Even the greats have their fair share of regrets and for Steven Spielberg, it is no different. Despite being responsible for some of the most influential pieces of cinema throughout his illustrious career, even his resume isn’t perfect and there are some stains that the director has been pretty vocal about.

Among these stains, one of the more disappointing ones involved 1991’s Hook, which Spielberg even hated making, despite comprising Robin Williams at its forefront. However, it seems that despite his dislike for the film, not everyone shares a similar perspective about the fairy tale as Spielberg does.

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg hated making 1991’s Hook

Despite Steven Spielberg being extremely passionate about his retelling of the classic Peter Pan story, the production of the film didn’t go as smoothly as the director would’ve hoped. Apart from the few behind-the-scene controversies surrounding Julia Roberts. the Jaws director claimed that he hated making the film, as he wasn’t confident in the script. Even though Steven Spielberg was adamant about crafting another perfect family-friendly film after 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the director didn’t succeed and ended up crafting one of his biggest regrets. He said,

“I felt like a fish out of water making Hook. I didn’t have confidence in the script. I had confidence in the first act and I had confidence in the epilogue. I didn’t have confidence in the body of it.”
However, not everyone might share a bitter perspective towards the Robin Williams-led film, and some of its biggest fans went on to surprise The Fabelmans director.

Robin Williams as Peter Pan

His kids’ love for Hook baffled Steven Spielberg

Although Spielberg might’ve hated making the film, to his surprise, it became one of his kids’ favorite movies alongside the critically acclaimed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Even though the director can get behind the choice of E.T., as it’s one of his most critically acclaimed projects, his kids’ love for Hook still baffles him. However, the director did give the movie its fair share of chances over the years to find something to like, but things didn’t change for the director despite several rewatches. He said,

“I want to see Hook again. I still don’t like that movie. I’m hoping some day I’ll see it again and perhaps like some of it.”

Hook (1991)

Despite not being one of his most critically acclaimed films, with the movie comprising Spielberg’s lowest Tomatometer ratings, it did end up making around $300M from a budget of $70M.