THE CAVE

The Cave

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  [Total: 26 Average: 2.7]
  Genre(s): Action | Fantasy

• • Directed By: Bruce Hunt
  • Written By: Michael Steinberg, Tegan West
  • Release Date: August 26, 2005
  • Domestic Distributor: FOX
  • Cast: Cole Hauser, Eddie Cibrian, Morris Chestnut, Lena Headey
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Box Office Info:

Budget: $25 million	Financed by: Lakeshore Entertainment; Cinerenta; Cineblue
Domestic Gross: $15,007,991	Overseas Gross: $18,288,466

The budget for The Cave was $25 million and the picture was financed by Lakeshore Entertainment, the German investment fund Cinerenta and another German fund whose name was definitely not long enough called Cineblue Internationale Filmproduktions gesellschaft mbH & Co 1. Beteilgungs KG.   Cinerenta was shut down in 2004 after investors sued the company for not covering their losses from numerous flops.  After The Cave flopped, Cineblue took Lakeshore to court for non-payment of revenue and was awarded $3,909,520.

Sony based Screen Gems acquired the domestic rights for $6.5 million and Lakeshore handled pre-sales, which they unveiled to buyers at the Mifed film market in November 2003.  Bruce Hunt was tapped to direct his first feature, who had just completed his third unit directing duties on The Matrix sequels and he was the second-unit director on the first Matrix.

Screen Gems dated The Cave for the slow end of summer frame on August 26, 2005, against The Brothers Grimm and Undiscovered.  This was the same frame from the previous year that Screen Gems saw modest success from another creature feature Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid.

The Cave came in on the low side of the genre with $6,147,294 — placing #5 for the weekend led by holdover The 40-Year-Old Virgin.  Horror films usually don’t score well with Cinemascore exit polls and audiences gave The Cave a poor C- and it sank 52% in its second session to $2,948,695 and fell 54% the following weekend to $1,355,355.  It left theaters with $15,007,991.  Sony would see returned about $8.25M after theaters take their percentage of the ticket price — leaving part of the P&A expenses in the red and their acquisition costs uncovered.

Entertainment distributed the film in the UK, which posted the best overseas gross with only $2,985,547 and Sony dumped the picture in Australia where it picked up $360,256.  The overseas cume was $18,288,466 across a handful of distributors and despite being partially funded from Germany, The Cave went straight to video there