Spider-Man 3 covers costs
When the ticket stubs were counted in 107 markets, Spider-Man 3 made $382 million this past week. This covers the cost of production, variously estimated to be between $250 million and $350 million. Marketing costs have been estimated to be as much as another $150 million.
SM3 set records as the biggest opening weekend in 29 different countries, including the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, China, Italy, Mexico anad Brazil.
According to a company press release, the flick earned three times the money in South Korea as the previous record holder. The film also set a record for the largest domestic gross at IMAX theaters, with $4.8 million.
So, what do you want to do next weekend?
Actually, the rule of thumb is a movie has to take in three times its production and marketing costs to start earning a profit. If it cost $300 mil to do that, it needs to clear $900 million worldwide to start being profitible. None of this count slicensing, home video, pay cable, DVD, etc. It'll make money butnowhere near as much as one would think.
I just find it insane that a movie could rake in that much money and still turn only "moderate" profits.
I was just referring to above-the-line costs. We don't know what the individual deals are, and who gets a piece of every ticket sale from dollar one. And we all know that movie studio accounting will prove the movie actually cost so much money that there will never be a profit.