, over three times the original figure.

* VindicatedByCable: The film was completely demolished by vengeful New York Times critic Vincent Canby, and became on of the biggest flops in film history. Reports about the film's TroubledProduction didn't help, either. Along came The Z Channel and restored its reputation, a little, as shown in ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405496/combined Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession]]''.

** Creator/JaneFonda and Creator/SallyField turned down the role of Ella Watson before Isabelle Huppert was cast.

* TroubledProduction: Hoo boy:
** Creator/MichaelCimino had wanted to make a film about the Johnson County War, an 1892 battle between rich Wyoming landowners and European immigrant settlers, since 1971; the good press surrounding his 1978 film ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' and its dual Oscar wins for Best Director and Best Picture finally gave Cimino the industry clout to get Creator/UnitedArtists to agree to finance the film, with initial budget estimates starting at $7.5 million but rising to $11.6 million by the time production began.
** The first signs of trouble appeared during casting of the female lead. The male leads - Kris Kristofferson, Creator/ChristopherWalken, and Creator/JohnHurt - were more character actors than box office stars when casting began in 1979, and UA hoped that they could bolster the cast's marquee power with a high profile lead actress, but after Creator/JaneFonda and Creator/DianeKeaton rejected the role, Cimino insisted on then little-known French actress Isabelle Huppert, whose English was hesitant and heavily-accented. United Artists [[ExecutiveMeddling insisted that another actress be found]]; Cimino threatened (not for the last time) to take the film to Creator/WarnerBrothers, and UA capitulated (even afterwards, Bach at one point told Cimino ''to his face'' that his leading lady was so unappealing that the audience was going to wonder why Kristofferson and Walken "[weren't] fucking each other instead of her").
** Filming began at Glacier National Park in Montana in April 1979 and was expected to finish in June, with a projected release date of December 1979. However, [[PrimaDonnaDirector Cimino's almost fanatical dedication to his artistic vision for the film]] meant the shoot was five days behind schedule after just six days, and the delays and inflated costs grew from there. Getting to the filming site from the cast and crew's hotel in Kalispell took two hours each way. Many cast and crew members were on site (and on the payroll) for months just to complete a few hours of shooting. Cimino insisted on taking full advantage of the location's [[SceneryPorn natural beauty]] by shooting many scenes at twilight, scenes which could thus only be shot during a time window of a few minutes each day. Cimino [[SuperOCD also insisted on countless retakes]]; a single-second shot of Kristofferson cracking a whip took an entire day and 52 takes to film.
** The glacial pace of filming was not the only factor in the skyrocketing costs. Upon deciding that the spacing of buildings either side of a street on an outdoor set "didn't look right", Cimino ordered ''both'' sides torn down and re-built.[[note]] A crew member even pointed out, to no avail, that it would be easier and cheaper to just tear ''one'' side down and build it twice as far back.[[/note]] A 19th-century locomotive was shipped on flatbed rail trucks from Colorado; as it was too big to fit into the modern tunnels, it had to take a longer and more expensive route to Montana. Cimino put an irrigation system in the rocky field in which the climactic battle sequence was shot so that it would be green with grass at the beginning of the battle, and red with blood at the end of it. And of the masses of footage shot by Cimino, an unusually high fraction was printed for possible inclusion in the finished film (far exceeding the part of the budget devoted to printing); ultimately, of over 1.5 million feet of exposed film, 1.3 million feet were printed, amounting to ''220 hours'' of raw footage.
** To make matters worse, Cimino's contract stated that he would not be penalised for any cost overruns incurred in completing and delivering the film for its December 1979 release date, so while costs spiralled, he was protected from breach of contract lawsuits. He clashed repeatedly with UA executives, who at several points considered simply scrapping the film, unloading it on another studio (unsurprisingly, they couldn't find any takers), or firing Cimino and replacing him.[[note]] Bach mentions approaching "A Famous Director", widely believed to be Creator/DavidLean, who refused to replace Cimino out of concern at incurring the wrath of the DGA (even his conversation with Bach was against DGA regulations, hence Bach does not name him in ''Final Cut''); Norman Jewison was also approached but declined.[[/note]]
** UA was able to cut one cost associated with Cimino, though. Wondering why they were paying so much money to rent the land they were filming on, they went to check the local tax records to find out who the owner was. [[PlayingBothSides It turned out that it was none other than Cimino himself]].
** Location shooting in Montana finally wrapped in October 1979,[[note]] By this point, local cars sported bumper stickers reading "To Hell with ''Heaven's Gate''", and Cimino had a very public falling out with production manager and longtime friend Charlie Okun at the wrap party.[[/note]] with only a Harvard-set prologue and Rhode Island-set epilogue to film. However, Harvard refused permission to film on campus, so the prologue was instead shot at [[{{Oxbridge}} Mansfield College, Oxford]].[[note]] Creator/JohnHurt had returned to England in a hurry after filming wrapped in Montana to honour his commitment to ''Film/TheElephantMan'' - a film for which he signed on to alleviate boredom while waiting for anything to do on the ''Heaven's Gate'' set - and took a few days off to film his scenes in the Harvard segment.[[/note]] Though this was the only part of the shoot to finish on time and on budget, Cimino was refused permission to film near Christ Church on Sunday, and had to prepare and shoot the scene in secret just after dawn before the Sunday morning services. The final production budget came to nearly $40 million, over three times the original figure.
** Despite Cimino's attempts at press secrecy, the film was already beginning to draw negative publicity during shooting. A freelance journalist landed a job as an extra, then sold the story about the catastrophic time and budget overruns.[[note]] Although the story did include some exaggerations; though the shoot ran behind schedule and over budget, the cast and crew were on generally friendly terms with each other throughout, but the journalist portrayed them as constantly fighting.[[/note]] With similar problems on UA's ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' fresh in the press' memories, they began dubbing ''Heaven's Gate'' "Apocalypse Next". The shoot also attracted controversy for (mostly, but not wholly, exaggerated) claims of [[NoAnimalsWereHarmed animal cruelty]], with live cockfights being filmed, livestock entrails being used for some of the gorier scenes, and a horse being killed during the filming of a special effects scene for the climactic battle sequence. The film is still on the American Humane Association's "unacceptable" list.
** The sheer volume of raw footage meant that the Christmas 1979 release date had long since become unfeasible, and the date was pushed back to Christmas 1980. Cimino [[ProtectionFromEditors changed the locks on the editing suite]] to ensure that he could cut the film his way. His work print of the film, screened for UA executives in June 1980, was a staggering ''325 minutes'' long; under threat of dismissal as director, Cimino agreed to cut the film down to 219 minutes for a trio of premieres in New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles in November 1980.
** The New York premiere was a disaster, with the audience reacting with indifference to the story and struggling to hear the dialogue, and critics, led by Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' (who, in a much-quoted review, called the film "an unqualified disaster"), tearing it to shreds. A humiliated Cimino withdrew the film before its Los Angeles premiere, announcing that he wanted to edit it further.[[note]] Contrary to rumour, Cimino made this decision himself, not at UA's command.[[/note]] He finally trimmed it down to 149 minutes for general release in April 1981; this time, the critics were not so much merciless as disappointed, and the film, the final production and promotion budget of which came to $44 million, made just $1.3 million in its opening weekend and was quickly forgotten by audiences. Although it received a more positive response in France (particularly at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival) and the UK, its worldwide gross was [[BoxOfficeBomb just under $3.5 million.]]
** The film left a veritable bloodbath of dead or dying careers in its wake. [[CreatorKiller Michael Cimino is the most noted victim]]; he only made four further films, all largely ignored by critics and audiences. [[StarDerailingRole Kris Kristofferson's leading man potential withered]], and he turned his attention back to his music career. Although the film's effect on United Artists is sometimes overstated,[[note]] The studio had already been on unsteady financial footing for much of the late 1970s, prompting many employees to jump ship to form Creator/OrionPictures; ''Heaven's Gate'' was not even UA's most expensive film, an "honour" that goes to ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''.[[/note]] it was an influential factor in its parent company, Transamerica, deciding to sell UA to [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] in 1981, ending its 62-year existence as an independent studio.[[note]] The cost overruns are also sometimes blamed for UA being unable to fund an Oscar campaign for ''Film/RagingBull'', which lost Best Director and Best Picture to Creator/RobertRedford's ''Literature/OrdinaryPeople''. ''Heaven's Gate'' itself managed just one Oscar nomination in 1981, for Art Direction (which it lost to ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'').[[/note]] [[GenreKiller Interest in Westerns also declined]] for most of the 1980s, and the film is generally credited with hastening the demise of UsefulNotes/NewHollywood and the ''auteur'' director movement.
** The reputation of ''Heaven's Gate'' has, however, improved in the years since its initial release. Cimino assembled a 216-minute "director's cut" of the film which won acclaim at film festivals in 2012, and Kris Kristofferson and Creator/JeffBridges still speak fondly of their experiences making and seeing the film.

** The first signs of trouble appeared during casting of the female lead. The male leads - Kris Kristofferson, Creator/ChristopherWalken, and Creator/JohnHurt - were more character actors than box office stars when casting began in 1979, and UA hoped that they could bolster the cast's marquee power with a high profile lead actress, but after Creator/JaneFonda and Diane Keaton rejected the role, Cimino insisted on then little-known French actress Isabelle Huppert, whose English was hesitant and heavily-accented. United Artists [[ExecutiveMeddling insisted that another actress be found]]; Cimino threatened (not for the last time) to take the film to Creator/WarnerBrothers, and UA capitulated (even afterwards, Bach at one point told Cimino ''to his face'' that his leading lady was so unappealing that the audience was going to wonder why Kristofferson and Walken "[weren't] fucking each other instead of her").

** Isabelle Huppert was cast in her first American film after achieving success in her native France and winning a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ''La Dentelliere''. Unfortunately, the film's failure derailed her chance of an international breakthrough. However, she has remained successful in France, holding the record as the most nominated actress for the César Award. She finally broke through to American audiences in 2016, with her Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated in Paul Verhoeven's ''Elle''.

** Isabelle Huppert was cast in her first American film after achieving success in her native France and winning a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ''La Dentelliere''. Unfortunately, the film's failure derailed her chance of an international breakthrough. However, she has remained successful in France, holding the record as the most nominated actress for the César Award.

* FollowUpFailure: Keep in mind that Cimino had just won ''two'' Oscars out of the ''five'' for ''Film/TheDeerHunter''.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: The cast of the film, Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, Creator/JeffBridges love the film and enjoyed their experience making it, with Kristofferson considering it his favorite film to work on.

* StarDerailingRole: The film killed Kris Kristofferson's career as a leading man. Throughout the '70s, he had been a major star of both films and music, balancing a successful career as a country and folk singer-songwriter with an acting career that saw him take leading roles in critically acclaimed hit films like ''Film/AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore'' and ''Film/AStarIsBorn''. After this, he never had a lead role in a hit film again, finding work only in supporting or bit roles in genre films such as the ''[[Film/BladeTrilogy Blade]]'' trilogy. He had neglected his music career during his most of his time in Hollywood and his post-''Heaven's Gate'' solo albums received middling reviews and sales. His only major hits afterward came as part of the country supergroup The Highwaymen. Interestingly, Kristofferson loves the film, and cited it as one of his favorite of his films long before the 2012 re-release of its director's cut brought critics around to the film.

** Creator/JaneFonda, Creator/SallyField and Creator/DianeKeaton turned down the role of Ella Watson before Isabelle Huppert was cast.

** Music/JohnWilliams was the original composer attached to the film, but left the project when the film was half a year behind schedule and he had to start composing the music for both ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' immediately after that. One studio executive claimed that Creator/EnnioMorricone was also considered.

** Creator/JaneFonda, Creator/SallyField, Creator/DianeKeaton, Creator/RaquelWelch and Ali [=MacGraw=] turned down the role of Ella Watson before Isabelle Huppert was cast.

* CaliforniaDoubling: The Harvard scenes were actually filmed in Oxford, England, as Harvard refused permission to film there.

** Cimino's directing career didn't immediately end after that, but all of his post-''Heaven's Gate'' outings were commercial failures. He had a chance of recovery, however, as not long after ''Heaven's Gate'' Cimino was offered a chance to direct (of all things) ''Film/{{Footloose}}'', under the condition that he won't exceed the budget and schedule by a single day or dollar. However, his primadonna behavior started again during pre-production, [[WhatAnIdiot and when weeks before the shooting was scheduled to begin he demanded to delay it until he rewrites the script]] ([[IdiotBall and to get $250.000 for it]]), Paramount quickly booted him. Cimino's final film before his death was 1996's ''Sunchaser''; its failure to get a wide theatrical release due to poor test screenings made him stop working on any more projects, as he died twenty years later.

** Cimino's directing career didn't immediately end after that, but all of his post-''Heaven's Gate'' outings were commercial failures. He had a chance of recovery, however, as not long after ''Heaven's Gate'' Cimino was offered a chance to direct (of all things) ''Film/{{Footloose}}'', under the condition that he won't exceed the budget and schedule by a single day or dollar. However, his primadonna behavior started again during pre-production, [[WhatAnIdiot and when weeks before the shooting was scheduled to begin he demanded to delay it until he rewrites the script]] ([[IdiotBall and to get $250.000 for it]]), Paramount quickly booted him. Cimino's final film before his death was 1996's ''Sunchaser''; its failure to get a wide theatrical release due to poor test screenings made him stop working on any more projects, as he died ten years later.

** Cimino's directing career didn't immediately end after that, but all of his post-''Heaven's Gate'' outings were commercial failures. He had a chance of recovery, however, as not long after ''Heaven's Gate'' Cimino was offered a chance to direct (of all things) ''Film/{{Footloose}}'', under the condition that he won't exceed the budget and schedule by a single day or dollar. However, his primadonna behavior started again during pre-production, [[WhatAnIdiot and when weeks before the shooting was scheduled to begin he demanded to delay it until he rewrites the script]] ([[IdiotBall and to get $250.000 for it]]), Paramount quickly booted him. Cimino's final film before his death was 1996's ''Sunchaser'', which failed to get a wide theatrical release due to poor test screenings.

* StarDerailingRole: The film killed Kris Kristofferson's career as a leading man. Throughout the '70s, he had been a major star of both films and music, balancing a successful career as a country and folk singer-songwriter with an acting career that saw him take leading roles in critically acclaimed hit films like ''Film/AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore'' and ''Film/AStarIsBorn''. After this, he never had a lead role in a hit film again, finding work only in supporting or bit roles in genre films such as the ''Film/BladeTrilogy''. He had neglected his music career during his most of his time in Hollywood and his post-''Heaven's Gate'' solo albums received middling reviews and sales. His only major hits afterward came as part of the country supergroup The Highwaymen. Interestingly, Kristofferson loves the film, and cited it as one of his favorite of his films long before the 2012 re-release of its director's cut brought critics around to the film.

** Cimino's directing career didn't immediately end after that, but all of his post-''Heaven's Gate'' outings were commercial failures. He had a chance of recovery, however, as not long after ''Heaven's Gate'' Cimino was offered a chance to direct (of all things) ''Film/{{Footloose}}'', under the condition that he won't exceed the budget and schedule by a single day or dollar. However, his primadonna behavior started again during pre-production, [[WhatAnIdiot and when weeks before the shooting was scheduled to begin he demanded to delay it until he rewrites the script]] ([[IdiotBall and to get $250.000 for it]]), Paramount quickly booted him. After 1996's ''Sunchaser'' failed to get a wide theatrical release due to poor test screenings, it was curtains for Cimino.

* StarDerailingRole: The film killed Kris Kristofferson's career as a leading man. Throughout the '70s, he had been a major star of both films and music, balancing a successful career as a country and folk singer-songwriter with an acting career that saw him take leading roles in critically acclaimed hit films like ''Film/AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore'' and ''Film/AStarIsBorn''. After this, he never had a lead role in a hit film again, finding work only in supporting or bit roles in genre films. He had neglected his music career during his most of his time in Hollywood and his post-''Heaven's Gate'' solo albums received middling reviews and sales. His only major hits afterward came as part of the country supergroup The Highwaymen. Interestingly, Kristofferson loves the film, and cited it as one of his favorite of his films long before the 2012 re-release of its director's cut brought critics around to the film.

* TheDanza: Creator/JeffBridges as John L. Bridges. Before filming Jeff learned that his great-grandfather John Bridges had been on the frontier around the same time the film was set, so he convinced Cimino to change the character's name.

* CreatorKiller: Killed Cimino's reputation and contributed to the collapse of United Artists.

* DoingItForTheArt: This was famously {{Exaggerated|Trope}} by Creator/MichaelCimino during production.

* StarDerailingRole: The film killed Kris Kristofferson's career as a leading man. He turned his attention back to his music career.

** The first signs of trouble appeared during casting of the female lead. The male leads - Kris Kristofferson, Creator/ChristopherWalken, and Creator/JohnHurt - were more character actors than box office stars when casting began in 1979, and UA hoped that they could bolster the cast's marquee power with a high profile lead actress, but after Creator/JaneFonda and Diane Keaton rejected the role, Cimino insisted on little-known French actress Creator/IsabelleHuppert, whose English was hesitant and heavily-accented. United Artists [[ExecutiveMeddling insisted that another actress be found]]; Cimino threatened (not for the last time) to take the film to Creator/WarnerBrothers, and UA capitulated (even afterwards, Bach at one point told Cimino ''to his face'' that his leading lady was so unappealing that the audience was going to wonder why Kristofferson and Walken "[weren't] fucking each other instead of her").

* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: Creator/WillemDafoe was fired just for ''laughing in the set''. This film was supposed to be his debut.

* PrimaDonnaDirector: Guess who?