300 worldwide would be a small number for WB. 200 is a bomb. of course they will make their money back. but this is an epic bomb.
Yes, it's current worldwide gross of $205 million is still considered a big loss... yes, a BIG loss.
* To Break Even on Production Budget *
Green Lantern needed a worldwide gross of approximately
$364 MILLION to just break even.
To get that number all you do is take estimated production budget at $200 million and divide it by 55% (the studio share of the gross revenue) which equals approximately $364 million. The typical studio/theater share is 55-45.
Again, this is just to break even from it's Production Budget of an estimated $200 million. This does not even include the Marketing Budget.
It's current $205 million worldwide gross only gives Warner Bros only a net of $113 million; do the math $207M budget - $113M net = $87M aka meaning those WB Executive Producers are still at a loss of $87 million.
It will be lucky to break even.
It won't even come close to breaking even. Not even close. About $159 million short of breaking even.
Green Lantern needed Thor's worldwide numbers (currently at $448 million) to make a profit.
Even if Green Lantern did Captain America numbers (currently at $325 million), it likely won't still be close to breaking even after it's run since it needed at least $364 million due to it's bigger budget.
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Think of it this way.
You (Warner Bros) want to sell an item (Green Lantern Movie) on Ebay (the Movie Theaters).
The item cost you $200.
People then started placing bids (audience going to the cinemas) and you end up selling the item for $205 after the auction (the initial theater run).
So that's a profit right?
Nope.
Because for this listing, Ebay (the Movie Theaters) charged you a 45% fee for hosting your item (Green Lantern Movie) on their site. Meaning you only get 55% of the revenue.
So rather than net a $205 for a $5 profit, you actually only got $113 from the sale with a loss of $87.