'RHOBH' Star Denise Richards and Kirsten Dunst’s 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' Celebrates 20th Anniversary
By Ryan Naumann on July 23, 2019 at 12:49 PM EDT
The cult classic “Drop Dead Gorgeous” starring Denise Richards and Kirsten Dunst is celebrating 20 years since being released, and an Oscar winner even posted about the anniversary.
The 1999 cult classic was ravaged by critics when it was released and only made $10 million at the box office against a budget of $15 million. The film would find an audience after being released on VHS.
The film was a mockumentary that focused on a small-town beauty pageant. The town was run by a rich family consisting of Kirstie Alley (Gladys Leeman) and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Denise Richards (Rebecca “Becky” Leeman).
Kirsten Dunst (Amber Atkins) played the poor girl with dream of being the next Diane Sawyer, who was Richards' main competition. She would kill it at the beauty pageant and should have won, but the whole thing was rigged by the Leeman's.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3nFZq1-fic&t=23s[/embed]
Youtube
However, Becky Leeman would die before making it to nationals, when the swan float she was on in the city parade caught fire. Dunst would take her place and go on to nationals (but that didn't turn out well for her either).
New Line Cinema
The cast was full of current A-listers like Amy Adams, Ellen Barkin (who is epic as Dunst’ mother Annette Atkins) and the late Brittany Murphy.
Academy Award winner, Allison Janney, posted a throwback of her and Dunst from the film. She captioned the post, “Happy 20th Drop Dead Gorgeous! I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to see all the love there is for this film. It’s one I truly love as well.
The film had been difficult to find on DVD or any streaming outlet until Hulu recently made it available (due in part to comedian Danny Pellegrino).
