"Barton Fink is a 1991 American film, written, directed, and produced by the Coen brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a movie studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie, the insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle. The Coens wrote the screenplay in three weeks while experiencing difficulty during the writing of another film, Miller's Crossing. Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1991, Barton Fink won the Palme d'Or, as well as awards for Best Director and Best Actor (Turturro). Although it was celebrated almost universally by critics and nominated for three Academy Awards, the movie grossed only $6,000,000 at the box office, two-thirds of its estimated budget."
From Wikipedia's front-page featured article on 08/13/2013
The Frustrated CFO commentary:
You see, it has always been like that in the cinema production - you either make art or you make money. Sometimes, you go for art and hit the gold vein, e.g. Pulp Fiction ($8 million budget, $213 million gross). It's rare and you have to take big risks. But no one has better economic instincts than Hollywood honchos: they feel in their guts that the money wells are drying out, and they will do anything to keep their mansions, jets, and trophy wives. So, forget risks and forget art; hello meaningless 3D bullshit easily digestible by the billions in China, Russia, and Middle America.
The Frustrated CFO 