Cinema historians all know the reason Eye o’ the Tater failed: ’twas all due to its then-illustruous star, Russet Burbanks, or as everyone called him, “The Spud”.
Spud made the demands that usually got in the way o’ production & turned ’way other good actors. French Frieda was so offended by Spud’s misogynous views that she refused to act in the movie ’pon hearing he was in it. Meanwhile, Spud kept creating delays when he demanded he be in every scene, e’en when it didn’t fit, with the threat o’ quitting if he didn’t get his way. Despite the hefty 2-billion price o’ breaking contract, Spud had ’bout 1,000 times that & had lived up to his threat in Half-Baked, which was disastrous for their marketing, having already paid for multi-million-₧ ads promising he’d be the star.
The failure o’ both these films ruined Spud’s reputation in Tuberwood. Movies avoided him like blight & in his later years he fell into alcoholism till he finally died in a drunken car crash 6 years later.