Editing The Great Santini (section)

==Release==
[[Warner Bros.]] executives were concerned that the film's plot and lack of bankable actors would make it challenging to market. It premiered in Beaufort in August 1979 and was soon released to empty cinemas in North Carolina and South Carolina. Believing the film's title, which implied it was about circus stunts, was the problem, it was tested with other titles: ''Sons and Heroes'' in [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]], ''Reaching Out'' in [[Rockford, Illinois]], and ''The Ace'' in [[Peoria, Illinois]]. As it tested better in Peoria, ''The Ace'' stuck. Even with its new title, the film performed poorly. [[Orion Pictures]] pulled the film and sold cable rights to [[HBO]] and airline rights to recoup its losses.<ref name="tini" />

Producer Charles A. Pratt still believed in the film and raised enough money (some from Orion) to release ''The Great Santini'' in New York City under its original title. It received positive reviews, and business was steady. Two weeks later, it debuted on HBO, and audiences stopped coming. Orion executive [[Mike Medavoy]] blamed the film's box-office failure on a lack of a traditional release: screening it first in New York and expanding markets due to word-of-mouth.<ref name="tini">{{cite book| last1= Medavoy| first1= Mike |author-link1=Mike Medavoy | last2= Young| first2= Josh |year= 2002| title= You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot| pages= 105–107| place= [[New York City]]| publisher= [[Atria Books]]}}</ref>

===Critical reception===
The film was well received by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 95% rating based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/great_santini/ | title=The Great Santini (1979) | work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] | publisher=[[Flixster]] | access-date=August 19, 2021}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' wrote: "Like almost all my favorite films, ''The Great Santini'' is about people more than it is about a story. It's a study of several characters, most unforgettably the Great Santini himself, played by Robert Duvall&nbsp;... There are moments so unpredictable and yet so natural they feel just like the spontaneity of life itself."<ref>{{cite web| first= Roger| last= Ebert| author-link= Roger Ebert| date= January 1, 1980| url= http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-great-santini-1980| work= [[Chicago Sun-Times]]| title= The Great Santini| access-date= May 29, 2019}}</ref> [[John Simon (critic)|John Simon]] of ''[[National Review]]'' wrote that ''The Great Santini'' was "an uneven achievement that nevertheless contains enough of value to justify catching it".<ref>{{cite book |title=Reverse Angle: A Decade of American Film |last=Simon |first=John |author-link=John Simon (critic) |publisher=Crown Publishers Inc. |year=1982 |page=412}}</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[53rd Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Robert Duvall]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981 |title=The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=October 7, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110111156/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981 |archive-date=November 10, 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Michael O'Keefe]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[38th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor|New Star of the Year – Actor]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/great-santini |title=The Great Santini |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Kansas City Film Critics Circle|Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| Best Actor
| rowspan="2"| Robert Duvall
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://kcfcc.org/kcfcc-award-winners-1980-89/ |title=KCFCC Award Winners – 1980-89 |publisher=[[Kansas City Film Critics Circle]] |date=December 14, 2013 |access-date=July 10, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Montreal World Film Festival]]
| Best Actor
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1980|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|6th Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1980/ |title=1980 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[1980 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| rowspan="2"| Robert Duvall
| {{draw|3rd Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |publisher=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |date=December 19, 2009 |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[1980 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| {{runner-up}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1980 |title=1980 New York Film Critics Circle Awards |publisher=[[New York Film Critics Circle]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[33rd Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Drama – Adapted from Another Medium]]
| [[Lewis John Carlino]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |title=Awards Winners |publisher=[[Writers Guild of America Awards]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |archive-date=December 5, 2012 |access-date=June 6, 2010}}</ref>
|}