Running Free
Rate Movie[Total: 4 Average: 2.8]
- Directed By: Sergei Bodrov
- Written By: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Jeanne Rosenberg
- Release Date: June 2, 2000
- Domestic Distributor: Sony
- Cast: Jan Decleir, Lukas Haas
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $30 million | Financed by: Sony |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $117,608 | Overseas Gross: $0 |
The budget for Running Free was $30 million and it was financed by Sony and it was acclaimed Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov’s first Hollywood picture.
There was studio interference during the entire process and the released movie was a disaster. Executives then added the final deathblow to the movie, when they mandated a non-stop narration track over all footage with the horse — which drew comparisons to a Mr. Ed episode and reduced the family drama to a punchline.
The film was first dated for August 27, 1999 under the title Hoofbeats, but Sony removed it from their calendar. It was eventually retitled and rescheduled for June 2, 2000. Reviews were miserable and Sony dumped Running Free into 100 theaters, where it pulled in all of $55,451 with an awful $554 per screen average. The domestic run cumed all of $117,608.
There is no reported overseas gross for Running Free, which was dumped straight to video in almost every market. In Sony’s quarter financial report, the film division posted a $53 million loss: “Motion picture operating results were adversely affected by the film losses of the first quarter, including I Dreamed of Africa and Running Free.“