astronomical sum of $40 million. When Cimino presented the film  to United Artists, it ran well over 5 hours. Cimino, after some  squabbling, agreed to trim it down to the studio propose length of  under 3 hours. The film was a commercial and critical disaster that  destroyed Ciminos career as a director and nearly caused United  Artists to file bankruptcy. When UA was sold to MGM, MGM acquired  UAs pictures, and that same year MGM had a hit in the next James  Bond adventure, _For Your Eyes Only (1981)_ (qv), but Cimino didnt  get work for another five years. To date his career has never  recovered.