Bless The Child
Rate Movie[Total: 9 Average: 1.3]
- Directed By: Chuck Russell
- Written By: Thomas Rickman, Clifford Green, Ellen Green
- Release Date: August 11, 2000
- Domestic Distributor: Paramount
- Cast: Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, Rufus Sewell, Christina Ricci
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $40 million | Financed by: Icon Entertainment; Paramount |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $29,381,494 | Overseas Gross: $11,061,516 |
Bless The Child was greenlit during a deluge of other idiotic movies dealing with Satanic shenanigans, including End Of Days, Stigmata, Lost Souls and the not quite idiotic, but far from Polanski’s best The Ninth Gate. Following Kim Basinger’s Oscar winning turn in L.A. Confidential, she signed onto two critical and commercial misfires I Dreamed of Africa and Bless The Child.
In early 1999, Icon Entertainment and Paramount formed a co-financing pact and Bless The Child was the first project to materialize from that deal. The budget for Bless The Child was $40 million and Paramount would be responsible for 30% of the costs and own domestic rights and Icon would cover the rest and limit their investment by selling off international rights. Icon would also distribute in the UK.
This lethargic hack job by Chuck Russell (the manic comedy The Mask, the 1988 Blob remake) was dated for August 11, which was just three months after I Dreamed of Africa opened and tanked. Paramount screened the movie at the 11th hour for critics, so most of the reviews would not post by Friday. When the reviews came in, they were as bad as they come.
Bless The Child bowed against The Replacements and Autumn in New York and pulled in a soft $9,413,684 — placing #7 for the weekend led by the holdover Hollow Man. The following frame it declined 48.6% to $4,837,688 and dipped 43.9% to $2,712,898 in its third session. The domestic run closed with $29,381,494. Paramount would see returned about $16.1 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which would not cover P&A expenses or their exposure to the budget.
Icon saw the picture tank in the UK with just $1,344,988. The overseas cume stalled at $11 million across numerous distributors. Satan took a much needed break from the big screen after the year 2000.