Steve Jobs

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  • Directed By: Danny Boyle
  • Written By: Aaron Sorkin
  • Release Date: October 9, 2015
  • Domestic Distributor: Universal
  • Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels

Box Office Info:
Budget: $30 million Financed by: Universal; Legendary
Domestic Box Office: $17,766,658 Overseas Box Office: $17,752,817

steve jobs 2015
After Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale passed on the title role, Sony sent Steve Jobs into turnaround and less than a week later Universal took on the high profile project.  The budget for Steve Jobs was $30 million and the studio co-financed with Legendary.   Steve Jobs had very strong buzz and Universal backed the prestige picture with an expensive marketing blitz in the US, usually reserved for big budget tentpole fare and not mid budget adult dramas.  Universal spent a reported $40M on the domestic P&A spend, with $24.2M allotted to TV ads (as per iSpotTV).

Universal dated Steve Jobs for October 9 and originally planned on a wide bow, but in early September the studio decided on a NY/LA release on the 9th and a nationwide expansion on the 23rd.  Universal carefully platformed Steve Jobs and opened it in 4 theaters to $521,522 where it posted the year’s best per screen average at $130,381.  It expanded to 60 locations the following weekend and continued to pull in strong numbers with $1,512,693 and a $25,212 per screen average.  Steve Jobs grossed $2.7M by the end of its second week in limited release and was set to move into wide release in its third frame into 2,493 theaters.

Steve Jobs was tracking around $11 – $12 million for its first wide frame and opened against four releases, all of which were tracking soft — The Last Witch Hunter, Jem And The Holograms (also Universal), Rock The Kasbah and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.  Steve Jobs came in way below expectations with $7,105,735 — placing #7 for the weekend led by the holdover The Martian.  Even with rave reviews and a solid A- cinemascore from audiences, the film surprisingly took a 62.1% nosedive in its second wide weekend to $2,691,360.  Steve Jobs promptly lost most of its theater count and it was completely out of release before the award season even began.  The domestic cume was a terrible $17,766,658.  Even with high audience awareness, a blockbuster budget for marketing, strong reviews and awards buzz — sometimes bad box office happens to good movies.

Universal did not see improved numbers overseas and it flopped with a $17.7 million total, with the UK posting the highest gross at $3.3 million.  The worldwide cume was $35.4 million and Universal would see back about $19.4 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which leaves much of the worldwide P&A as a loss and the budget in the red.  In January 2016, the Chinese company Wanda acquired Legendary for $3.5 billion and in their financial statements, which were attained by the hollywoodreporter, Legendary lost $555.6 million in 2015.  Steve Jobs, Crimson PeakBlackhat and Seventh Son contributed to the loss.

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