TOMORROWLAND

Tomorrowland

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  [Total: 26 Average: 3.3]
  Genre(s): Sci-Fi | Adventure

• Directed By: Brad Bird
• Written By: Brad Bird, Damon Lindelof
• Release Date: May 22, 2015
• Domestic Distributor: Disney
• Cast: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson
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Box Office Info:

Budget: $190 million	Financed by: Disney
Domestic Gross: $93,436,322	Overseas Gross: $115,718,000

It was announced in June 2011 that Disney inked a seven figure deal with Damon Lindel to pen Tomorrowland (formerly titled 1952).  In following the tradition of Lindel’s TV series Lost and other J. J. Abrams fare, the Tomorrowland project was completely shrouded in secrecy.  Brad Bird turned down Star Wars: Episode VII to helm Tomorrowland, which was set up as a giant tentpole tied into the theme park at Disney locations and the property was expected to launch a franchise.

The budget for Tomorrowland was a massive $190 million and Disney fully financed.   It was to be their big end of year release in 2014 on December 19th and then they pushed up a week to December 12 but then delayed it until May 22nd, 2015.  Disney spent more than $150 million to market the picture worldwide and launched a vague marketing campaign that tried to keep the premise a secret and it clearly worked against the commercial potential.  The picture’s narrative had no twist and nothing to protect spoilers from, so the secretive nature of the marketing was a gimmick that backfired.  It was not clear if Tomorrowland was aimed at children or older audiences and mixed reviews only added to the ambivalence surrounding the picture.  Tomorrowland ended as one of the top 10 biggest box office bombs on record, when Disney took an unspecified write-down on the picture, expected to be at least $140M.

After the marketing blitz, which included a seven minute sneak preview before IMAX screenings of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Tomorrowland opened in the US over the Memorial Day frame, against the Poltergeist remake.  It came in far below estimates at $33,028,165 for the weekend and $42,679,200 over the 4-day holiday — placing #1 at the box office.  There were no family targeting movies opening for another month, until Disney’s Inside Out and Tomorrowland was expected to play well over the upcoming weeks, but it sank 56.7% in its second frame to $14,303,679 ending its chances at breaking out.  Tomorrowland closed its domestic run with a very disappointing $93,436,322.

Overseas, the picture pulled in a less than blockbuster $115.7 million, with China posting the highest gross at $19.2 million.  The worldwide cume was $209.1 million, which would leave the mouse house with about $109.4 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross — leaving over $40M in P&A costs in the red and the budget as all red ink from the theatrical receipts.