At Tribeca’s ‘A Bronx Tale’ Celebration, Robert De Niro Gets Honest About His Directorial Debut’s Low Box Office: ‘I Never Got Asked to Do Movies After That’
William Earl Robert De Niro worked the crowd at the Beacon Theater during the Tribeca Festival closing gala on Saturday evening, which served as a 30th anniversary celebration of his directorial debut, “A Bronx Tale.” When asked about the film’s mild box office — earning about $17 million on a $21 million production budget — the director said, “How could you not be disappointed? You do all this work for it. At the same time, I was lucky to be able to make the movie I made.” De Niro also admitted that “I never got asked to do movies after that,” and it was an effort to get his next directorial effort, 2006’s “The Good Shepherd,” made.