The Gods Must Be Crazy was a hit; it entertained the 80s and 90s people a lot when they were still young.
It was co-produced by South Africa and Botswana in 1980. Ster-Kinekor released it in South Africa, and it smashed box-office records, becoming the most financially successful release in the history of South Africa’s film industry.
The movie was also a global hit, getting critical acclaim in countries like the United States. The film was such a hit that Disney+ is currently streaming it.
In the United States, the movie grossed US$30 million, according to Rotten Tomatoes. In its first four years of release, the film had grossed US$90 million worldwide.
As of 2014, the film has grossed R1.8 billion (US$200 million) worldwide, including more than US$60 million in the United States.
The Gods Must Be Crazy is set in the Kalahari Desert, featuring the late Namibian San farmer Nǃxau ǂToma as Xi, a hunter-gatherer whose tribe discovers a glass bottle dropped from an aeroplane and believed it to be a gift from their gods.
The bottle caused serious fights in his village, and he sought to return it to the gods to restore peace.
Xi’s journey to the “end of the world” eventually has him crossing paths with a bumbling scientist (Marius Weyers) and a band of guerrillas who take a schoolteacher (Sandra Prinsloo) and her class hostage.
Despite becoming a global star because of his acting in The Gods Must Be Crazy, which amassed millions, N!xau was only given R243, which was the equivalent of US$300 then.
The amount now has a value of R5,371.
Jamie Uys. the director of The Gods Must Be Crazy, said N!xau did not know the importance of paper money, so he let go of it, African History reports.
Seeing the success of the movie, the producers decided to release a sequel in 1989, The Gods Must Be Crazy 2.
By then, N!xau had realised the value and significance of money, and he was smarter this time.
He demanded several hundred thousand dollars so he could be recast. He wanted to use the money to build a home with electricity and a water pump for his three wives and their children.
N!xau toured the world, and after ten years of superstardom, he said he had seen enough of the “civilised” world.
In 2000, N!xau returned to his communal life in the Kalahari, tending livestock and growing maize, pumpkins, and beans.
Nǃxau ǂToma, unfortunately, died in June 2003 at 59. His exact cause of death is still unknown.
