The Legend of Hercules
Rate Movie[Total: 7 Average: 2.1]
- Directed By: Renny Harlin
- Written By: Sean Hood, Daniel Giat, Renny Harlin, Giulio Steve
- Release Date: January 10, 2014
- Domestic Distributor: Lionsgate (Summit)
- Cast: Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $70 million | Financed by: Millennium Films |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $18,848,538 | Overseas Box Office: $42,553,907 |
After the breakout success of 300, action schlock specialists Millennium Films wanted to get in on the sword-and-sandals genre and began planning a Hercules film back in 2007. Millennium finally got the ball rolling for The Legend of Hercules in 2013, after Paramount announced their Hercules project starring Dwayne Johnson, which Paramount scheduled for a summer 2014 release. To get The Legend of Hercules in the can and into theaters in early 2014 before the Paramount picture, it was rushed into production in May 2013 and cobbled together with lousy vfx.
The budget for The Legend of Hercules was $70 million and it was financed by Millennium films and their exposure to the budget was reduced from strong pre-sales to distributors. Lionsgate picked up US rights under its Summit label and first dated The Legend Of Hercules for February 7, five months before the release of the Dwayne Johnson Hercules movie. It was then pushed forward a month to January 10.
The film was tracking poorly with opening estimates between $6 – $8 million and it received dreadful reviews. The Legend Of Hercules bowed against the wide expansions of Lone Survivor, Her and August: Osage County. What little appeal it had with male auds, would be mostly siphoned off from direct competition with Lone Survivor. The Legend Of Hercules was booked into 2,104 theaters and opened within its low expectations with a poor $8,868,318 — placing a distant #3 behind Lone Survivor. The Legend Of Hercules sank 61.7% in its second frame to $3,397,143 and declined 63.7% to $1,232,828 in its third session and then promptly lost most of its theater count. The domestic run closed with just $18,848,538. After theaters take their percentage of the ticket price, Lionsgate would see about $10.5 million, leaving much of their P&A costs in the red.
The Legend of Hercules did poorly across the world, grossing $42,553,907 across many distributors.