Bulletproof Monk

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    [Total: 8 Average: 2.5]
  • Directed By: Paul Hunter
  • Written By: Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris
  • Release Date: April 16, 2003
  • Domestic Distributor: MGM
  • Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Seann William Scott, Jaime King

Box Office Info:
Budget: $52 million Financed by: Mosaic Media Group; Signpost Films; MGM
Domestic Gross: $23,358,708 Overseas Gross: $14,355,171

bulletproof monk 2003
Bulletproof Monk was financed by Mosaic Media Group and Signpost Films for $52 million and MGM invested $14 million and signed on as domestic distributor.  This was Signpost Films’ first production and they were to sell international rights to distributors and before the movie was even completed they went bust and shut down.  During this time, Mosaic Media Group acquired a minority stake in Lakeshore Entertainment and as apart of the deal, Lakeshore would sell the international rights to the picture.

The perpetually troubled MGM dated Bulletproof Monk over the Easter frame on April 16, 2003 and it was the most expensive title they released in 2003, followed by the $50 million Out Of Time.  After expensive disasters like Rollerball, Hart’s War and Windtalkers, most of their new slate of films were under $20 million.

Bulletproof Monk received poor reviews and another obstacle to profitability for the lion was producer Charles Roven had landed a fantastic deal where he received 5% of the first-dollar gross.  Chow Yun Fat’s follow-up movie to the global smash Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) had little buzz going into release and his previous American studio vehicles were all flops: The Replacement Killers (1998), The Corruptor (1999) and Anna and the King (1999).  After Bulletproof Monk bombed, it was the last western film toplined by Chow Yun Fat.

It bowed against Holes and Malibu’s Most WantedMonk placed #4 for the weekend with a weak $8,653,542 when Adam Sandler’s Anger Management led the box office.  Bulletproof Monk saw a 49.1% second weekend decline to $4,402,635 and then tumbled 66.5% in its third frame to $1,474,624.  The domestic run closed with a terrible $23,358,708.  MGM would see back about $12.8 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which would not cover their P&A costs or their investment into the production — and 5% of that went to Roven.

Bulletproof Monk was a non-performer overseas, grossing $14,355,171 across numerous distributors who overpaid for this flop.

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