Why Clint Eastwood’s Brutal World War 2 Movie Flopped in America

Fresh off his second Oscar win for Best Director, Clint Eastwood embarked on an ambitious journey with his World War 2 epic, Letters from Iwo Jima. Despite the hype around the film and its companion piece, Flags of Our Fathers, the films underperformed at the box office and received mixed responses.

Eastwood experimented with the genre by showing two perspectives of the same war, which at the time was appreciated. However, many factors contributed to Letters from Iwo Jima’s underperformance at the box office in America, with its language being the primary concern.

Letters From Iwo Jima Had Another Clint Eastwood Movie To Compete With

Clint Eastwood won his second Oscar for Million Dollar Baby and immediately began to work on an ambitious project. The filmmaker hoped to present two sides of the Battle of Iwo Jima: one from the American perspective and the other from the Japanese. The resulting companion films were Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.

While both were critically acclaimed, they had only a decent run at the box office. Letters from Iwo Jima had a relatively better performance, earning $68.7 million against a $19 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), while Flags of Our Fathers earned $65.9 million against a $90 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).

With a collective budget of $109 million, the earnings of both movies turned them decently profitable, but they were not blockbusters. Flags of Our Fathers was overshadowed by Letters from Iwo Jima at the box office, with the former drawing controversy from Spike Lee, who criticized Eastwood for not including Black soldiers in the movie (via The Guardian).

Despite positive reviews from critics, Flags of Our Fathers did not fare well at the awards circuit, mostly due to Letters from Iwo Jima being placed at the center. The latter was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Sound Editing, winning in the last category.

Clint Eastwood’s Experiment Ultimately Did Not Resonate With American Fans

While it may seem like Letters from Iwo Jima was a hit, especially with its box office performance being better than its companion piece, Flags of Our Fathers, the film did not fare too well in the USA. In fact, the bulk of its box office results were from the international markets, especially Japan, where the film earned $42.9 million (via Box Office Mojo).

Many appreciated Clint Eastwood for portraying the good and evil sides of both parties in the war, especially his portrayal of Japan, which was considered more human and accurate than previous films. Critics also appreciated the hiring of actual Japanese actors like Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya (via History News Network).

The factors that made the film favorable to Japanese audiences, such as the accurate language and setting, might be the reason why it did not fare well at the American box office. Letters from Iwo Jima was filmed primarily in Japanese, with only a few English-language sequences. While a dubbed version was released, it still did not have the same impact.

Film	Box Office	Critics’ Score
Flags of Our Fathers	65.9 million	76% (via RT)
Letters from Iwo Jima	68.7 million	91% (via RT)

Which of Eastwood’s companion pieces worked better for you? Comment below.