I, Frankenstein

  • I, frankenstein box office
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  • Directed By: Stuart Beattie
  • Written By: Stuart Beattie
  • Release Date: January 24, 2014
  • Domestic Distributor: Lionsgate
  • Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Jai Courtney

Box Office Info:
Budget: $65 million Financed by: Lakeshore Entertainment; Sidney Kimmel Entertainment; Hopscotch Features; Lionsgate
Domestic Box Office: $19,075,290 Overseas Box Office: $52,444,175


The I, Frankenstein graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux was first optioned in 2009 by the indie label Death Ray Films and early development was handled by Ryan Turek who ran the horror site ShockTilYouDrop.com (now comingsoon.net).  In early 2010, Lakeshore Entertainment acquired the rights from Death Ray and quickly greenlit the project with plans to franchise this material.  Lakeshore was trying to duplicate their success with the Underworld series (also from Kevin Grevioux), but this was just another franchise non-starter.

The budget for I, Frankenstein was $65 million and it was financed by Lakeshore, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Hopscotch Features and it received a small amount of coin from US distributor Lionsgate.  Lakeshore jointly sold the international rights to distributors with Sierra/Affinity, which would limit their exposure to the budget.  Lionsgate originally scheduled I, Frankenstein for release on February 22, 2013 and then delayed it until September 13 and pushed it back again until January 24, 2014.  After a hefty US marketing spend and a deluxe IMAX treatment to amplify the half rendered and cheap looking vfx , I, Frankenstein was tracking soft and was expected to pull in just north of $10 million.

Lionsgate did not screen this stinker for critics and it came in lower than expected with $8,610,441 in 2,753 theaters — placing #6 when holdovers Ride Along and Lone Survivor led the box office.  The pic sank 56.4% in its second weekend to $3,754,423 and its third frame saw a 60.7% decline to $1,476,556 and it promptly lost most of its theater count.  I, Frankenstein closed its domestic run with just $19,075,290.  Lionsgate would see back about $10.4 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which leaves much of the P&A costs in the red.

Overseas, I, Frankenstein played poorly across Europe, with the exception of a decent enough $11.3 million from Russia and the overseas cume was $52,444,175 across many distributors.

Lakeshore was downsizing and reducing output, only had one other release in 2014 which was the inexpensive dud Walk Of Shame.

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