Valiant
Rate Movie[Total: 14 Average: 2.9]
- Directed By: Gary Chapman
- Written By: Jordan Katz, George Webster, George Melrod
- Release Date: August 19, 2005
- Domestic Distributor: Disney
- Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $43 million | Financed by: Vanguard Animation; Ealing Studios; UK Film Council |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $19,478,106 | Overseas Box Office: $42,268,782 |
Valiant was the first animated feature to come from Vanguard Animation, which developed the CG toon as a modestly priced alternative to studio fare. Vanguard originally tried to launch Valiant for $25 million, but eventually settled on a cash budget of $32.5 million and an additional $7.5 million in deferrals. Financing came from Vanguard Animation and Ealing Studios and the production received £2.58 million ($4 million) from the UK Film Council’s Premiere Fund. The total budget for Valiant was $43 million. Odyssey Entertainment pre-sold the foreign rights to distributors, which sold well.
Vanguard landed a domestic distribution agreement with Disney, which ponied up $10 million for the picture in September 2002, which was when the mouse house was in the process of dismantling their traditional animation departments and they wanted to stock up on computer animated fare. Disney dated Valiant for the slow end of summer frame on August 19, 2005, trying to court family auds against openers The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Red Eye and Supercross.
Reviews were mixed leaning negative and it tanked with $5,914,722 — placing #8 for the weekend led by The 40-Year-Old Virgin. It declined 40.7% in its second frame to $3,505,126 and closed its domestic run with a poor $19,478,106. Disney would see returned about $10.7 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, leaving much of their P&A expenses and acquisition cost in the red. At the time of release, Valiant was the lowest grossing computer animated theatrical feature.
Valiant did moderately better overseas, but still posted soft numbers in most markets, with the exception of an ok $15.9 million gross for Entertainment in the UK. The overseas cume was $42,268,782 across many distributors. Vanguard followed Valiant in 2006 with the more expensive flop Happily N’Ever After.