Ruthless People
Ruthless People is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and written by Dale Launer. It stars Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Anita Morris, and Helen Slater, with Bill Pullman in a supporting role in his film debut. The film is the story of a couple who kidnap their ex-boss's wife to get revenge and extort money from him. They soon realize he does not want her back and was planning to kill her himself. Meanwhile, the boss's mistress plans a blackmail attempt on him, which also fails to go as planned.
| Ruthless People | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jim Abrahams David Zucker Jerry Zucker |
| Written by | Dale Launer |
| Produced by | Michael Peyser |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jan de Bont |
| Edited by | Gib Jaffe Arthur Schmidt |
| Music by | Michel Colombier Charlie Midnight |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9-13 million |
| Box office | $71.6 million |
The film was a critical and commercial success. This was the last film released under the Touchstone Films label before Walt Disney Studios changed the name of the label to Touchstone Pictures as well as the last film directed by the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker trio together before the three went their separate ways.