Even a quarter of a century later, Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal are still thrilled about their box office successes.
In memories of their collaboration in 1999 Analyze theDuring a screening at the Tribeca Festival/De Niro Con on Friday, the two shared memories of sitting at De Niro’s former restaurant, Ago, on Friday night when the film premiered. (Crystal got the biggest laugh of the night when he jokingly recalled asking De Niro what the restaurant’s name meant. He responded, “‘Ago, fuck you.'”).
Analyze the faced younger competition in Cruel intentionsthe thriller starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe, but it was much more successful. “The box office numbers came in and I was like, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God. We’re going to beat them!'” Crystal recalled. “Sharing that with that man was one of the greatest nights of my life. We made that film together and loved working together and created something that people here still enjoy and laugh at 25 years later.”
The film’s box office gross of $18 million was a record for both stars at the time, and the final total was $177 million.
De Niro said he was not overly nervous about the commercial outcome, but acknowledged: “The fact that the film is doing well means that people are seeing it. So that is synonymous with that. … I wasn’t worried about it. I just had a nice premiere party and then I heard that the film did quite well. Of course we were happy about that. It reached a level that we didn’t expect.”
The film was directed by Harold Ramis and produced by De Niro’s longtime producing partner and co-founder of the Tribeca Festival, Jane Rosenthal, along with Paula Weinstein, who served as an executive at Tribeca for many years until 2023. Weinstein died earlier this year.
Much of the conversation at Tribeca revolved around the development of the film, which was originally written by Kenneth Lonergan, who eventually shared the screenplay with Peter Tolan. Crystal recalled how she got the script and Tolan helped to beef it up. “We took turns playing” De Niro, who was her only choice for the role of mob boss Paul Vitti. Many twists and turns followed and this was the pre-Meet the Bride, Her Father and Me, De Niro having played roles with a dash of comedy in Midnight Run And King of Comedy However, he had not yet presented himself to the audience as a fully-fledged comedy actor.
When his co-star agreed, Crystal was overjoyed but also intimidated. “Bob has this incredible method and I don’t,” he joked.
Moderator Gayle King emphasized the similarity of the film’s plot to that of The Sopranoswhich premiered later in 1999. “People think you copied The Sopranosbut you were out much earlier,” she remarked.
Crystal said Billy Wilder had the idea of showing a gangster visiting a therapist as early as 1939, but he ultimately did not make a film based on the idea. He also noted that The Sopranos referenced Analyze the during an episode, but Tony’s camera crew emphasizes: “But this is a comedy!”
Although the 25th anniversary is a milestone, Crystal said he had an attractive offer for Friday night. “I was invited to an audience with the Pope today,” he said, noting that a large group of comedians had received the invitation. “They called me 10 days ago and I said, ‘I can’t because I’m at My Pope’,” Crystal smiled,