I Don't Know How She Does It
- Rate Movie[Total: 2 Average: 1.5]
- Directed By: Douglas McGrath
- Written By: Aline Brosh McKenna
- Release Date: September 16, 2011
- Domestic Distributor: The Weinstein Company
- Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Seth Meyers
Box Office Info:
Budget: $24 million | Financed by: The Weinstein Company |
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Domestic Box Office: $9,662,284 | Overseas Box Office: $20,889,211 |
After the surprise success of the British chick-lit adaptation Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Miramax acquired the British chick-lit rights to I Don’t Know How She Does It in August 2001 for seven figures. The project was in development for years, but it never materialized. After the Weinsteins left Miramax and formed The Weinstein Company in 2005, I Don’t Know How She Does It went with them to TWC.
I Don’t Know How She Does It began to move forward in 2010, which shifted the story from Britain to the states and it was packaged as a vehicle for Sarah Jessica Parker and would co-star Pierce Brosnan. They had previously shared the screen as disembodied heads in Mars Attacks! (1996). The budget for I Don’t Know How She Does It was $24 million and it was financed by The Weinstein Company and they also sold the film at Cannes to overseas buyers, while Parker was fresh off the global hit Sex and the City 2.
The Weinstein Co. distributed in the US and partnered with the NBCU division Women, to help market the picture to their female viewers. I Don’t Know How She Does It was dated for September 16, 2011 and buzz was low. It bowed against Drive, Straw Dogs and the 3D reissue of The Lion King. Tracking was pointing to a soft $7M -$9M launch, but the film tanked with $4,402,201 — placing #6 for the weekend led by The Lion King. TWC blamed the re-release of The Lion King for taking its female audience, who they claimed were busy bringing their kids to the cartoon — and not the dreadful reviews or that its star can’t draw flies outside of Sex and the City. Expecting stronger legs the following weekend, I Don’t Know How She Does It sank 54.5% to $2,002,040 and the domestic run closed with just $9,662,284. The Weinstein Company would see returned about $5.3 million after theaters take their cut of the gross, which covers less than 1/4 of the P&A costs and none of their exposure to the budget.
I Don’t Know How She Does It pulled in only $20.8 million overseas across dozens of distributors. After the box office failure of Did You Hear About The Morgans? back in 2009 and this picture, Sarah Jessica Parker has not had another studio vehicle put into production.