On the morning of June 11, 1988, Michael Eisner sat in his sun-drenched office in Burbank, surrounded by a mountain of newsprint. Spread across his desk were the early weekend box office tallies from the major markets and a thick stack of reviews from every major paper in the country.
The critical consensus was staggering. Nearly 95 percent of critics had turned in glowing reviews, hailing the film as more than just a box-office triumph; but as an enduring masterpiece in the cinematic pantheon.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times led the charge, calling it an "enchantingly cracked fairy tale" that managed to be a sly parody of sword-and-sorcery epics while remaining a sincere, heart-tugging romance. She noted that while much of the success rested on its lead—praising how Alex Hayes delivered a performance of remarkable texture and an English accent so seamless it stripped away the contemporary movie-star veneer—the film's true strength lay in its perfectly calibrated ensemble. The triumph was as much about the supporting cast as it was the central romance.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded it four stars, focusing on the film's universal appeal. He wrote that while younger viewers would sit spellbound by the thrills, adults would be smitten by the witty, self-aware dialogue. Ebert specifically praised the supporting cast, noting that Mandy Patinkin's portrayal of the vengeful swordsman Inigo Montoya was a revelation, blending fierce athleticism with a deeply sympathetic undercurrent. He also highlighted Robin Wright, whose performance as Princess Buttercup brought a natural grace and radiant sincerity that elevated her far beyond the typical "damsel in distress."
Variety echoed this, noting the film's brilliance lay in its ability to cater to every demographic, from children who would adore André the Giant's gentle, rhyming Fezzik to the youth who would marvel at the technical fencing.
The most telling statistic is from CinemaScore. The film had earned a rare A+, the highest grade of Alex's career and a feat achieved by fewer than one percent of major releases.
Eisner was jubilant looking at box office figures. Including the Thursday night previews, The Princess Bride had grossed a staggering $9.8 million on its first day. While it hadn't topped the all-time record of $14.1 million set by Top Gun, it was the highest single-day gross of 1988 so far.
Eisner turned to his right-hand man and President of the Walt Disney Company, Frank Wells. "Frank, look at these exit polls. I want the foot all the way down. Tell Katzenberg to ensure this film gets every bit of publicity it needs. Double the saturation on ABC. I want everyone in America to know this is the film they can't miss."
The Disney machine shifted into high gear, and the result was a total weekend landslide. The film grossed $9.2 million on Saturday and held remarkably strong with $8.8 million on Sunday. This brought the three-day total to a massive $27.8 million, making it the biggest opening weekend of 1988, surpassing the previous record held by Crocodile Dundee II ($24.4 million).
Coming in at second place was Paramount's Crocodile Dundee II, starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski. The sequel, which followed the Australian bushman taking on a Colombian cartel to rescue his girlfriend, pulled in $8.5 million, finally being dethroned from the top spot in its third weekend.
In third place was 20th Century Fox's Big, which grossed $7.9 million. Starring Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins, the high-concept comedy about a twelve-year-old boy who wakes up in the body of a thirty-year-old man was a critical darling, but it couldn't match the broad, multi-generational draw of Florin.
Fourth place saw another Disney win with Big Business earning $6.1 million. The comedy, starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin as two sets of identical twins mismatched at birth, gave the studio a rare double-presence in the top five.
Rounding out the list at number five was The Presidio, a gritty crime thriller starring Sean Connery, Mark Harmon, and Meg Ryan, which brought in $5.1 million.
The momentum didn't stop when the weekend ended. Between Monday, June 13, and Thursday, June 16, The Princess Bride continued its relentless march, grossing a phenomenal $18.4 million over those four days.
This brought the total ten-day domestic collection to a staggering $46.2 million.
Meanwhile, the romantic-comedy sensation Moonstruck finally concluded its theatrical run. The film finished with a domestic gross of $132.3 million and an additional $93.4 million from foreign markets.
Against a modest production budget of $18 million, the film reached a staggering worldwide total of $225.7 million. This represented a massive Return on Investment (ROI) of approximately 1,154%.
The financial footprint of Alex Hayes's career by the summer of 1988 was nothing short of a Hollywood anomaly. Across his sixteen completed feature films that completed their theatrical run, Alex Hayes had maintained a level of commercial efficiency that defied the standard laws of the film industry.
Cumulatively, the sixteen films were produced for a combined total budget of $140 million. In return, these projects generated a staggering total domestic box office of $1.831 billion and a total worldwide gross of $2.867 billion. This global reach was bolstered significantly by the international market, where his films commanded a total international (overseas) box office of $1.036 billion, proving that his appeal translated across every border.
On a per-film basis, Alex operated on an average budget of just $8.75 million per project, yet he delivered an average domestic return of $114.44 million and an average worldwide collection of $179.19 million. His international performance remained consistent, contributing an average of $64.75 million in overseas receipts for every title he headlined.
Crucially, his international market is still in a state of rapid growth. While his earliest films saw negligible overseas returns, his recent trajectory shows a massive global ascent. With Top Gun pulling in a colossal $261 million internationally and Moonstruck adding another $93.4 million.
The most significant metric of his success, however, was the staggering Return on Investment (ROI). Alex Hayes's filmography boasted an average ROI of 2,311.27%. In an era where a "three-to-one" return was considered the gold standard for success, the scale of the profits generated by Alex's projects was wholly unprecedented, fundamentally rewriting the industry's expectations for financial performance.
With the massive momentum of The Princess Bride—which is currently dominating the box office—Alex is now firmly on his way to crossing the historic $3 billion worldwide mark. This is a milestone that most studios hadn't reached in their entire histories, let alone a single actor in less than a decade. It remains the ultimate validation of his popularity: a mathematical certainty that wherever Alex Hayes goes, the audience—and the money—will follow.
While the industry remained fixated on the unprecedented triumph of his latest film, the man at the center of the storm had already moved on, exchanging the warm sunlight of Los Angeles for the heavy, oppressive humidity of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
As he stepped onto the location for the first day of Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Alex realized that while he had successfully outrun the paparazzi, the shadow of his own stature was impossible to leave behind. Steven Soderbergh, the twenty-five-year-old director, had leaned into this tension by keeping Alex entirely isolated during pre-production. While the other actors had practiced their scenes and forged a rapport, Alex had remained a calculated enigma—a deliberate choice by Soderbergh to ensure that when the characters finally encountered Graham Dalton for the first time, the distance would feel authentic.
The resulting atmosphere on set was thick with a quiet, restless energy. A palpable stiffness greeted Alex when he finally arrived on set. The irony was sharp: at twenty-four, he was the youngest person in the principal cast, yet he was the gravitational force everyone orbited with bated breath.
For his co-stars—all of whom were older than him—this was far more than just another job; it was the definitive "big break" of their careers. Peter Gallagher (32), Andie MacDowell (30), and Laura San Giacomo (25) understood that sharing a marquee with Alex Hayes offered a level of visibility they had never previously experienced. However, that opportunity brought with it a paralyzing degree of pressure.
He could see the effect of his reputation in the way Peter stood a fraction too straight, the way Andie's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and the guarded, watchful silence of Laura.
He knew it would take time for them to see him as a fellow actor rather than a celebrity. He would have to prove, hour by hour and take by take, that he was simply a collaborator in the trenches alongside them. There were no shortcuts to that kind of comfort; it had to be earned through the work itself.
But for now, enough thinking. The Louisiana sun was climbing, the camera was ready, and it was time to film.