Harold and Maude was released with a vague, text-only poster and very little marketing. The initial release was a box-office flop, but it gradually found success in repertory theatres and recouped its costs after several years.[12] According to Danny Peary, author of the Cult Movies series: "The film was a runaway cult favorite, and, most memorably, in Minneapolis, residents actually picketed the Westgate Theater, and tried to get the management to replace the picture after a consecutive three-year run."[13][14]
Home media
The Criterion Collection released Harold and Maude for Region 1 on DVD and Blu-ray on June 12, 2012, including a collection of audio excerpts of director Hal Ashby from January 11, 1972, and of screenwriter Colin Higgins from January 10, 1979, a new video interview with Yusuf/Cat Stevens, a new audio commentary by Ashby biographer Nick Dawson and producer Charles B. Mulvehill, and a booklet which includes a new film essay by Matt Zoller Seitz. Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition are a new digital restoration of the film with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack and an optional remastered uncompressed stereo soundtrack. Other exclusives are a New York Times profile of actress Ruth Gordon from 1971, an interview from 1997 with actor Bud Cort and cinematographer John Alonzo, and an interview from 2001 with executive producer Mildred Lewis.[3][15][16]
