Hollywood Reporter breaks down the math for us. Newmarket, as the distributor, will probably get around 45% of the profits, meaning that if the film makes $400 million, they'll see around $180 million (not bad, for a no-name, tiny distributor). Gibson will probably see around $100 million, according to HR, though. He gets more, I take it, from international box office revenues (expected to reach $300 million) as well as DVD rentals, merchandising, etc. Anyway, the point being, the breakdown of profits are complicated, but it looks like however you cut it, Mel Gibson's filthy rich.
This happened to George Lucas with Star Wars. Like The Passion, the movie was not believed to have blockbuster potential, and for whatever reason, Lucas got left with a bunch of profit points. It became one of the highest grossing films of all time, as we all know, and Lucas became stinking rich. Each sequel only increased that. But Lucas responded to his sudden wealth by, interestingly, not seeking to make more films. Instead, he chose to create Industrial Light and Magic and Lucasfilm. He pushed for digital sound in theaters and greater special effects. He was not considered to be the greatest filmmaker by his contemporaries - not even a mediocre one from what I can gather. He hated actors, and couldn't write dialogue to save his life. Gibson, on the other hand, seems to enjoy filmmaking, loves actors (he is, after all, first and foremost an actor, giving him more sympathy for them than Lucas who was and is more of a techie guy), and has created a production company intent on creating more films. So it seems likely that this sudden windfall for Gibson will result in more films being made, which is a good thing methinks.
Posted by scott at March 10, 2004 09:25 PM | TrackBack