Every actor has a few missteps in their filmography—movies that, despite their hard work, didn’t perform well at the box office and received poor reviews from critics.
However, not many can say they were part of a film so tumultuous that it wasn’t seen for 38 years after its initial creation.
Interestingly, George Clooney can add this to his list of achievements, alongside winning two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and a BAFTA.
It’s uncertain what Clooney anticipated when he agreed to participate in the 1983 film, which can be described as a poorly made sequel with a plot similar to “Jaws,” but with an animatronic bear terrorizing people instead of a shark.
At the time, Clooney, then 22, likely saw it as an opportunity for a paycheck and a chance to travel behind the Iron Curtain for a vacation in communist Hungary, long before his breakthrough role in “ER.”
The same could probably be said for his fellow young actors, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen, who joined Clooney in Budapest for a film that wouldn’t be released until 2020.
For these three, the horror movie titled “Grizzly II: Revenge” seemed like it could be a stepping stone in their careers, with this film marking the first for Clooney and Sheen, and being Dern’s first project since gaining independence from her parents at age 16.
Despite this, the film remained unseen for decades as its cast members rose to fame with major hits like “Platoon,” “Jurassic Park,” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
A series of unfortunate events plagued the production, from the 16-foot mechanical bear being damaged by rain to escalating expenses and dwindling funds.
Initially, they only managed to film a few seconds of bear footage and scenes with actors reacting to the bear’s absence.
“It’s hard to sell a movie called ‘Grizzly II’ without a bear in it,” noted screenwriter and producer David Sheldon.
The bad luck continued for the production when Hungarian officials seized the animatronic bears due to unpaid debts. A warehouse fire eventually destroyed these costly props before they could be used.
After returning to Hollywood, efforts to sell the film to distributors were unsuccessful, with “Platoon” producer Arnold Kopelson deeming it a ‘disaster,’ leading to it being shelved.
However, after years of speculation about this unreleased movie featuring three future stars, “Grizzly II” finally premiered at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival in 2020.
When interviewed by AV Club, Dern shared her experience filming the project with Clooney and Sheen, and why the group of young actors took on the roles.
Dern remarked: “Well, either way, I’ve never seen it, I can tell you that. The last I heard from George Clooney, who is also one of the cast members in the film, is that the whole movie is all of 40 minutes long, and no one’s ever actually seen it. It’s not even really long enough to call it a movie.”
While the re-edited version is actually 76 minutes long, the major cast can be excused for not being too concerned, as their main interest seemed to be the experience.
“The only thing I can say about it… I mean, I’m 16 years old, it’s six weeks in Budapest, Hungary, at the exact second Communism is ending, and it’s me, George Clooney, and Charlie Sheen,” Dern explained.
“That’s all I’m gonna say. I’m not gonna say another damned thing. [Laughs.] Except that it was the craziest time. And the paprika chicken was outstanding.”
Since its release on streaming platforms, “Grizzly II” has achieved a notably low rating of eight percent on Rotten Tomatoes.