We Are Your Friends
- Directed By: Max Joseph
- Written By: Max Joseph, Meaghan Oppenheimer
- Release Date: August 28, 2015
- Domestic Distributor: Warner Bros
- Cast: Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski , Max Joseph
Box Office Info:
Budget: $2 million | Financed by: StudioCanal |
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Domestic Gross: $3,591,417 | Overseas Gross: $7,530,673 |
StudioCanal closed a $2 million domestic distribution deal with Warner Bros for We Are Your Friends before the film entered production and once domestic distribution was set, the film sold out every market for distribution during pre-sales. StudioCanal would distribute themselves in the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. The estimated and inexpensive $6m budget, along with the strong pre-sales leave StudioCanal with very limited exposure to the budget, or they are even in the black — though marketing expenses in their territories will be far greater than the film’s production costs.
Warner Bros, who continues to outspend every studio on expensive marketing blitzes, did not invest much into a sizable ad campaign, with about 1,600 tv ads going into release (about $5m) — though millions more would be spent on print, radio, poster, virtual prints fees, etc. Positioned at the end of the summer dumping ground, the Zac Efron vehicle opened in the US in 2,333 theaters to a miserable Friday with $725,000, posting a $311 per screen average — roughly amounting to 6 people per showing and the film continued to decline in attendance Saturday and Sunday, ending the weekend with a dismal $1,767,308 and a $758 per screen average. We Are Your Friends posted the third worst opening for a first run feature in over 2,000 theaters. The few people that showed up also gave We Are Your Friends a toxic C+ cinemascore, which also contributed to a quick death at the box office. In its second weekend of release, the film still played in 2,333 empty theaters to $632,682 for the weekend with a dismal $271 per screen average and was promptly pulled from all but 274 theaters going into its third weekend, which posted just $37,951. The film was out of release with $3,591,417.
StudioCanal opened We Are Your Friends wide in the UK in 370 theaters and the film tanked with $401,378 with a $1,085 per screen average and has not reported any further numbers. StudioCanal saw its highest numbers from Germany with just $1,058,834.
UPDATE 1: The numbers are in and this is a non-bomb! We stand corrected!