# Bullets Over Broadway (1994 film)
*Bullets Over Broadway* is a 1994 American comedy film directed by [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen), written by Allen and Douglas McGrath, about a struggling 1920s playwright who gets gangster financing for his Broadway debut on the condition that the mobster's girlfriend plays a leading role.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/) The film received seven Academy Award nominations and won one, [Dianne Wiest](https://www.edgepedia.org/dianne-wiest)'s Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.[3](https://time.com/3022326/bullets-over-broadway-shut-down-woody-allen-zach-braff/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109348/awards/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Woody Allen (director); screenplay by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY) |
| Principal cast | John Cusack (David Shayne), Dianne Wiest (Helen Sinclair), Chazz Palminteri (Cheech), Jennifer Tilly (Olive), Jim Broadbent (Warner Purcell), Joe Viterelli (Nick Valenti)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY) |
| Release | New York Film Festival screening 1 Oct 1994; New York opening 14 Oct 1994; Los Angeles opening 21 Oct 1994[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY) |
| Format | 98 minutes, color, sound, R rating, United States, English[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY) |
| Budget / box office | Reported budget $16 million (some accounts say $20 million); gross USA $11.4 million[5](https://www.woodyallenpages.com/films/bullets-over-broadway/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/) |
| Academy Awards | Seven nominations; Dianne Wiest won Best Actress in a Supporting Role[3](https://time.com/3022326/bullets-over-broadway-shut-down-woody-allen-zach-braff/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109348/awards/) |
| Critical reception | 95% Tomatometer from 59 reviews; 83% Popcornmeter from 10,000+ ratings[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/) |
| Stage adaptation | Broadway musical at the St. James Theatre, April 10 to August 24, 2014, with a book by Allen[6](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/bullets-over-broadway-494997) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
[In New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-new-york) in 1928, playwright David Shayne ([John Cusack](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-cusack)) has failed to secure financing for his latest work. With little enthusiasm, he strikes a bargain with gangster Nick Valenti ([Joe Viterelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-viterelli)): in exchange for a first Broadway production and the opportunity to direct, Valenti's girlfriend, Olive (Jennifer Tilly), must be cast in one of the leading parts.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/) While Olive and the lead actress Helen Sinclair (Dianne Wiest) compete for the spotlight, Cheech (Chazz Palminteri), the mob bodyguard protecting Olive, begins offering suggestions for rewrites to David's script.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/) The cast also includes Jim Broadbent as the actor Warner Purcell, Harvey Fierstein as Sid Loomis, and Mary-Louise Parker as Ellen.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY)
Roger Ebert's review observed that the only character who takes art seriously is Cheech, the bodyguard, and compared the film's moral situation to Allen's more serious *Crimes and Misdemeanors*, in which a man commits murder and almost justifies it.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bullets-over-broadway-1994) Time Out described the film as a merciless satire on the pretensions, hypocrisies, and indulgences of theater folk, set in the Runyonesque New York of the [Jazz Age](https://www.edgepedia.org/jazz-age).[8](https://www.timeout.com/movies/bullets-over-broadway)
## Production
The film was made in New York, with production running from 27 September to 7 December 1993. The reported budget was $16 million, high for Allen at the time, with the added cost coming from the 1920s period setting. Allen said the locations were mostly found and supplemented rather than built, because the production could not afford studio space: the theater, the nightclub, and the apartments are authentic places.[5](https://www.woodyallenpages.com/films/bullets-over-broadway/)
The crew included cinematographer Carlo Di Palma, editor Susan E. Morse, and production designer Santo Loquasto, with Robert Greenhut producing and Jean Doumanian and J. E. Beaucaire as executive producers.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY)
## Reception and awards
The film received seven Academy Award nominations for 1995: Best Supporting Actress for both Dianne Wiest and [Jennifer Tilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-tilly), Best Supporting Actor for Chazz Palminteri, Best Director for Allen, and Best Original Screenplay for Allen and McGrath, among others. Wiest won the Oscar, and also took the Golden Globe in the same category.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109348/awards/) Wiest collected supporting-actress honors from the Los Angeles, New York, National Society of Film Critics, Chicago, and other critics' groups, and Palminteri won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109348/awards/)
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 95% Tomatometer from 59 reviews, with the critics' consensus calling it a gleefully entertaining backstage comedy featuring some of Allen's sharpest, most inspired late-period writing and direction.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/) The film grossed $11.4 million in the United States.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/)
## Stage musical (2014)
The film was the first Woody Allen film adapted into a stage musical.[3](https://time.com/3022326/bullets-over-broadway-shut-down-woody-allen-zach-braff/) Allen wrote the book, his first for a stage musical, and the show used existing songs of the 1920s rather than a new score, arranged by Glen Kelly, with numbers by [Cole Porter](https://www.edgepedia.org/cole-porter) ("Let's Misbehave") and [Hoagy Carmichael](https://www.edgepedia.org/hoagy-carmichael) ("Up the Lazy River") among them.[9](https://time.com/47986/woody-allens-big-number/) • [10](https://www.startribune.com/review-bullets-over-broadway-aims-low-for-laughs-at-the-ordway/375565291) [Susan Stroman](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-stroman) directed and choreographed, and the cast included Zach Braff as David Shayne, Marin Mazzie as Helen Sinclair, and Nick Cordero as Cheech.[9](https://time.com/47986/woody-allens-big-number/)
The musical opened at the [St. James Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/st-james-theatre) on April 10, 2014, after previews from March 11, and closed on August 24, 2014.[6](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/bullets-over-broadway-494997) The $14 million production failed to impress critics and theatregoers: it received six Tony Award nominations but no wins, and attendance slumped to 67 percent of house seats, an early exit likely to cost most or all of its capitalization.[3](https://time.com/3022326/bullets-over-broadway-shut-down-woody-allen-zach-braff/) Critics praised Stroman's choreography and period design but found the humor uneven.[11](https://broadwayscorecard.com/show/bullets-over-broadway-2014)
## References
1. [Bullets over Broadway (1994), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59751-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY)
2. [Bullets Over Broadway, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullets_over_broadway/)
3. ["Bullets Over Broadway" to Shut Down Next Month, Time](https://time.com/3022326/bullets-over-broadway-shut-down-woody-allen-zach-braff/)
4. [Bullets Over Broadway (1994) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109348/awards/)
5. [Bullets Over Broadway, The Woody Allen Pages](https://www.woodyallenpages.com/films/bullets-over-broadway/)
6. [Bullets Over Broadway, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/bullets-over-broadway-494997)
7. [Bullets Over Broadway movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bullets-over-broadway-1994)
8. [Bullets Over Broadway film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/bullets-over-broadway)
9. [Woody Allen's Big Number, Time](https://time.com/47986/woody-allens-big-number/)
10. [Review: 'Bullets Over Broadway' aims low for laughs at the Ordway, Star Tribune](https://www.startribune.com/review-bullets-over-broadway-aims-low-for-laughs-at-the-ordway/375565291)
11. [Bullets Over Broadway Reviews, Broadway Scorecard](https://broadwayscorecard.com/show/bullets-over-broadway-2014)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1990s films › Crime dramas and gangster films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license