A director by the name of Alan Smithee (played by Eric Idle) has been allowed to direct Trio, a big-budget action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jackie Chan. However, the studio recuts the film, and when Smithee sees the results (which he describes as being "worse than Showgirls") and realizes that he cannot use a pseudonym (because the only one allowed is "Alan Smithee") he steals the film and goes on the run, threatening to burn it.