Christian Bale is among the A-listers of the Hollywood industry. He is known for his method acting and dedication to all his roles. Some of his classic roles are in movies like The Dark Knight Trilogy, American Psycho, The Machinist, Ford v Ferrari, and others. The star won the Academy Award for The Fighter, which proves he is truly a notable actor. However, his first protagonist role was not at all as he expected.
The actor received his first lead role in Disney’s musical film, which turned out to be a theatrical disaster. The film failed miserably at the box office, yet helped the actor gain a cult following.
Christian Bale’s musical Newsies was a box-office failure
Bale was just starting out when he was offered the starring role in the Disney film Newsies. Hence, the actor said yes without hesitation. The original script was written as a period piece that focussed on the newsboys’ strike of 1899. In the film, Bale played the character of the leader of the boys, who caused the newsboys to strike to get fair wages. The film was expected to be successful, however, issues started cropping up when it was converted into a musical.
Christian Bale was not a trained singer or dancer, hence, the actor was uncomfortable in his new role.
David Moscow, Bale’s co-star shared,
“This was their big hope that musicals were going to come back.”
Moscow added,
“They had to calm both me and Christian down, like, ‘Look, we’re never going to make you look bad. We have so much rehearsal time.’ They brought in Madonna’s voice coach for us. It was wild.”
However, weeks of training could not produce the desirable results. Specific camera angles were used for Christian Bale, so the audience could not see the poor dancing of the actor. Numerous other issues also cropped up like the budget drying up, the music not being catchy, etc.
Newsies only grossed a total of $2.8 million during its theater run, against a budget of $15 million. It became one of the biggest box office disasters in the history of Hollywood.
Christian Bale became A Cult Classic Star with Newsies
Christian Bale’s film failed at the box office, however, it gained a cult following over the years. The fans of the film are called Fansies. Several people have rented the film repeatedly in the past years, which helped the actor earn a cult following.
The cult status of the film even helped the box office flop musical become a Broadway hit, two decades after the release of the film.
The Dark Knight star has not seen Newsies on Broadway as he is not a fan of musicals. However, the actor was happy that the story of newsboys was finally getting the success it deserved.
Christian Bale shared with Entertainment Weekly,
“These things never make any sense. I’m incredibly happy for them. They’re having the success our movie never had.”
He added,
“I’m not really into musicals. But I wish them the best. And I’m sure the person playing the character I played exceeded whatever I did, and congratulations to them.”
Christian Bale was last seen in the Marvel film Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022.
Newsies is available for streaming on Disney+.
Source- Entertainment Weekly
