It’s one of the highest-rated movies of all time, and it owes its success to a man few know.

This year marks 30 years since Les Evadés was released in the United States. Still considered one of the greatest films of all time on AlloCiné with an average audience rating of 4.5 out of 5, it is often cited as one of those feature films you see at least once in a lifetime on most movies. But to what does he owe this success that continues year after year?

For Tim Robbins, who co-starred in the film with Morgan Freeman, there are two reasons why Les Escapedes found its audience and he trusted them. term :

2 reasons for success

“When it came out, we got good reviews, it was nominated for an Oscar, but no one went to see it. It was VHS and Turner, who played it on his TV channel, that changed everything. It’s a lovely person. It remains at the top of the greatest films of all time, so , I know whether it will be successful or not, than the public 15 or 20 years.”

Ted Turner is the founder of CNN and in 1994 he created the channel “Turner Classic Movies”, better known as TCM, broadcasting films from Warner and MGM released before 1986, which contributed to the rediscovery of the cinema of the past by the American public. who subscribes to cable television. . Over time and with mergers/acquisitions, TCM will pick up the newest movies and give them very good exposure.

failure at the box office

The Escapees tells the story of the arrest of Andy (Robbins), a banker unjustly convicted of murder, and how he will try to escape with the help of his colleague named Red (Freeman).

The film was a complete failure upon release, barely grossing $28.3 million in the US and barely surpassing 200,000 admissions in France. Therefore, it is the video and TV market that will give it another chance, as streaming platforms do today.

The latter does not sit well with Tim Robbins, because while he emphasizes that certain good films will survive the years thanks to the audience, he is not so optimistic about the future of new creations on Netflix, for example: “If you go to Netflix now, see what’s new and that’s the future of cinema, we’re in big trouble.”

What do you think of his analysis? Have you seen and rated Les Evadés on AlloCiné? It’s up to you to say!