MOONLIGHT MILE

Moonlight Mile

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  [Total: 3 Average: 2.7]
  Genre(s): Drama

• Directed By: Brad Silberling
• Written By: Brad Silberling
• Release Date: September 27, 2002
• Domestic Distributor: Disney (Touchstone)
• Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon
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Box Office Info:

Budget: $21 million	Financed by: Hyde Park Entertainment; Disney
Domestic Box Office: $6,835,856	Overseas Box Office: $3,175,194

Moonlight Mile was originally in development at DreamWorks (under the title Baby’s In Black) in 1998.  Spielberg had the project dropped after the studio began production on another modestly budgeted picture with no major stars American Beauty — which at the time was expected to land in a commercial dead zone.  Moonlight Mile then moved over to the Warner Bros based Bel Air Entertainment.  Bel Air wanted the young lead (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) to be played by a bankable actor and suggested that writer/director Brad Silberling try to land Keanu Reeves, Brendan Fraser or Johnny Depp.  Silberling refused and the project quickly fell apart.  The next brief home for Moonlight Mile was the German based Intermedia, but they also pulled out.  The project then found financing through Hyde Park Entertainment and Disney.  The budget for Moonlight Mile was $21 million.

The mouse house distributed in the US and Moonlight Mile was positioned as a possible Oscar contender for the studio.  It was dated for a limited release on September 27, 2002 with an expansion set the following weekend.  Mixed to lukewarm reviews cooled any awards hype and Disney even tried to submit the picture to the Independent Spirit Awards, which rejected it because it cost too much.

Moonlight Mile was booked into 22 theaters and pulled in $329,771 with a mediocre $14,989 per screen average.  Disney expanded the picture into 434 engagements the following weekend to $1,882,703, but then it fell 40.5% in its third frame to $1,120,016 — killing off a further expansion.  Moonlight Mile closed its domestic run with only $6,835,856.

The film saw a small theatrical rollout overseas, where it took in $3,175,194.