History Trivia / RichardJewell

* UnderminedByReality: The film is a {{Biopic}} about how the titular security guard had to deal with the American media falsely accusing him of planting a bomb during the 1996 Olympics and showing the dangers of the media spreading false information about individuals. However, the movie itself falsely portrays real life journalist Kathy Scruggs as an ImmoralJournalist who actively seduces and sleeps with FBI agents for information, something there is absolutely zero evidence for in reality. Pretty much every critic noted that this severely undermines the intended message.

* AcclaimedFlop: While ''Richard Jewell'' received positive reviews and Kathy Bates even scored an Oscar nomination, it grossed only $43.7 million on a $45 million budget.
* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $45 million. Total worldwide gross: about $43 million. The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy''). The low returns are attributed to the film's controversy over its HistoricalVillainUpgrade of Kathy Scruggs and competition from other films like ''Film/KnivesOut'', ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', and ''Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel''.

* UnderminedByReality: The film's main message about the dangers of spreading false information about someone is undermined by the fact the movie falsely portrays Kathy Scruggs as an ImmoralJournalist who sleeps with an FBI agent to get information from him for her stories about Jewell.

** Creator/PaulGreengrass and later Ezra Edelman (of ''Film/OJMadeInAmerica'') were attached to direct before Clint Eastwood came aboard.

* CreatorBacklash: After the controversy over the film falsely portraying Kathy Scruggs as trading sex for story tips, Olivia Wilde[[note]]Herself the daughter of two journalists[[/note]] stated she doesn’t think it happened and had no control over that part of the film.

** Creator/PaulGreengrass and later [[Film/OJMadeInAmerica Ezra Edelman]] were attached to direct before Clint Eastwood came aboard.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $45 million. Total worldwide gross thus far: about $43 million. The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy''). The low returns are attributed to the film's controversy over its ArtisticLicense and competition from other films like ''Film/KnivesOut'', ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', and ''Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel''.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $45 million. Total worldwide gross thus far: about $31 million. The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy''). The low returns are attributed to the film's controversy over its ArtisticLicense and competition from other films like ''Film/KnivesOut'', ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', and ''Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel''.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $45 million. Total worldwide gross thus far: about $31 million. The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy''). The low returns are attributed to the film's controversy over its ArtisticLicense and competition from other films like Film/KnivesOut, WesternAnimation/FrozenII, and Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $45 million. Total worldwide gross thus far: about $31 million. The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy''). It's not as much an AcclaimedFlop given the ArtisticLicense led to mixed responses.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $45 million. Total worldwide gross thus far: about $18 million. The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy'').

** Originally, Creator/JonahHill and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio were going to play Jewell and his attorney. Both are still listed as Producers on the final film.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $45 million. Total worldwide gross thus far: about $18 million. The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy''), undoubtedly due to the Kathy Scruggs controversy.

* BoxOfficeBomb: The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades (his all time worst is 1980's ''Bronco Billy''), undoubtedly due to the Kathy Scruggs controversy.

* ChannelHop: Originally in the works at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, it got caught up in the studio's acquisition by Creator/{{Disney}}, who handed the film over to Creator/WarnerBros before filming started.

** I wouldn't be so sure, the opening weekend is over the Christmas holidays. It's not an escapist movie but is directly competing with films that are.

* BoxOfficeBomb: The film had the worst opening weekend performance for Clint Eastwood in nearly four decades, undoubtedly due to the Kathy Scruggs controversy.

* CreatorBacklash: After the controversy over the film falsely portraying Kathy Scruggs as trading sex for story tips, Olivia Wilde[[note]]Herself the daughter of two journalists[[/note]] stated she doesn’t think it happened and had no control over that part of the film.

* CreatorBacklash: After the controversy over the film falsely portraying Kathy Scruggs as trading sex for story tips, Olivia Wilde[[note]]Herself the daughter of two journalists[[/note]]stated she doesn’t think it happened and had no control over that part of the film.