The Competition

1980 | Drama, Music, Romance

Synopsis

Paul Dietrich, at almost 30 years old, is a fading piano prodigy. Heidi Schoonover is a talented young pianist with a promising future. When Paul hears of an upcoming competition that could make his career, he dedicates himself to winning.

Scores

Overall Score
47.2
Popularity Percentile (Year)
35.6%
Box Office Percentile (Year)
52.3%
Review Aggregate
64.7

Critic Consensus

57.1% Fresh • 7 critic reviews

Critic reception is mixed, with 57% of 7 logged reviews marked Fresh. Across reviews, critics repeatedly emphasize romantic, emotional, visually striking. Common reservations focus on execution consistency, even when reviewers praise standout elements.

romanticemotionalvisually strikingcharacter-driventhought-provokingrealistic

Cast

CastYearReported SalaryInflation AdjustedNotes
Richard Dreyfuss1980$822,000$3,129,000(est)
Amy Irving1980$506,000$1,926,000(est)
Lee Remick1980$381,000$1,450,000(est)
Sam Wanamaker1980$311,000$1,186,000(est)

Aggregated Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes critic score67.0
RT critic review count9
Rotten Tomatoes audience score61.0
RT audience rating count250
IMDb rating6.6
IMDb votes3,003

Box Office ?

CategoryYearReportedInflation Adjusted
Domestic1980$14,287,755$54,394,038
International1980N/AN/A
Worldwide1980$14,287,755$54,394,038

Earnings / Profitability

Estimated net revenues and net expenses for films based on reported and estimated numbers. This income statement should be considered most viable for the first 24 months after the inital movie's release (ie after most lucrative pay windows).
CategoryYearReportedInflation Adjusted
Revenues
Theatrical Net Revenue1980$7,143,878$27,197,019
Digital Rentals ?1980N/AN/A
Digital Purchases ?1980N/AN/A
Physical Rentals ?1980$1,678,000$6,388,211
Physical Purchases ?1980$1,570,000$5,977,051
TV & Streaming Revenue1980$3,571,939$13,598,510
Total Revenues1980$13,963,816$53,160,791
Expenses
Budget ?1980$10,100,000$38,451,092
Print & Advertising (P&A) ?1980$3,930,000 (est)$14,961,663 (est)
Participations1980$279,000$1,062,164
Residuals ?1980$403,000$1,534,237
Interest & Overhead1980$2,020,000$7,690,218
Total Expenses1980$16,732,000$63,699,374
Movie Net Profit or Loss1980$-2,768,184$-10,538,583

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