“We must all hang together or we shall all hang separately.”
Thus quipped Benjamin Franklin as the American colonies joined against the tyranny of George III, the phrase hangs heavy in the imaginations of today’s political opposition. Laden with fears of violence, Chairman Osro Cobb of the Progressive-Federalist National Committee announced the cancellation of the party’s presidential primaries and the formal acquiescence of the party to the Committee for the Preservation of the Republic’s call for a joint presidential nominating convention with the American Liberty League. Yet, with the organization’s President Thomas Schall, once seen as the nearly prohibitive favorite for the nomination, dying in an unforeseen car accident and populist contender Eduardo Chibas taking his own life on live radio, the attempt to unite the opposition must find a candidate able to carry both banners in the face of Philip La Follette’s campaign for a third term.
Clare Boothe Luce speaking against the President's support for a moderate socialist government in Indonesia.
Leading Candidates:
The following candidates are seen as frontrunners for the nomination.
Clare Boothe Luce: 49 year old Clare Boothe Luce of Connecticut rose to prominence as Henry Luce’s scandal-ridden yet massively popular First Lady, whose charisma would lead to a popular joke that every Luce voter wished they had voted for Clare despite widely known allegations of mutual marital infidelity. Marrying Henry after divorcing her first husband and entering high society as the author of an all-female play, Luce would become First Lady at the young age of 38 and soon emerge as a face of the American home front amidst the Third Pacific War. Describing the nation as having become a “dictatorial bumbledom,” Luce has echoed the anti-New State ethos of the party and is seen as the candidate of establishment conservatives. Criticizing the very slogan of President La Follette, she has argued that the United States cannot “win the peace” as it has not truly won the war until the defeat of international communism. Clare has supported the Zionist project in Alaska, a unified military command to replace the Department of Peace, and the creation of a defense pact among American allies in the Pacific as the centerpiece of an aggressively interventionist foreign policy declaring “if we are no longer willing to fight for it, our Christian democracy is finished." Yet, Luce has also opposed the creation of a stronger international United Nations to replace the powerless Parliament of Nations.
Driven to Catholicism in 1946 following the death of her daughter, even as her ex-president husband gallivanted about with a girlfriend a thousand miles from his wife’s baptism, Luce has emerged as a changed woman, reportedly abandoning her affairs and entering a career in electoral politics with her 1946 election to the Senate. Though Aaron Burr Houston maintained a private devotion to the Church of Rome, Clare has taken her faith with a zeal heretofore unseen in American politics, using the Senate as a pulpit to preach against “materialism” and a spiritual decline as the root of both communism and fascism, slyly suggesting that the rise of the Pentecostal, Immannuelite, and Mormon faiths has come hand-in-hand with the nation’s fascist surge as she has publicly wished that “the whole world would be Catholic.” Despite defenses from Presbyterian former President Luce, Clare’s faith has weakened her amongst convention delegates fearing the alienation of firmly Protestant voters. Yet her charm, wealth, and ability to attract millions in funding from backers such as Henry Ford II while winning key endorsements such as that of Richard Nixon has catapulted her to the front of the field.
A candid photo of the nation's leading Texan with a fried chicken dinner. Had you asked an observer in 1940 whether Pappy O'Daniel might one day be President the answer would almost certainly be yes, yet many wonder whether the dynamic country singer has waited past his turn.
W. Lee O’Daniel: 62 year old Senator W. Lee O’Daniel, better known as Pappy, rose to prominence in his late 20s as an architect of domestic policy during Aaron Burr Houston’s third term, being largely credited with the introduction of an old age pension system funded by a consumption tax. After making his way to the fore of Texas politics on his own through the integration of musical numbers and a widely popular radio show with his political antics, O’Daniel would turn from an upset gubernatorial defeat in the 1938 midterms to organizing Aaron Burr Houston’s campaign for a fourth term in the White House as the nation’s last hope against Charles Lindbergh. Accused by critics of puppeteering a dementia ridden 86 year old out of his own lust for power, O’Daniel would serve as Secretary of the Treasury for a year before being unceremoniously removed from the cabinet by Henry Luce for his critique of the American attack on Pearl Harbor and opposition to the draft, leaving him in political isolation as the Texan distinguished himself by demanding the execution of striking laborers as crucial to the war effort over his radio show.
A steadfast isolationist, O’Daniel’s foreign policy views have made him a favorite among Liberty League libertarians. Depicting himself as nearly as conservative as Luce on domestic issues with an isolationist foreign policy able to appeal to the Midwest, O’Daniel has emphasized ties to the legendary ABH and anti-alcohol views he claims can over the rural South. O’Daniel has also sought to use Luce’s Catholicism into an issue, seeking the support of Ben Gitlow through their shared membership in the Evangelical Christian Right. Yet, O’Daniel has been seen as the least committed among the candidates to the Committee’s pro-democracy ideals, while others question his fitness for office based on his eccentric manners as a cabinet Secretary and Senator, with Eleanor B. Roosevelt’s 1936 running mate Dan Moody remarking that “Pappy is as lost at the Treasury as I would be in a circus trapeze.”
Lucius D. Clay as an Administrator during the post-war occupation of Korea.
Lucius D. Clay: A distant relative of former President Henry Clay, 54 year old General of the Army turned banker Lucius D. Clay of Georgia has been the subject of a draft movement seeking to secure a candidate with the allure of a war hero after an attack on right wing generals such as Harold George, “some of whom are my own classmates,” accusing them of leading the party astray with the nomination of the ultra-conservative Benjamin Gitlow. Clay has portrayed himself as the candidate of order, supporting, as the others do, the prosecution of Blackshirts and the freeing of prosecuted opposition politicians. However, Clay, a former administrator of Lindbergh-era public works programs, is the only candidate to stop short of supporting the abolition of the New State, with backers instead focusing on the renowned administrative talent that led Douglas MacArthur to quip that Clay “could run General Motors or General Bradley’s army.” Despite his reticence to campaign at the convention, Clay’s moderation, vague platform, connections, and war hero status have won over a significant segment of delegates.
John Sampson Cooper on the cover of Henry Luce's Time magazine.
John Sampson Cooper: Named for martyred Admiral William T. Sampson not long after the First Pacific War dramatically ended with the Second Battle of Hawai’i, 50 year old Kentucky Senator John Sampson Cooper has led an underdog campaign of moderate liberals led by young activists Mark Hatfield and Chuck Mathias and Tannenbaum territorial delegate Jacob Javits. Returning home from Yale to find his father on his deathbed and his beloved Pulaski County burned to the ground amidst the Revolution, Cooper would be elected to county leadership at age 24, famously responding to a legal requirement that he evict the impoverished by personally paying their debts, earning the moniker “the poor man’s judge” as he emerged as a major figure in post-Revolutionary reconciliation in Kentucky. Returning home once more from service as a military attache in the Third Pacific War, Cooper would oust incumbent Farmer-Laborite Jerry Spencer in a 1944 upset, delaying taking his seat to serve as a legal advisor to hundreds of thousands of displaced Indonesians before emerging as a Senate leader in bringing the United States closer to India and other nations newly liberated from colonialism.
While eschewing the isolationism of O’Daniel, Cooper has demonstrated a far more relaxed stand on foreign policy than Luce, opposing aggressive anti-communism abroad while depicting the United States as a great mediator of peace in situations such as the violence in Palestine or partition of India. The reported favorite of Fulgencio Batista despite Cooper’s criticism of Batista as insufficiently committed to democracy, the Kentuckian has managed to maintain a widespread popularity with labor that has led many to speculate that Cooper would be the only candidate able to win the endorsement of organized labor and an imprisoned John L. Lewis. Lacking the celebrity draw of Senator Luce, Cooper has countered with a far more detailed platform, calling for the opening of American borders to the world’s refugees, massively increased federal aid to education, and, in stances that have left him anathema to many party conservatives, support for universal health insurance, coal subsidies, and public housing. A self admitted “truly terrible public speaker," Cooper’s political independence has won him the support of Will Rogers Jr. and made him a favorite of the modern liberal wing of the Liberty League.
Luis A. Ferre's El Dia newspaper, later renamed El Nuevo Dia.
Other Candidates:
The following are seen as major contenders for the nomination, but lag behind the frontrunner candidates.
Luis A. Ferre: Among the most grim results of the 1948 elections emerged from the Caribbean, where states once considered the most loyally anti-Farmer-Labor in America crossed the aisle for the first time in history. With strategists seeing the path to the presidency running through the island states, many among the electorally minded have flocked to 48 year old Puerto Rico Senator Luis A. Ferre, publisher of the nation’s largest Spanish language newspaper, El Nuevo Dia. A classically trained pianist who has focused his senatorial career on securing funding for the arts, Ferre has referred to the United States as the “moral summit of the world,” while aligning himself in the middle on economic policy, calling for “addressing the inequalities of society” by selling off public land at a low price and supporting federal public housing with an emphasis on rural revitalization, in addition to a call for a 4% Christmas bonus on the grounds of the Jesus Amendment.
James A. Rhodes: "Every time I take a position on an issue, I lose two percent of the people. If I do that 50 times, I have everybody mad at me," the quip encapsulates the philosophy of 43 year old Ohio Governor James A. “Jim” Rhodes and his backers. Emerging as the favorite of many convention delegates who have argued that the best path forward for a united campaign is a steadfast focus on bread and butter issues, Rhodes has remarked that “there are only three issues in this campaign: jobs, jobs, and jobs,” and has argued that to win the power necessary to destroy the New State and its legacies, any anti-La Follette campaign must focus on people’s lives and the economy, not vague notions of democracy and American ideals. Born in the hills of Appalachia, Rhodes would be forced out of college after failing every class, only to work his way into the Mayoralty of Columbus, before unexpectedly catapulting himself to the Ohio Governorship before the age of 40, where he has governed with a moderate conservatism focused on local issues such as water rights and a program to "put a college education within 25 miles of every boy and girl” that has been praised as a national model.
The King of Country.
Write-In Candidates:
The following candidates can win the nomination, but are either presently supporting other candidates and thus only subject to draft movements rather than an active campaign or lack adequate first ballot support.
Roy Acuff: 49 year old Roy Acuff of Tennessee was christened “The King of Country Music” for smash hits such as Wabash Cannonball, leading fellow musician Hank Williams to quip “book him and you don’t worry about crowds…for drawing power in the South, it’s Roy Acuff, then God.” Yet, after a rumor that Governor Buford Elington had labeled his music “disgraceful,” Acuff would embrace the label “king of the Hillbillies” in the 1948 election cycle to trade his acoustic throne for the Governor’s chair. Declaring that “any business must be put on a business plan, and so must a state government,” Acuff has cut the budget while requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in government buildings, increasing state pensions, instituting a free school textbook program, cooperating with the La Follette Administration on the hydroelectric Tennessee Valley Authority, and has controversially called for additional restrictions on firearm ownership. Widely considered a possible frontrunner for his celebrity status if a primary were to have been held, Acuff has supported O’Daniel at the convention, yet has evasively refused to disavow a draft movement arising from his pro-union sympathies that many suspect could bring Fulgencio Batista into the fold alongside John L. Lewis, Jimmy Hoffa, and the opposition Farmer-Laborites.
Joseph H. Jackson: A Mississippi farm boy who taught himself reading and mathematics, 52 year old Joseph H. Jackson, President of the largest predominantly black church in America, the American Baptist Convention, has emerged as the favorite of former Gitlow ally Billy J. Hargis for his right-wing populist views and claim to be able to win millions of black voters back from President La Follette. Calling to “save the nation, in order to save the individual citizen, and the race," Jackson has focused his attacks on La Follette for violating “civil order,” and extended this critique to opposition protests. Making the radical proposal to not merely denationalize the General Trades Union, but to destroy it entirely, Jackson has called for the severing of diplomatic recognition to all communist nations and international intervention to spread “the liberating power of our federal constitution and the supreme law of the land, the American ideals of freedom and democracy.” However, Jackson has fallen from major candidate status after an investigation by the Labor Department into allegedly abusing unpaid labor at a daycare and using church donations to buy himself a mansion and a sports car.
America's chief penny pincher speaks.
Henry S. Breckinridge: The only member of the Liberty League at the fore of presidential consideration, 66 year old New York Congressman Henry Skillman Breckinridge ran alongside Al Capone in 1936 in the campaign that doomed the Commonwealth alliance, but has reinvented his career since by working to ally Federalist and Liberty League causes against La Follette and serving as the organization’s House leader. Advocating a heavily internationalist vision in line somewhere between that of Cooper and Luce, Breckinridge’s commitment to small government classical liberalism and a strict construction of the constitution has made him the favorite of Liberty League loyalists and some party conservatives. However, it is considered unlikely for a Liberty League member to win outright due to Progressive-Federalists comprising a majority of convention delegates.
Eleanor Butler Roosevelt: 63 year old former President Eleanor Butler Roosevelt was promoted for the nomination for months by her former counsel turned the “voice of impeachment,” Richard Nixon, who has noted that her re-election would have stopped the rise of fascism in its tracks. However, content with retirement, the writing of her memoirs, and the promotion of Nixon’s career, Roosevelt has categorically refused to seek the presidency. Nonetheless, she is expected to receive votes on the convention’s opening ballot from admirers.
Benjamin Muse: 54 year old former Virginia Governor Benjamin Muse won an upset victory in 1945 to be elected Governor against the campaigning of President La Follette. An establishment Federalist and charismatic writer, Muse received significant support as a candidate but has declined to contest the convention and worked to promote the nomination of Clare Boothe Luce after a meeting with Henry Luce.
H.R. Gross: 53 year old Iowa Governor and 1948 Progressive vice presidential nominee Harold Royce Gross has gained renown for his steadfast economic conservatism, vetoing every proposed state budget increase throughout his tenure and calling for a complete end to foreign aid in addition to the dismantling of the New State; avoiding moral arguments, Gross has opposed atomic bombings and war on the grounds that both are too financially costly. A hero of the party right, Gross has declined to seek the presidency himself, citing his refusal to attend fundraising parties rather than watch Iowa football games, and is expected to support Pappy O’Daniel or Jim Rhodes on the convention floor.
46 year old Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa has been elected interim Chairman of the Convention.
View Poll

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As Reddit doesn't allow posts to exceed 40,000 characters, Eastwood's edition had to be split into two parts because his whole career cannot be ignored. The second part will be posted tomorrow.

Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Clint Eastwood's turn.
Eastwood was a troublemaker at school, and he had a bunch of odd jobs such as lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, and golf caddy. In 1951, he was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War and was discharged two years later. Through this, he got into contact with a Hollywood representative, who got him into acting classes and started his acting career. He got his start by starring in the hit show Rawhide, but he said he was exhausted by the experience. This caught the attention of some film producers and he decided to act in films directed by the then-unknown Sergio Leone. His career was on the rise, and then he got the chance to make his directorial debut.
From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?
That's the point of this post. To analyze his career.

It should be noted that as he started his career in the 1970s, some of the domestic grosses here will be adjusted by inflation. The table with his highest grossing films, however, will be left in its unadjusted form, as the worldwide grosses are more difficult to adjust.

Play Misty for Me (1971)

"The scream you hear may be your own!"
His directorial debut. It stars Eastwood, Jessica Walter and Donna Mills, and follows a radio disc jockey being stalked by an obsessed female fan.
Before his colleague Irving Leonard died, he and Eastwood had discussed the idea of producing a film that was to give Eastwood the artistic control he desired, and his debut as a director. Eastwood said he was ready, "I stored away all the mistakes I made and saved up all the good things I learned, and now I know enough to control my own projects and get what I want out of actors."
The film was a huge success for Eastwood, and it also received positive reviews. So far, his directorial career was off to a great start.

• Budget: $950,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $10,600,000. ($81.7 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $10,600,000.
  

High Plains Drifter (1973)

"They'd never forget the day he drifted into town."
His second film. The film stars Eastwood, Verna Bloom and Mariana Hill, and follows a mysterious stranger who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town.
Eastwood reportedly liked the offbeat quality of the film's original nine-page proposal and approached Universal with the idea of directing it, which would make it his first directed Western. The screenplay was inspired by the real-life murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens in 1964, which eyewitnesses reportedly stood by and watched. Holes in the plot were filled in with black humor and allegory, influenced by Sergio Leone.
It was well received, and the film even surpassed Play Misty for Me at the box office. Eastwood was just going up.

• Budget: $5,500,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $15,700,000. ($110.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $15,700,000.
  

Breezy (1973)

"Her name is Breezy."
His third film. It stars William Holden and Kay Lenz, and follows the relationship between a middle-aged real estate agent and a young hitchhiker.
This was his first directed film without starring on it. And his lack of presence certainly hurt the film; it received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office.

• Budget: $750,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $200,000. ($1.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $217,753.
  

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

"His lifeline, held by the assassin he hunted."
His fourth film. Based on the novel by Trevanian, the film stars Eastwood, George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, and Jack Cassidy. It follows Jonathan Hemlock, an art history professor, mountain climber, and former assassin once employed by a secret government agency, who is blackmailed into returning to his deadly profession for one last mission.
The film received mixed reactions for its writing, and it wasn't a box office success either.

• Budget: $9,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $14,200,000. ($82.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $14,200,000.
  

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

"An army of one."
His fifth film. Based on the novel Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter, it stars Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney and John Vernon. The film tells the story of Josey Wales, a Missouri farmer whose family is murdered by Union militia during the Civil War. Driven to revenge, Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla band and makes a name for himself as a feared gunfighter. After the war, all the fighters in Wales' group except for him surrender to Union soldiers, but the Confederates end up being massacred. Wales becomes an outlaw and is pursued by bounty hunters and Union soldiers as he tries to make a new life for himself.
Eastwood was fascinated by the novel and he bought the film rights, hoping to star on the film. He got Philip Kaufman involved as screenwriter and possible director, but left after disagreeing with Eastwood in the material adapted to the screen. Kaufman insisted on filming with a meticulous attention to detail, which caused disagreements with Eastwood, not to mention the attraction the two shared towards Locke and apparent jealousy on Kaufman's part in regard to their emerging relationship. This caused Eastwood to take over as the director. Kaufman's firing angered the DGA, as he did most of the pre-production, and sanctioning a $60,000 fine. This resulted in the Director's Guild passing a new rule, known as "the Eastwood Rule", which prohibits an actor or producer from firing the director and then personally taking on the director's role.
The film received critical acclaim, and in subsequent years, is ranked among Eastwood's greatest films. It was also a huge success at the box office, doubling his previous highest grossing film. It was also one of the few Western films to receive critical and commercial success in the 1970s at a time when the Western was thought to be dying as a major genre in Hollywood.

• Budget: $3,700,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $31,800,000. ($174.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $31,800,000.
  

The Gauntlet (1977)

"The man in the middle of..."
His sixth film. It stars Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney, and Mara Corday. It follows a down-and-out cop who falls in love with a prostitute, to whom he is assigned to escort from Las Vegas to Phoenix for her to testify against the mob.
While it received mixed reviews, it became another box office success for Eastwood, becoming his now highest grossing film.

• Budget: $5,500,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $35,400,000. ($182.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $35,400,000.
  

Bronco Billy (1980)

"The most outrageous of 'em all."
His seventh film. The film stars Eastwood and Sondra Locke, and focuses on the financially-struggling owner of a traditional Wild West show and his new assistant.
It became another critical and commercial success for Eastwood, who referred to the film as one of his most affable shoots of his career.

• Budget: $6,500,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $24,265,659. ($91.9 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $24,265,659.
  

Firefox (1982)

"The most devastating killing machine ever built... his job... steal it!"
His eighth film. Based on the novel by Craig Thomas, it stars Eastwood, Freddie Jones and David Huffman. The Soviets have developed a revolutionary new jet fighter, called "Firefox". Naturally, the British are worried that the jet will be used as a first-strike weapon, as rumors say that the jet is undetectable on radar. They send ex-Vietnam War pilot Mitchell Gant on a covert mission into the Soviet Union to steal the Firefox.
The film received mixed reviews, but it earned almost $47 million, becoming Eastwood's highest grossing title as director.

• Budget: $21,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $46,708,276. ($151.1 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $46,708,276.
  

Honkytonk Man (1982)

"The boy is on his way to becoming a man. The man is on his way to becoming a legend."
His ninth film. It's based on the novel by Clancy Carlile, and it stars Eastwood and his son Kyle. It follows Red Stovall, a country music singer and composer. With his nephew Whit by his side, he travels to Nashville to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in the backdrop of the Great Depression.
While the film received acclaim, it earned just $4.4 million, becoming his second worst performer.

• Budget: $2,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $4,484,991. ($14.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $4,484,991.
  

Sudden Impact (1983)

"Dirty Harry is at it again."
His tenth film. The fourth installment in the Dirty Harry series, directed, it stars Eastwood and Sondra Locke. The film tells the story of a gang rape victim who decides to seek revenge on her rapists 10 years after the attack by killing them one by one. Inspector Harry Callahan, famous for his unconventional and often brutal crime-fighting tactics, is tasked with tracking down the serial killer.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, but it earned over $150 million worldwide, Eastwood's first film to pass that milestone. It's also very popular for including the iconic catchphrase, "Go ahead, make my day."

• Budget: $22,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $67,642,693. ($212.1 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $150,642,693.
  

Pale Rider (1985)

"...And Hell followed with him."
His 11th film. It stars Eastwood, Michael Moriarty and Carrie Snodgress. A couple and their daughter, along with a few others, are driven out of Lahood, California, by goons working for a mining baron. However, a stranger enters their life to assist them in their fight.
There was no stopping Eastwood: another critical and commercial success.

• Budget: $6,900,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $41,410,568. ($120.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $41,410,568.
  

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

"The scars run deep."
His 12th film. It stars Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, and Mario Van Peebles. The story centers on a U.S. Marine nearing retirement who gets a platoon of undisciplined Marines into shape and leads them during the American invasion of Grenada in 1983.
The film was inspired by an account of American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division using a pay telephone and a credit card to call in fire support during the invasion of Grenada, and fashioned a script of a Korean War veteran career Army non-commissioned officer passing on his values to a new generation of soldiers. Eastwood was interested in the script and asked his producer, Fritz Manes, to contact the US Army with a view of filming the movie at Fort Bragg. However, the Army read the script and refused to participate, due to Highway being portrayed as a hard drinker, divorced from his wife, and using unapproved motivational methods to his troops, an image the Army did not want.
It received mixed reviews, with some deeming the film as "imperialist propaganda". But it was still another box office success.

• Budget: $15,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $42,724,017. ($121.7 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $121,700,000.
  

Bird (1988)

"There are no second acts in American lives."
His 13th film. The film stars Forest Whitaker and Diane Venora. It is constructed as a montage of scenes from saxophonist Charlie Parker's life, from his childhood in Kansas City, through his early death at the age of 34.
Eastwood, a lifelong fan of jazz, had been fascinated by Parker ever since seeing him perform live in Oakland in 1946. He approached Chan Parker, Bird's common-law wife on whose memoirs the script was based, for input, and she lent Eastwood and arranger Lennie Niehaus a collection of recordings from her private collection Before Eastwood was involved, Richard Pryor was originally cast as Parker.
Despitive positive reviews, it performed poorly, earning just $2.2 million in North America.

• Budget: $14,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $2,181,286. ($5.7 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $2,181,286.
  

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

"An adventure in obsession."
His 14th film. Based on the novel by Peter Viertel, it stars Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza, Alun Armstrong and Marisa Berenson. It follows a famous movie director, John Wilson, who goes to Africa to make his next movie. He is an obstinate, contrary director who'd rather hunt elephants than take care of his crew or movie. He has become obsessed with one particular elephant and cares for nothing else.
Despite positive reviews, it made just $2.3 million domestically, not even 10% of the budget.

• Budget: $24,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $2,319,124. ($5.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $2,319,124.
  

The Rookie (1990)

His 15th film. The film stars Eastwood, Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Tom Skerritt. It follows a veteran police officer teamed up with a younger detective, whose intent is to take down a German crime lord in downtown Los Angeles, following months of investigation into an exotic car theft ring.
It received negative reviews for its acting and story, and it became another flop for Eastwood. That's three bombs in a row. Ouch.

• Budget: $30,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $21,633,874. ($51.6 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $21,633,874.
  

Unforgiven (1992)

"Some legends will never be forgotten. Some wrongs can never be forgiven."
His 16th film. It stars Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris and Morgan Freeman. It follows William Munny, a widower with two young kids, who was once a very vicious gunfighter who gave up everything after marriage. Now, a man named Schofield Kid brings him an offer that he cannot refuse, forcing him to come out of retirement for one last job.
David Webb Peoples wrote the script all the way back to 1976, and it was optioned by Francis Ford Coppola, but he lacked the funds needed to helm it. By Eastwood's own recollection, he was given the script in the "early 80s" although he did not immediately pursue it, because, according to him, "I thought I should do some other things first". Eastwood has long asserted that the film would be his last traditional Western, concerned that any future projects would simply rehash previous plotlines or imitate someone else's work. He dedicated the film to his close friends and mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. Hackman initially refused to participate as his daughters were upset that he was starring in too many violent films, but he became fascinated by the script that he agreed.
It opened with $15 million and it legged all the way to $100 million after playing for almost one year, closing with $159 million worldwide, his now highest grossing film. The film received Eastwood's best reviews of his career, with many considering the film as his magnum opus as director. It received 9 Oscar nominations, and won four: Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood, Best Supporting Actor for Hackman, and Best Film Editing. So Eastwood, on top of being a reliable box office draw, was now a 2-time Oscar winner.

• Budget: $14,400,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $101,167,799. ($225.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $159,167,799.
  

A Perfect World (1993)

His 17th film. Kevin Costner, Eastwood and Laura Dern, and follows an escaped convict who takes a young boy hostage and attempts to escape on the road with the child, while being pursued by a Texas Ranger.
The film received critical acclaim, and has appeared as one of Eastwood's best films. The film disappointed in North America, but it earned up to $100 million overseas (Eastwood's first film to gross that much) and ended with $135 million worldwide.

• Budget: $30,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $31,130,999. ($67.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $135,130,999.
  

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

"The human heart has a way of making itself large again even after it's been broken into a million pieces."
His 18th film. Based on the novel by Robert James Waller, it stars Eastwood and Meryl Streep. The film is set in 1965, following a war bride, Francesca Johnson, who lives with her husband and two children on their Iowa farm. That year she meets National Geographic photojournalist, Robert Kincaid, who comes to Madison County, Iowa to photograph its historic covered bridges. With Francesca's family away for a short trip, the couple have an intense, four-day love affair.
It received more critical acclaim, and made over $180 million worldwide, becoming his highest grossing film. For her performance, Streep was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

• Budget: $22,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $71,516,617. ($146.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $182,016,617.
  

Absolute Power (1997)

His 19th film. Based on the novel by David Baldacci, it stars Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Judy Davis, Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert, and Richard Jenkins. It follows a master jewel thief who witnesses the killing of a woman by Secret Service agents.
It received mixed reviews, and disappointed at the box office.

• Budget: $50,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $50,068,310. ($97.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $92,768,310.
  

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

"Welcome to Savannah, Georgia. A Ccty of hot nights and cold blooded murder."
His 20th film. Based on the book by John Berendt, it stars John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. It follows the story of antiques dealer Jim Williams, on trial for the killing of a male prostitute who was his lover. The multiple trials depicted in Berendt's book are combined into one trial for the film.
It received mediocre reviews, and flopped at the box office.

• Budget: $30,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $25,105,255. ($48.8 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $25,105,255.
  

True Crime (1999)

His 21st film. Based on the novel by Andrew Klavan, it stars Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, Denis Leary, LisaGay Hamilton and James Woods. It follows a journalist covering the execution of a death row inmate, only to discover that the convict may actually be innocent.
This was another project that received mediocre reviews and flopped at the box office.

• Budget: $55,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $16,649,768. ($31.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $16,649,768.
  

Space Cowboys (2000)

"Boys will be boys."
His 22nd film. It stars Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as four aging former test pilots who are sent into space to repair an old Soviet satellite.
It received very positive reviews, and earned over $128 million worldwide.

• Budget: $60,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $90,464,773. ($164 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $128,884,132.
  

Blood Work (2002)

"He's a heartbeat away from catching the killer."
His 23rd film. Based on the novel by Michael Connelly, it stars Eastwood, Jeff Daniels, Wanda De Jesús, and Anjelica Huston. It follows a retired FBI agent who recently had a heart transplant but still takes up the job to nab a killer.
It was another film with mediocre reviews and flop status.

• Budget: $50,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $26,235,081. ($45.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $31,794,718.
  

Mystic River (2003)

"We bury our sins, we wash them clean."
His 24th film. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, it stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney. It follows three childhood friends who are reunited 25 years later when one of them suffers a family tragedy.
Michael Keaton was originally cast in the role of Det. Sean Devine, and did several script readings with the cast, as well as his own research into the practices of the Massachusetts Police Department. However, creative differences between Keaton and Eastwood led to Keaton leaving the production. He was replaced by Kevin Bacon. This was the first film in which Eastwood would be credited as composer.
The film had a slow roll-out, but it was aided by strong word of mouth, closing with a wonderful $156 million worldwide. It also received acclaim, and was named as one of Eastwood's greatest films. Sean Penn received universal acclaim for his performance, with some naming it among the best acting of the century, particularly for one scene (if you watched it, you definitely know which scene). It received 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. It won two: Best Actor for Penn and Best Supporting Actor for Robbins.

• Budget: $25,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $90,135,191. ($153 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $156,595,191.
  

Come back tomorrow for Part 2

Don't suggest directors for the next edition here. Save it for tomorrow.