Movie 43
2013 American independent comedy anthology film
Movie 43 is a 2013 American sketch comedy film conceived by producer Charles B. Wessler. Featuring fourteen different storylines, each by a different director, including Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundieff, James Duffy, Griffin Dunne, Patrik Forsberg, James Gunn, Bob Odenkirk, Brett Ratner, Will Graham, and Jonathan van Tulleken; the film stars an ensemble cast led by Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Leslie Bibb, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Josh Duhamel, Anna Faris, Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Justin Long, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Liev Schreiber, Seann William Scott, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet.
The project took almost a decade to get into production, and was eventually picked up by Relativity Media for $6 million. Filming took place over a period of several years, as casting also proved to be a challenge. Some, including George Clooney, declined to participate, while others, such as Gere, attempted to get out of the project.
Released on January 25, 2013, after having been originally slated for release on April 13, 2012, Movie 43 was panned by critics, although it was a modest commercial success, grossing $32.4 million against a budget of $6 million. Considered one of the worst films of all time, the film received three awards at the 34th Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture.
Plot
Movie 43 is a series of different, interconnected short films and sketches containing different scenes and scenarios about a washed-up producer as he pitches insane story lines featuring some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
The Pitch
Produced and directed by Peter Farrelly and written by Rocky Russo, Jeremy Sosenko, and Ricky Blitt
The film is composed of multiple comedy shorts presented through an overarching segment titled "The Pitch", in which Charlie Wessler, a mad screenwriter, is attempting to pitch a script to film executive Griffin Schraeder.
After revealing several of the stories in his script, Wessler becomes agitated when Schraeder dismisses his outrageous ideas, and he pulls a gun on him and forces him to listen to multiple other stories before making Schraeder consult his manager, Bob Mone, to purchase the film.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q548978. VIAF identifies the subject as 305310522. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013 and 2012.
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