tgd (04/29/83)
A fairly accurate rule-of-thumb requires that, for a film
to break even, domestic rentals must match the production
budget, with foreign rentals and cable sale offsetting
marketing costs. By this yardstick, the biggest losers of
1982 were:
Production Domestic
Budget Rentals Net Loss
-------- ------- --------
1. Inchon $46.0 $ 1.9 ($44.1)
2. One From the Heart 26.0 0.3 ( 25.7)
3. Ragtime 32.0 10.0 ( 22.0)
4. Reds 42.0 21.0 ( 21.0)
5. Pennies From Heaven 22.0 3.6 ( 18.4)
6. Yes, Giorgio 18.0 0.7 ( 17.3)
7. The Border 22.0 5.0 ( 17.0)
8. Lookin' To Get Out 17.0 0.3 ( 16.7)
9. Megaforce 20.0 3.5 ( 16.5)
10. Annie 51.5! 35.2 ( 16.3)
11. Five Days One Summer 15.0 0.1 ( 14.9)
12. Personal Best 16.0 3.0 ( 13.0)
13. Blade Runner 27.0 14.5 ( 12.5)
14. Tempest 13.0 2.2 ( 10.8)
15. Cat People 16.0 5.5 ( 10.5)
16. Barbarosa 10.8 0.5 ( 10.3)
(Source: Film Comment, April 1983)
Notes:
1. The presence of "Annie" is a tribute to the general
good taste of the American public.
2. One From the Hearts's megaflop shows that FFCoppola's
"this is art, dammit" attitude doesn't play in Peoria.
A film that only stays in the theater a few days isn't
going to make much money.
3. Barbarosa's performance shows that some people can't
even market a film that gets great reviews. Is the
western dead?
3. I guess sublime art direction and the ever-fetching
Sean Young (as Rachel) weren't enough to sell Blade
Runner. If it had gotten the two Oscars it deserved
(Art Direction and Special Effects) it could have
been saved by re-release.
4. Why didn't anyone like Pennies From Heaven?? Again, art
direction (the Edward Hopper look for those saying
"what art direction?") isn't enough, and Steve Martin's
serious box office rating is in jeopardy.
Questions, comments, useless trivia??
tgd