That's DVD I was talking theaterical, which is the part where the distributor gets the best cut (well first weekend anyway).
Theaterical was a definite disappointment, best case scenario they broke even on the theaterical, assuming they didn't have to give points of gross to anybody, probably lost as much as $10 mil. That's disappointing, not a disaster but definitely disappointing, the goal is to make a profitable on the theaterical and have everything else be gravy, when the theaterical barely breaks even that cuts down on the gravy which is disappointing.
But again the primarty point of discussion was the theaterical, not DVD.
As I took it, it was whether or not Universal made a profit on the project itself. You even said the studio would FIRE some executives for greenlighting the project.
Stretching from the time the movie was released, throughout its entire performance in the theatre (it was STILL the fourth biggest movie in the studio's history), all the way till now. The movie made a respectable if not ground-breaking amount in the box office, but then its DVD release WAS groundbreaking. Then factor in merchandising (I own the soundtrack), and "Kong" has made and is still making a vast fortune for the studio. I doubt anyone's going to be fired over this.