On January 29, 1964, Columbia Pictures released "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

[Morbius]

2. Dr. Strangelove was released by Columbia Pictures.

In January of 1964. That same year, the same studio was due to release Fail Safe, which has some similarities in the story line. Kubrick insisted Strangelove had to come out first, so when Fail Safe came out in October, it bombed; people were used to laughing at the absurdity of nuclear war, and were unprepared to take it seriously, at least at the movies. It's a shame, because Fail Safe is a great movie; maybe not as good as Dr. Strangelove, but still really well-made. Unforgettable. It didn't deserve to flop. I think Kubrick sensed that whichever movie came out later would be unsuccessful.