At Tribeca’s ‘A Bronx Tale’ Celebration, Robert De Niro Gets Honest About His Directorial Debut’s Low Box Office: ‘I Never Got Asked to Do Movies After That’
variety.comWilliam Earl Robert De Niro worked the crowd at the Beacon Theater during the Tribeca Festival closing gala on Saturday evening, which served as a 30th anniversary celebration of his directorial debut, “A Bronx Tale.” When asked about the film’s mild box office — earning about $17 million on a $21 million production budget — the director said, “How could you not be disappointed?
You do all this work for it. At the same time, I was lucky to be able to make the movie I made.” De Niro also admitted that “I never got asked to do movies after that,” and it was an effort to get his next directorial effort, 2006’s “The Good Shepherd,” made. “That was another uphill battle,” he said.
Following a screening of the film, De Niro, who also starred in and produced the film, discussed the project with writer and co-star Chazz Palminteri in a conversation moderated by The New Yorker’s David Remnick.
De Niro said that, despite the rough fiscal opening, he has appreciated the cultural impact the film has held over the years, including some of his biggest collaborations with Martin Scorsese. “Other movies are the same way,” he said. “With Marty, even ‘Raging Bull,’ you do the movie because you really love it and you know it’s what you want to do because you feel it has to be done.
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