Remo Williams' Ending Was Supposed to Be Bigger — But They Ran Out of Money
Back in 1985, Orion Pictures thought they had the next big action franchise on their hands.
They adapted The Destroyer pulp novels into a would-be blockbuster called Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, marketing it as a red, white, and blue-collar James Bond. Spoiler: the adventure ended right there.
The movie opened in October 1985 at #4 at the box office, pulling in $3.3 million on its first weekend. By the end of its run, it had grossed just $14.3 million domestically — a weak showing against its reported $40 million budget, though that figure isn't fully confirmed. Even with VHS sales and rentals, the movie was a financial flop.
But the part that stings the most? The ending. One of the film's screenwriters revealed that the original script featured a much bigger, action-packed finale, but they had to scrap it — they simply didn't have the budget to pull it off. Instead, the film ends on a quieter note, which fans have long pointed out feels anticlimactic, especially compared to the standout Statue of Liberty fight in the middle of the movie.
And there were other regrets, too. The same screenwriter said he wasn't sold on Fred Ward as the lead, admitting he'd have preferred Ed Harris in the role of Remo Williams. According to him, Ward just didn't have the leading man presence needed to launch a franchise.
Here's how the numbers shook out:
- Opening Weekend: $3.3 million
- Total Domestic Gross: $14.3 million
- Estimated Production Budget: $40 million
- Planned sequels: 0
For Orion, this was supposed to be a multi-film series, but the box office made that impossible. The awkward, scaled-back ending didn't help either — it made the whole film feel like a prologue to something bigger that never came.
That's part of why Remo Williams holds such a strange place in 80s cinema: it had the ingredients for a cult action series — pulpy source material, outlandish stunts, a secret government agency, and a hero trained in mystical martial arts — but it tripped on the landing.
In hindsight, it's easy to see how the unfinished ending doomed the film's franchise hopes. Audiences didn't get the big payoff they were primed for, and Orion didn't have the money — or confidence — to keep going.
What's left is a film that still has fans, particularly for its practical stunts and that memorable mid-movie fight, but also a nagging "what if" around what could've been — if only the money hadn't run out first.