Spy Hard (1996)

Spy Hard is a 1996 American spy parody film starring Leslie Nielsen (who also executive produced) and Nicollette Sheridan, Charles Durning, Marcia Gay Harden, Barry Bostwick, and Andy Griffith, parodying James Bond and other action films. The introduction to the film is sung by comedy artist "Weird Al" Yankovic, and it was the first film to be written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, who went on to write and direct parody films such as Date Movie, Disaster Movie, and Meet the Spartans. The film's title is a parody of Die Hard. The film was directed by Rick Friedberg who produced with Doug Draizin and Jeffrey Konvitz. The film follows Dick Steele, Agent WD-40, who is assigned by his Director, to stop the evil General Rancor from destroying the world. WD-40 believed Rancor was dead and he teams up with the hot KGB Agent Veronique Ukrinsky to find Rancor and save the world.

Spy Hard was released by Buena Vista Pictures under its Hollywood Pictures banner on May 24, 1996. The film received negative reviews from critics, who found the story, screenplay, and Friedberg's direction to be disappointing, but Nielsen's acting and its slapstick humor received some praise. In spite of the criticism, the film was a box-office success, grossing $84 million against a production budget of $18 million.