THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS

The Replacement Killers

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  [Total: 9 Average: 3.2]
  Genre(s): Action

• Directed By: Antoine Fuqua
• Written By: Ken Sanzel
• Release Date: February 6, 1998
• Domestic Distributor: Sony
• Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker
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Box Office Info:

Budget: $28 million	Financed by: Sony
Domestic Gross: $19,204,929	Overseas Gross: $16,100,000

The budget for The Replacement Killers was $28 million and it was fully financed by Sony.  The studio designed the project in late 1995 as the first Hollywood vehicle for Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-Fat and that pointless trivia just about sums it up for this derivative actioner.  Sony dated The Replacement Killers for February 6, 1998 and the marketing was built around informing western audiences about Chow Yun-Fat’s star power in Asian markets.

The Replacement Killers received poor reviews and buzz was muted.  It bowed against Blues Brothers 2000 and pulled in a soft $8,046,553 — placing#2 for the weekend led by the 8th frame of Titanic.  There was a 49.4% second weekend decline to $4,068,335 and it sank 59.2% to $1,658,125 in its third session and then promptly lost most of its theater count.  The domestic run closed with a poor $19,204,929.

Sony expected the picture to do strong business overseas, but outside of a mediocre run in Asian markets, The Replacement Killers tanked in every offshore market.  The overseas numbers stalled at $16.1 million.  The worldwide cume was $35.3M and Sony would see returned about $19.4M after theaters take their percentage of the gross  — which would leave much of the global P&A expenses in the red and the budget untouched from the theatrical receipts.

Sony packaged this unwanted flop and the dud Desperate Measures with the box office hits As Good As It Gets and I Know What You Did Last Summer for a huge $45M sale to Turner cable stations TNT & TBS.