Director Barry Levinson is coming back with "What Just Happened?", a satire on the movie industry starring Robert De Niro as a washed-up producer. It features an all-star cast that includes Bruce Willis, Sean Penn, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro and many more. With that kind of pedigreed cast and filmmaker, this sounds like a can't-miss, right?

Think again. The film debuted at Sundance this year to mostly indifferent reaction from audiences. While that may seem shocking considering the talent involved, it really shouldn't be.

With very rare exceptions, movies about the movie business rarely find an audience. TV shows seem to do a little better. Witness the success of "Entourage" for HBO, and NBC's "30 Rock." But that critically-acclaimed show's success comes with a disclaimer: its ratings remain low.

Getting back to the movies though. The reason these 'inside looks' at the entertainment world hardly ever succeed in theaters is that they're too 'inside baseball' for the casual viewer.

Movie junkies and people whose work is linked to Hollywood in some way, shape or form - such as the producer of a movie review show - tend to love movies like "The Player", "Postcards From The Edge", "Swimming With Sharks" and "The Big Picture" and because they usually can spot familiar faces buried within the offbeat characters that tend to populate these films (anyone who's ever dealt with Hollywood types has met some as oily and sleazy as Peter Gallagher's Larry Levy from "The Player").

But much of the absurdity in said characters' behavior is usually lost on the average guy in the Midwest whose only exposure to the Hollywood system is the Universal Studios backlot tour. And before you suggest that aiming for that industry crowd as the target audience for your low-budget indie Hollywood satire, keep in mind that most people who work in the movie business DON'T PAY TO GO TO THE MOVIES. They go to screenings. So even that tactic doesn't pay off.

It's also important to reiterate that "What Just Happened?" had a disappointing debut in front of an insider-heavy crowd at Sundance. That couldn't have sparked confidence in the distributor that the film will find an audience in Middle America.

All this doesn't mean that Levinson's film, based on Art Linson's book, is guaranteed to fail at the box office. That's anyone's guess. According to history, though, it could be tricky. "What Just Happened?" opens October 3rd.

Watch the trailer HERE!