Madonna Hated Making This 16%-Rated Flop With Sean Penn: "I Felt Completely Bullied"

Madonna is a pop music icon, but her film career was much more modest. She had her share of successes and failures, and the most notorious flop was 1986's Shanghai Surprise, in which she starred with her then-husband, Sean Penn.

The movie was nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards, flopped at the box office, and was a personal trauma for Madonna.

Madonna Revealed That Making 'Shanghai Surprise' Alongside Sean Penn Was an Unpleasant Experience

In an interview, Madonna said that she had initially had high hopes for Shanghai Surprise, but things did not go according to plan:

“The director turned out to not know what he was doing. We were on a ship without a captain and we were so miserable while we were working on it that I'm sure it shows.”

The actress also admitted that her marriage to Penn played a role:

“I had just gotten married. It was still really new to me, and my ex-husband was really kind of railroading his way into the whole project.

Because I was in such awe of him, I kind of let him make a lot of the decisions that I shouldn't have allowed him to make. I was so green. I just found myself in a situation where I felt completely bullied and out of control.”

By the way, critics noted the complete lack of chemistry between the spouses, which was almost prophetic given their imminent divorce.

What Is 'Shanghai Surprise' About?

The story is set in Shanghai in 1938. Missionary Gloria is trying to find a shipment of stolen opium to ease the pain of those wounded in the Sino-Japanese War.

Gloria is assisted by Glendon, a small-time con man who is determined to escape the city at any cost. Opium becomes their ticket to achieving their goal, but the entire Shanghai underworld is after it.

'Shanghai Surprise' Was a Resounding Flop With 6 Razzie Nominations

George Harrison's HandMade studio was hoping for a big hit. On paper, the project looked promising: the hottest media couple of the time, an exotic shoot in Hong Kong, and a score composed by Harrison himself.

But in practice, everything went wrong. Director Jim Goddard couldn't handle Penn's constant interference, the press harassed the crew, and on the Hong Kong set, they were harassed by actual gangsters.

Harrison tried to salvage the situation: he wrote songs, made a cameo appearance, and organized a press conference. Penn didn't attend, and Madonna arrived an hour late.

As a result, Shanghai Surprise flopped at the box office and received six Golden Raspberry Award nominations.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Shanghai Surprise'?

• Shanghai Surprise has 20% from critics and 16% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 3.3/10.

• On Letterboxd, Shanghai Surprise scored 1.9/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Shanghai Surprise'?

Shanghai Surprise is available to stream on Tubi and Pluto TV.