Ghostbusters with $7.8 million but quickly lost steam, mostly due to poor word-of-mouth, and grossed a disappointing $19.2 million. It was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture, losing to Dune. When Murphy hosted Saturday Night Live about five months after the film was released, he admitted in his opening monologue that he knew the film was awful and did it for the money: "After I did 48 Hours and Trading Places, all these scripts started coming from everywhere, and I picked up a script called Best Defense. There’s a movie that sucked real bad! At first, I wasn’t going to do it because I read the script, and I felt like I was an actor at first. But the money they gave me to do Best Defense, y’all would have done Best Defense too, OK? ... I was like, 'What?! How dare you give me a script like this! Oh, that much money? Let’s go!' Best Defense turned out to be the worst movie ever done in the history of anything, and all of a sudden, I wasn’t that hot no more. So, I called up the producer of Saturday Night Live, and I go, 'Um, you still got my dressin’ room?'" See also The Pentagon Wars References External links 1984 films American action comedy films American political comedy films American spy comedy films 1980s English-language films Films scored by Patrick Williams Films based on American novels Paramount Pictures films 1980s spy comedy films Films directed by Willard Huyck Films with screenplays by Willard Huyck Films with screenplays by Gloria Katz American war comedy films Films set in Kuwait Films set in 1982 Films produced by Gloria Katz Films about the United States Army 1980s action comedy films 1980s political comedy films 1984 comedy films 1980s American films