The film was initially a modest success, grossing $30.8 million at the United States and Canada box office, on a $16 million production budget.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 97% approval rating based on 77 reviews and an average rating of 8.40/10. The site's consensus states: "A delightfully postmodern fairy tale, The Princess Bride is a deft, intelligent mix of swashbuckling, romance, and comedy that takes an age-old damsel-in-distress story and makes it fresh."[26] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 77 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A+" on scale of A to F.
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating on their television program. Ebert also wrote a very favorable print review in his column for the Chicago Sun-Times. Richard Corliss of Time said the film was fun for the whole family, and later, Time listed the film as one of the "Best of '87". Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised the cast and the sweetness of the film.
he Princess Bride was not a major box-office success, but it became a cult classic after its release to the home video market. The film is widely regarded as eminently quotable. Elwes noted in 2017, on the film's 30th anniversary, that fans still frequently come up to him and quote lines from the movie. According to him, Wallace Shawn had it "worse" because any time Wallace made a small error, like dropping his keys, people would shout "Inconceivable!" to him.
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted The Princess Bride the 38th greatest comedy film of all time. In 2006, William Goldman's screenplay was selected by the Writers Guild of America as the 84th best screenplay of all time; it earned the same ranking in the Guild's 2013 update. The film was selected number 88 on The American Film Institute's (AFI) "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions" listing the 100 greatest film love stories of all time. BBC Radio 5's resident film critic, Mark Kermode, is a fan of the film, frequently considering it a model to which similar films aspire.
AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – Nominated
AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – No. 88
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father; prepare to die!" – Nominated
AFI's 10 Top 10 – Nominated Fantasy Film
In December 2011, director Jason Reitman staged a live dramatic reading of The Princess Bride script at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), with Paul Rudd as Westley; Mindy Kaling as Buttercup; Patton Oswalt as Vizzini; Kevin Pollak as Miracle Max; Goran Visnjic as Inigo Montoya; Cary Elwes (switching roles) as Humperdinck; director Rob Reiner as the grandfather; and Fred Savage reprising his role as the grandson.
In 2013, director Ari Folman released a live-action animated film titled The Congress, which directly referenced The Princess Bride. Folman's film starred Robin Wright, playing both a live and animated version of herself, as a digitally cloned actress.
In 2014, Cary Elwes wrote As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, a behind-the-scenes account of the film's production, co-written with Joe Layden.[42] To help Elwes recall the production, Lear sent him a bound copy of the filming's call sheets.[18] The book debuted at #3 on the New York Times Bestseller list.[43][44] In addition to a foreword by director Rob Reiner and a limited edition poster, the book includes exclusive photos and interviews with the cast members from the 25th anniversary cast reunion, as well as unique stories and set secrets from the making of the film.
In 2018, Savage reprised his role as The Grandson in a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 entitled Once Upon a Deadpool, with Deadpool taking the role of The Narrator and reading the Deadpool 2's story to him at bedtime and skipping over the more adult parts from the R-rated version.
In 2020, a bar themed after the film, named "As You Wish", opened in Chicago. The menu features 16 themed cocktails.
