ADRIFT

Adrift

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  [Total: 40 Average: 3.4]
  Genre(s): Drama | Adventure

• Directed By: Baltasar Kormákur
• Written By: Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell, David Branson Smith
• Release Date: June 1, 2018
• Domestic Distributor: STX Entertainment
• Cast: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin, Grace Palmer
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Box Office Info:

Budget: $35 million	Financed by: STX Entertainment; Lakeshore; Huayi Brothers; Ingenious
Domestic Box Office: $31,445,012	Overseas Box Office: $28,500,000

Adrift was packaged in December 2016 by the talent agency William Morris Endeavor with Shailene Woodley and director Baltasar Kormákur attached.  WME put the project onto the market for financing/distribution bids, under the logline: “Gravity on the high seas.”  We suppose it beats “Recycled lost at sea movie you’ve seen before.”  Kormákur was also coming off the global box office success of “Gravity on a mountain” (Everest).  STX Entertainment immediately began negotiations and finally acquired global rights to Adrift in early February 2017.  Days later, STX took the project to the European Film Market for pre-sales.  The company would handle US and UK distribution duties.

The net budget for Adrift was $35 million and it was the first major movie to take advantage of Fiji’s newly implemented 47% tax rebate, with a maximum return of FJD$28.2M (roughly $13.3M USD).  STX had landed numerous co-financing arrangements on their pictures and coin for Adrift was provided by Lakeshore, Huayi Brothers and Ingenious.  The financing model after nearly $20 million from pre-sales, had STX exposed to about $3M of the budget — plus marketing expenses.

STX dated Adrift for June 1 and it bowed against Action Point and Upgrade.  Reviews were mixed and tracking was pointing to a $10M – $13M opening and it came within expectations at $11,603,039 — placing #3 for the weekend led by holdover Solo: A Star Wars Story.  Adrift was expected to leg out over the next few weeks as counter-programming to oversized summer fare, but it sank 54.6% to $5,272,049 in its second frame — with new opener Ocean’s 8 likely siphoning most of its audience.  It then plunged 58.3% to $2,200,332 in its third session and closed its domestic run with a disappointing $31,445,012.  STX would see returned about $15M after theaters take their percentage of the gross — which would leave at least $15M in P&A expenses in the red, plus their $3M investment into the picture.

Adrift pulled in soft numbers during its overseas rollout, which stalled at $28.5M across numerous distributors.