shot in one day. Filming Principal photography for Radioland Murders began on October 28, 1993 at Carolco Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina. Brief filming also took place at Hollywood Center Studios. Production designer Gavin Bocquet (Star Wars prequels, Stardust) disguised the film's limited rooms in a beehivelike structure. Larger areas, notably the exterior of the building and the transmission tower on the roof, were created or augmented with digital mattes added by visual effects supervisor Scott Squires (The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace) at Industrial Light & Magic. Following a break, in which Lucas, director Mel Smith and editor Paul Trejo reviewed the footage using the new digital Avid Technology editing system (the successor to EditDroid), the cast and crew were reassembled for a further two weeks of filming. Principal photography for Radioland Murders ended on December 23, 1993. Release To market Radioland Murders, Universal attached a film trailer to The Flintstones in May 1994. The studio believed both films would specifically appeal to the Baby Boom Generation. Radioland Murders was originally set to be theatrically released in September 1994 before it was pushed back. The film was released in the United States on October 21, 1994 in 844 theaters, only grossing $1.37 million. Ultimately the film bombed at the box office because it did not recoup its $15 million budget. It ranks among the top ten widely released films for having the biggest second weekend drop at the box office, dropping 78.5% from $835,570 to $179,315. Critical reception Radioland Murders received negative reviews with Rotten Tomatoes calculating approval rating based on reviews collected. Roger Ebert criticized the film for containing too much slapstick comedy instead of subtle humor. Although he praised the art direction and visual effects, Ebert believed "the movie just doesn't work. It's all action and no character, all situation and no comedy. The slapstick starts so soon and lasts so long that we don't have an opportunity to meet or care about the characters in a way that would make their actions funny." Richard Schickel, writing in Time magazine gave a mixed review, mainly criticizing the film for its fast pacing. Caryn James of The New York Times dismissed the film for trying too hard to pay homage to screwball comedy films of the 1930s. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave a mixed reaction, feeling the filmmakers