One Night Stand

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  • Directed By: Mike Figgis
  • Written By: Mike Figgis
  • Release Date: November 14, 1997
  • Domestic Distributor: New Line
  • Cast: Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski, Kyle MacLachlan

Box Office Info:
Budget: $24 million Financed by: New Line
Domestic Box Office: $2,642,983 Overseas Box Office: $5,427,095

one night stand 1997
In October 1994, Joe Eszterhas’ 4 page outline of One Night Stand went out for bids and New Line, Savoy and Cinergi were aggressively seeking the rights.  The 4 page treatment sold to New Line for a record breaking and completely ridiculous amount of money that netted Eszterhas $4 million.  The mini-major paid the scribe $2.5M upfront and he would be paid an additional $1.5M after delivering the screenplay.  The $2.5M set a record for the most capital spent on an idea that would be turned into a script.  Eszterhas would also receive 2.5% of all revenue after the movie reached $20 million in earnings.

Director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, Jacob’s Ladder) was packaged with the 4 page treatment deal and New Line would pay him $250,000 to help develop the script and his director’s fee would be a staggering $7 million.  Lyne eventually vacated the project to helm the expensive commercial fiasco Lolita.

Fresh off of the success of Leaving Las Vegas, Mike Figgis was tapped to take over One Night Stand and he was paid $2.5M to direct and do a rewrite.  Figgis tossed out Eszterhas’ entire screenplay, so Eszterhas had his name removed from the project.  The budget for One Night Stand was $24 million and New Line fully financed.   Overseas sales to distributors reduced some risk on the picture.

One Night Stand was positioned as a major awards player and was dated for release on November 14, 1997.  It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in late August and landed mixed to poor reviews, though Wesley Snipes won Best Actor from the festival.  The movie had little buzz going into release and New Line booked it only moderately wide at 407 locations.

One Night Stand landed in a commercial deadzone — too poorly reviewed for the arthouse crowd and too under the radar for the multiplex crowd.  It opened with $978,819 — placing #17 for the weekend.  The weekend numbers killed off a further expansion.  Audiences also gave the picture a terrible C Cinemascore and the domestic run closed with only $2,642,983.

Overseas numbers were a small $5.4M across numerous distributors.  After One Night Stand, Mike Figgis began to make experimental movies and returned to studio filmmaking only one more time with the dreadful Cold Creek Manor (2003).

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