“Desperately Seeking Susan” producer says studio worried that Madonna would be a one-hit wonder

Orion Pictures moved up the film's release date just in case, says producer Sarah Pillsbury.

The producers behind Desperately Seeking Susan were, ahem, desperately seeking to get the film out the door in case their Susan ended up being a one-hit wonder.

The film, which featured Madonna in the title role and marked her first major on screen appearance, came out in March 1985. Filming finished the previous November, right as the pop legend's Like a Virgin was released. According to the dramedy's producer, Sarah Pillsbury, Desperately Seeking Susan was originally supposed to hit theaters in October of 1985, but was pushed up to March for two reasons.

Speaking on the newest episode of the Hollywood Gold podcast, Pillsbury told host Daniela Taplin Lundberg that part of the reason for the push was that Orion Pictures, the production company, liked to roll out "a movie every month," and another film the studio had scheduled for March ended up not being ready. So Susan was chosen for that release window instead. "Orion had us push post-production, so we basically had from November to March to do post. A very short window," she explained.

But, this earlier release quelled some major (and now hilarious) concerns at the time. "They were concerned about capitalizing on Madonna, [and] one of the reasons they were happy with the earlier date for us is because they were afraid that Madonna would fade, that her star would fade before [the original October date]," she said, adding with a chuckle. "Yeah, no one-hit wonder there."

Clearly. With sales of over 300 million records worldwide, Madonna would become the best-selling female recording artist of all time, earning her the Queen of Pop moniker. And, ironically, Desperately Seeking Susan would come to be known as a Madonna vehicle, despite her not being billed as a leading lady at the time, because of her rising popularity.

Desperately Seeking Susan also kicked off Madonna's film career, as the singer-songwriter would go on to star in movies such as A League of Their Own, Body of Evidence, Evita and many more.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• Cher says she has no beef with Madonna: 'We buried that hatchet a long time ago'

• Carrie Ann Inaba says Madonna charged dancers $100 per minute for being late: 'She was very strict'

• Madonna calls her recovery 'a f---ing miracle' after June hospitalization

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.