The Flock

  • the flock gere
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  • Directed By: Andrew Lau
  • Written By: Craig Mitchell, Hans Bauer
  • Release Date: May 20, 2008
  • Domestic Distributor: The Weinstein Company (video release)
  • Cast: Richard Gere, Claire Danes, KaDee Strickland

Box Office Info:
Budget: $33 million Financed by: Bauer Martinez Studios
Domestic Gross: $0 Overseas Gross: $7,119,846

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The Flock was financed for $33 million by Bauer Martinez Studios.  Philippe Martinez launched Bauer Martinez Studios after serving a six month jail sentence for fraud in France, when he landed $200 million in backing from British investors.  Martinez had more hubris than understanding how to run a successful studio and he claimed he would have the biggest independent studio in Hollywood within a year, even eclipsing Lionsgate.  Just one year later, he could barely stay open for business or release any of his films.

In one of the many poor decisions that led to his line of capital drying up, was that Martinez paid Richard Gere $10 million to star in The Flock, which was apparently far more than double his usual salary.  Once production on The Flock ended, Martinez fired director Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs) and he tried to recut and reshoot the film himself.  Martinez’s previous directing experience was helming a straight to video Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Wake of Death and a Jerry Springer pic Citizen Verdict.  Richard Gere wisely convinced him to hire Niels Mueller to help rework The Flock.

While the film was having surgery done to it, Martinez released Harsh Times and the awful Van Wilder sequel and both were flops that cost far more to market than to make.  The Flock was set to be released theatrically in the US through MGM, but the wannabe mogul burned his bridges with MGM after not paying for prints and advertising for Harsh Times and leaving MGM with the bill.

With his company now drained of capital from funding a small slate of movies and having no income returned from the two theatrical releases — The Flock was now left without a distributor and in the hands of a foolish producer buried in debt.  Martinez couldn’t pay for marketing and distribution for his more more expensive productions The Flock and his $24 million pic I Could Never Be Your Woman.  The Flock ended up being dumped straight to video by The Weinstein Company in 2008, which only picked up the movie for a video release and also unloaded I Could Never Be Your Woman without a theatrical release.

The Flock was released overseas to a small $7.1 million across numerous distributors and $2.7 million from Spain was the strongest showing and it went straight to video in Germany.

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