Animal House

Most Hollywood studios turned the script down. At Universal, executive Ned Tanen hated the idea, and by the writers' account the material went further than Universal expected or wanted. Younger executives Sean Daniel and Thom Mount pushed it through and it was greenlit for 3 million dollars. One producer remembered the reasoning: it is a silly little movie, we will make a couple of bucks if we are lucky, let them do whatever they want. The cast economics are their own story. John Belushi was paid 35,000 dollars up front. Donald Sutherland, brought in to lend the production credibility, chose a guaranteed 25,000 over 2 percent of the gross, a decision that cost him roughly 14 million dollars. The University of Missouri agreed to host the shoot and then withdrew after president Herbert W. Schooling read the script. Oregon's president William Beaty Boyd said yes, remembering that Berkeley had passed on The Graduate, and charged 20,000 dollars for campus access. The 3 million dollar budget turned into 141.6 million. The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 2001. Who it is for: anyone who wants the first and most destructive campus comedy. Who it is not for: viewers who will find several scenes indefensible now. They will be right.