Budgets

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/060515k.php

A Breakdown of $200+ Million Budgets
Posted: Monday May 15th, 2006 6:16pm
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Author: Garth Franklin

One of the most difficult things to ween out of any filmmaker or studio is a film's budget. More often than not they generally underestimate the amount by a good 20-30%, and of course it almost always never includes development costs or marketing/publicity expenses - an amount which can be as high as the film itself.

This past weekend though, The Wall Street Journal surprised everyone with a breakdown of some Summer movie budgets for the newest club on the block, the $200+ million epic. Amongst their estimates:

"Spider-Man 3" - $250-$300 million
"Superman Returns" - $261 million
"King Kong" - $250 million
" Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" - approaching $225 million
"X-Men: The Last Stand" - $210 million

How they got the numbers remains unsure but for the most part they do seem rather spot on with the word through the grapevine rather than the on the record statements.

Officially X3 cost $165m, Kong cost $207m, and Superman has drawn conflicting amounts ranging from $190m to $250m. In Superman's case its not sure whether that amount includes the $45-65 million in development costs accumulated over nearly ten years before Bryan Singer came onboard.

Also, Spider-Man 3 is still shooting so there's no telling how much higher it will go, whilst Pirates is being worked on to the last minute and may climb further. Pirates will be balanced though with the third film which will obviously re-use much of the elements from the second one and save on costs - by how much though is uncertain.

 

Thanks! Here's another good one - although this isn't about X-3 (although it's mentioned), it's about DaVinci and what Sony expects. It will be interesting to see how it holds up to these numbers since I know a lot of people who are *not* going to see it because of the controversy and "I read the book I don't need to see the movie."

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/sony-predicts-da-vinci-code-dollars

I'm told Sony is looking for a Da Vinci Code domestic opening weekend of $60 million-$70 million from about 3,600 theaters May 19-21, and expects the first 11 days including Memorial Weekend to gross $125 million from U.S. moviegoers. The studio figures to end the summer with an overall worldwide haul of $500 million. (I've already reported that, in Italy, Mexico and Spain, Catholic Moviegoers Overseas Defy Vatican and Sell Out Da Vinci Code In Advance.)
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I've learned that one thing worrying Sony is that, since The Da Vinci Code is primarily an adult movie, some of those adults may be siphoned off not by falling MI3, or flailing Poseidon but by Paramount/Dreamworks' counter-programming of its big animated flick Over the Hedge in 3,800 theaters that same weekend. (Mom and Dad gotta keep those kiddies entertained, right?)
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"If Over the Hedge performs as well as Dworks' Madagascar did, we may have to rely more on overseas sales," one Sony source fretted. Plus, 20th Century Fox's X-Men 3 opens over Memorial Weekend, and that's a proven franchise.

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So what does this mean for Da Vinci Code? It's still going to be a huge grosser, probably one with good enough legs to last the summer. Several showbiz reporters have ridiculously made comparisons to that other adult movie directed by Ron Howard and produced by Brian Grazer (swap Russell Crowe for Tom Hanks) that debuted in the summer, Cinderella Man. Uh, I don't recall a worldwide bestseller named Cinderella Man that put 40 million copies into people's hands. Meanwhile, exhibitors saw the movie for the first time last week and, as expected, loved it. Much has been made of the fact that Sony has been holding back screenings, but big-city film critics get their crack at the movie Tuesday, and the all-press screening is Wednesday.

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Meanwhile, Da Vinci Code's world premiere kicks off the 59th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 17. Sony plans an absurdly lavish international junket aboard a specially outfitted Eurostar train which will be rerouted from London's Waterloo Station straight to Cannes (instead of Paris) for "old-fashioned Hollywood fun" to amuse the film people and the world press, sources gush and say each train car will be decorated like a different country to signify the different chapters of the book.​

 

I don't think it will go over what Sony predicts.