The Whole Ten Yards
Rate Movie[Total: 13 Average: 1.4]
- Directed By: Howard Deutch
- Written By: Mitchell Kapner, Mitchell Kapner, George Gallo
- Release Date: April 9, 2004
- Domestic Distributor: Warner Bros
- Cast: Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Kevin Pollak
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $40 million | Financed by: Franchise Pictures; MHF Zweite Academy Film |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $16,328,471 | Overseas Gross: $9,827,310 |
This godawful sequel to The Whole Nine Yards (2000), which was Franchise Pictures’ only success, was financed for an alleged $40 million by the notorious Franchise Pictures (known to artificially inflate their budgets, so their co-financiers end up shouldering most of the production costs) and the German based MHF Zweite Academy Film. As per Franchise Pictures’ distribution pact, Warner Bros distributed in the US and in a few select territories.
The Whole Ten Yards was originally scheduled for release on October 17, 2003 but was sent back for reshoots and delayed until April 9, 2004. The Whole Ten Yards received awful reviews and was tracking for an opening in the low to mid teens. It opened over the Easter weekend against a slew of flops — The Alamo, The Girl Next Door, Ella Enchanted and Johnson Family Vacation. The Whole Ten Yards was dead on arrival with $6,685,381 — placing #8 for the weekend led by holdover The Passion Of The Christ.
A week after this film tanked in its first frame, Franchise Pictures went to trial after being sued by the German company Intertainment for fraud from their inflated budget scam. In June, Franchise was found responsible for defrauding Intertainment and ordered to pay $77 million — which would quickly lead to Franchise’s bankruptcy and closure.
Audiences did not like the The Whole Ten Yards any more than critics and it received a toxic C cinemascore. It declined 46.4% the following weekend to $3,585,434 and sank 59.4% in its third session to $1,455,492. The film quickly flopped out of theaters with just $16,328,471. About $8.9 million would be returned after theaters take their percentage of the gross, far less than the P&A spend and the budget would be all red.
Warner Bros distributed in the UK and dumped the film in 58 theaters to all of $245,332 and also dumped the film in France in 50 theaters to $217,134. Russia posted the highest overseas number with a mere $1.4 million and the overseas cume was $9,827,310 across numerous distributors.
In 2012, MHF Zweite Academy Film sued Warner Bros for continuing to collect on revenue from The Whole Ten Yards, Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever and The In-Laws, after Warner Bros lost the rights to the films after Franchise Pictures collapsed. Warner Bros was to pay $432,578 to settle and continue to collect revenue and report accounting data on the films, only to not pay and not report the data and lead to another suit in 2015 also regarding the lost rights of the rom-com Laws Of Attraction.
This was the fourth Bruce Willis flop in a row after Bandits (2001), Hart’s War (2002) and Tears of the Sun (2003). His streak of bombs then continued with Hostage (2005), 16 Blocks (2006) and Perfect Stranger (2007) before finally scoring a hit with Live Free or Die Hard (2007). The Whole Ten Yards was also the last studio picture to be toplined by Matthew Perry, who was last seen on screen in the stinker Serving Sara (2002).