Ishtar is a 1987 comedy film, directed by Elaine May and starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as "Rogers and Clarke", a duo of incredibly untalented lounge singers who travel to Morocco looking for work and stumble into a four-party Cold War standoff. It also starred Isabelle Adjani and Charles Grodin and was shot by Vittorio Storaro. The songs in the film were written by Paul Williams, with additional help from Hoffman and May.
The film was...
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Ishtar is a 1987 comedy film, directed by Elaine May and starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as "Rogers and Clarke", a duo of incredibly untalented lounge singers who travel to Morocco looking for work and stumble into a four-party Cold War standoff. It also starred Isabelle Adjani and Charles Grodin and was shot by Vittorio Storaro. The songs in the film were written by Paul Williams, with additional help from Hoffman and May.
The film was a notorious failure at the box office; as of 2009, it has yet to be released on DVD in North America, although it has been released in this format in Europe.
Ishtar began shooting in 21 October 1985 and wrapped on 24 March 1986. Having Oscar winners Warren Beatty (1981 - Reds) and Dustin Hoffman (1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer) in the starring roles, the filmmakers felt confident in the project. But the production was fraught with problems. Reshoots did not wrap until roughly June 1986, pushing the release date back to May 1987.
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