20 Years Ago This Heath Ledger And Matt Damon Fantasy Movie Turned Into a Historic Box Office Bomb

Thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), August has become a go-to place to launch some of the biggest summer movies of all time, including Suicide Squad, Crazy Rich Asians, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, It Ends With Us, and so many more. However, there was a time when August was seen as largely a burn-off month for theatrical moviegoing. This was a space where, save for the occasional Signs or The Bourne Ultimatum, less promising tentpoles went to quietly die.

For proof of this reality, look no further than August 2005. Two months earlier, new Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg titles had opened in the marketplace. July, meanwhile, belonged to Wedding Crashers and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Save for The 40-Year-Old Virgin, August 2005’s only major hit was The Dukes of Hazzard. It also housed some memorable box office misfires, including The Brothers Grimm, which couldn’t ride the star power of Matt Damon and Heath Ledger to financial success.

What Was The Brothers Grimm?

Real-life fairy tale authors Will (Damon) and Jake Grimm (Heath Ledger) are reimagined for director Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Ehren Kruger’s The Brothers Grimm as shrewd 19th-century hucksters. They travel from town to town, thwarting supposed “curses” that they concoct. Everything changes when the fellows associated with famous fairy tales are brought face-to-face with real magic.

This expensive title (which cost over $80 million to produce) was significantly costlier than a usual movie for filmmaker Terry Gilliam, a man usually known for cult classics like Brazil, not pricey summertime tentpoles. It was also a major foray into mainstream blockbusters for Ledger, while The Brothers Grimm’s financiers were undoubtedly hoping some of the box office glories of Damon’s Bourne movies would rub off on this fantasy title. Unfortunately, The Brothers Grimm was a deeply cursed production, much like many titles helmed by Gilliam.

The Brothers Grimm was partially financed by Dimension Films, a label belonging to Harvey and Bob Weinstein. This duo is infamous for suffocating filmmakers and Gilliam’s Grimm experience was no different. Even when this title was coming out back in 2005, the director openly discussed how these studio executives adversely impacted his creative process during principal photography. Further toxicity surrounded its reputation when Dimension Films began constantly pushing the film’s release date around before settling on its final August 2005 launchpad. There was just no end to the problems suffered by this fantasy feature.

What Happened To The Brothers Grimm In The Long-Term?

Inevitably, The Brothers Grimm bombed at the box office, grossing $105.3 million worldwide. That included a pitiful $37.91 million in North America, putting Grimm at the back of that summer’s pack of big-budget movies in terms of domestic grosses. Damon and Ledger would quickly move on to better things after this flop, with the latter performer headlining Brokeback Mountain later that year. After his magnificent turn in that film, nobody even remembered The Brothers Grimm.

Some of Gilliam’s box office flops have later gone on to garner incredible cult followings that keep them alive forever. That certainly wasn’t the cast with Brothers Grimm. Like his other 2005 directorial effort, Tideland, Brothers Grimm has largely vanished from the cultural consciousness. A deluge of further post-modern tweakings of fairy tales (like Alice in Wonderland, Red Riding Hood, Snow White & The Huntsman, etc.) coming out a few years after their release has further pushed Grimm out of people’s memories. Those other self-aware live-action fairy tale films take precedent in pop culture, not a box office bomb that came out too soon to be part of a larger trend.

Part of that outcome is the result of making major movies in the tentpole space. If Brothers Grimm had been a scrappy indie full of jagged flaws and bold swings, it totally could’ve been a beloved cult favorite 20 years later. As a misbegotten attempt at a crowdpleaser blockbuster, though, it’s too tidy to stir up feelings of passion in moviegoers. Plus, the feature provides another chance to appreciate the immense talents of Heath Ledger, a man radiating movie star charms even in box office misfires.

The Brothers Grimm is now streaming on Pluto TV.