One Night At McCool's
Rate Movie[Total: 6 Average: 2.7]
- Directed By: Harald Zwart
- Written By: Stan Seidel
- Release Date: April 27, 2001
- Domestic Distributor: USA Films
- Cast: Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Michael Douglas
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $18 million | Financed by: USA Films |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $6,290,673 | Overseas Gross: $7,182,697 |
One Night At McCool’s was financed by USA Films for $18 million and Michael Douglas’ newly formed Furthur Films production company optioned the script which had been kicking around the industry for years and One Night At McCool’s was their first production. Good Machine Intl. handled pre-sales, which sold well to international distributors and would limit USA’s exposure to the budget — especially from German distributor Constantin, which ponied up $4.5 million for the pre-sale rights after 11 other bids from distributors. The film completed production in November 1999 and USA Films planned on a fall 2000 release, but pushed it back to April 27, 2001.
One Night At McCool’s bowed against Driven, the extremely delayed Town & Country and the cheap horror pic The Forsaken. One Night At McCool’s received mixed to poor notices from critics and was booked into 1,818 theaters. Buzz was non-existent and it opened with an awful $2,520,041 — placing #11 for the slow weekend led by Driven. The head of USA distribution,Jack Foley said: “We believed it was a commercial film. This is disappointing. Maybe it’s because it was a black comedy, and black comedies can be a difficult sell.” The pic declined 49.1% to $1,283,322 in its second frame and One Night At McCool’s was quickly out of release with just $6,290,673. USA Films would see back about $3.4 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, leaving much of the P&A expenses in the red. Vivendi folded USA Films into Universal’s Focus Features in 2002.
The numerous overseas distributors who took on the pre-sales rights dumped the film, which grossed just $7.1 million. It was sent straight to video in Russia.
Great film!