This was the peak of his acting career and it's been downhill ever since.
Posted on 01/27/2017 12:28:39 PM PST by drewh
“Live By Night” mostly fired blanks when it debuted in theaters last December, and its failure has resulted in a lot of financial carnage.
The expensive gangster picture was a passion project for Ben Affleck, who directed, wrote, produced, and starred in the story of a Florida rum runner. But critics ripped the picture, calling it dramatically inert. That’s left Warner Bros., the studio behind the film flop, looking at a $75 million loss, according to insiders with knowledge of its financing and rival studio executives.
“Live By Night” has made $16.5 million globally, and is not expected to have international appeal despite Affleck’s star power. Talky period pictures don’t tend to play well overseas, particularly when they don’t come loaded with Oscars. The film cost $65 million to produce and tens of millions more to distribute and market. Warner Bros. only gets a percentage of ticket sales. It will try to cushion its losses with home entertainment sales and rentals, as well as television licensing deals. The studio did have a significant financial partner on the film in Dune Entertainment, though it’s not clear how much the slate financing partner invested in “Live By Night.”
“Live By Night” is adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel. It co-stars Elle Fanning, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, and Chris Cooper, and centers on a Prohibition-era criminal who battles with rival gangs as he struggles to corner the market on hooch.
Warner Bros. has a long relationship with Affleck, having backed and made money on his previous directorial efforts such as “Argo” and “The Town.” He also played the Dark Knight in the studio’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad,” and the upcoming “Justice League.” Affleck plans to direct a standalone Batman film.
A spokesman for Warner Bros. declined to comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at variety.com ...
Depp is still Box office gold...............
This was the peak of his acting career and it's been downhill ever since.
“Live By Night” was dead by day.
They don’t need my dollars either.
Depp is box office poison. The first Pirate’s movie was a gem. The next 12 not so much. Feels like 15
“The trailer is boring”
Now that’s bad!
Warner probably could have salvaged something if they’d re-cast the lead, hired new writers, put in a seasoned director, and left it in the hands of a competent producer.
Oh, and spun off CNN before the election.
Ah, Dazed and Confused!
Yes, when the trailer is boring you know the movie will stink.
I loved them all, 4 of them, and a new one coming out this year!...............
I will say that Affleck was really good in the movie Gone Girl, but that’s mostly because David Fincher was director.
Haven’t seen this one, but “Argo” and “The Town” were excellent.
I try to support the good ones, like:
The Resurrection of Gavin Stone...
it didn’t play very long locally darnit.
This looked to have a Boardwalk Empire feel to it by the trailers. Big fan of the old gangster noire genre. Still looking forward to it.
a Prohibition-era criminal who battles with the Ku Klux Klan and rival gangs
“The Town” was good. I love Jeremy Renner, though.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_town/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840361/
Too many guns.
He should make peaceful movies like Matt DAMON!.....
And how does this rum running flop compare with Lucky Lady (1975) another rum running flop.
My rum running flop is bigger than your rum running flop!
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