G-Force
Rate Movie[Total: 19 Average: 3.5]
- Directed By: Hoyt Yeatman
- Written By: Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley
- Release Date: July 24, 2009
- Domestic Distributor: Disney
- Cast: Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $175 million | Financed by: Disney |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $119,436,770 | Overseas Gross: $173,381,071 |
Oscar winning VFX veteran Hoyt Yeatman, launched a production company Whamaphram Productions and in April 2004, he announced their first project G-Force, which he would direct. His company was looking to develop a slate of cost effective CG animated features mixed with live action and went in search of distributors. In December ’04, Yeatman pitched G-Force to Jerry Bruckheimer, since the two had a working relationship on the visual effects for Bruckheimer’s movies like Kangaroo Jack, Armageddon and Con Air. Bruckheimer took G-Force into his production house at Disney and what was developed as a cost effective project, skyrocketed to a completely irresponsible budget of at least $175 million.
G-Force, which pulled in decent worldwide numbers, fell victim to its huge budget and a global P&A spend that was far north of $100M. So much capital was spent on this ridiculous guinea pig movie, that the box office performance contributed to two quarterly losses at Disney’s pictures division. Jerry Bruckheimer, who was no stranger to bloated budgets and huge box office rewards — G-Force began a downward trend for the producer, who would release the expensive flops Prince of Persia, Sorcerer’s Apprentice and The Lone Ranger in the following years, which led to his contract not being renewed at the mouse house in 2013.
Disney dated the pricey movie for the prime summer slot on July 24, 2009. In addition to the marketing blitz, Disney landed numerous corporate tie-ins, including huge exposure with Major League Baseball — which had dedicated G-Force Days. There were also toy lines and plush dolls.
G-Force bowed against The Ugly Truth and Orphan. Reviews were mostly negative and it opened into a crowded market with holdover family fare: the second weekend of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were still pulling in auds.
G-Force opened above its modest expectations with $31,706,934 — but it was a troubling start for a movie sporting a budget this large. G-Force declined 44.8% the following frame to $17,515,489 and fell 43.6% to $9,870,594 in its third session. The movie managed to have enough legs to make it past the century mark at $119,436,770.
G-Force pulled in $173.3M from its offshore run. The worldwide cume was $292.8M worldwide and Disney would see returned about $161M after theaters take their percentage of the gross. This was the first and last project for Whamaphram Productions.