The Gambler
Rate Movie[Total: 3 Average: 3.3]
- Directed By: Rupert Wyatt
- Written By: William Monahan
- Release Date: December 25, 2014
- Domestic Distributor: Paramount
- Cast: Mark Wahlberg, George Kennedy, Jessica Lange
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $25 million | Financed by: Paramount |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $33,680,992 | Overseas Box Office: $5,600,000 |
Paramount began active development on remaking the 1974 James Caan starrer The Gambler back in 2011 and Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio became attached to the project. Scorsese eventually dropped out and Todd Phillips was set to helm the movie. Both DiCaprio and Phillips soon left the project and it finally began to move forward with Mark Wahlberg and Rupert Wyatt onboard as director.
The budget for The Gambler was $25 million and Paramount financed.
Paramount first dated The Gambler for a limited release on December 19 for an Oscar qualifying run and a wide expansion scheduled for January 1, but scrapped the platform rollout for a wide bow on Christmas. The Gambler would be competing for scraps in a very crowded market, against Into The Woods, Unbroken, Big Eyes, the modestly wide expansion of The Imitation Game — plus big budget holdovers The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
The Gambler received mixed reviews, had zero awards buzz and was tracking for an opening near $12 million for the holiday frame. It was booked into 2,478 theaters and came in above its modest expectations with $9,129,999 for the weekend and $14,133,168 for the 4-day frame. Audiences gave The Gambler a poor C+ cinemascore and it saw a modest 30.6% second weekend decline over the New Years holiday to $6,337,114. It then sank 63.6% to $2,305,574 in its third weekend and promptly lost most of its theater count. The domestic run closed with $33,680,992.
Paramount gave The Gambler a small rollout in a few markets overseas, where it pulled in just $5.6 million. The worldwide total was $39.2 million, which would return about $21.5 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross — leaving part of the P&A expenses in the red and the budget untouched.