Ruthless People

Ruthless People
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jim Abrahams David Zucker Jerry Zucker
Written by	Dale Launer
Produced by	Michael Peyser
Starring	Danny DeVito Judge Reinhold Helen Slater Bette Midler
Cinematography	Jan de Bont
Edited by	Gib Jaffe Arthur Schmidt
Music by	Michel Colombier Charlie Midnight
Production companies	Touchstone Films Silver Screen Partners II
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date	June 27, 1986 (1986-06-27)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9-13 million[1][2]
Box office	$71.6 million[3]

Ruthless People is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and written by Dale Launer. It stars Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Anita Morris, and Helen Slater, with Bill Pullman in a supporting role in his film debut. The film is the story of a couple who kidnap their ex-boss's wife to get revenge and extort money from him. They soon realize he does not want her back and was planning to kill her himself. Meanwhile, the boss's mistress plans a blackmail attempt on him, which also fails to go as planned.

The film was a critical and commercial success. This was the last film released under the Touchstone Films label before Walt Disney Studios changed the name of the label to Touchstone Pictures as well as the last film directed by the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker trio together.