Posted on 09/04/2006 8:57:35 AM PDT by abb
The studio could lose as much as $30 million on the movie, dashing parent GE's hopes.
GE was counting on "Miami Vice" to sizzle at the box office this summer. But fizzle is closer to the truth.
At a cost of at least $235 million to make and market, the remake of the iconic 1980s TV cop show was the biggest bet of the year for the company's studio Universal Pictures. During an earnings call with financial analysts in July, GE's chief financial officer singled out the stylish crime drama as a coming bright spot for the third quarter.
That could leave GE backpedaling on Wall Street: Universal Pictures could lose as much as $30 million on the picture, according to sources who asked not to be named because movie finances are closely guarded.
A little more than a month after its debut, "Miami Vice" has grossed only $63 million at the U.S. box office. An abrupt fall-off in attendance has dimmed the prospect that the film could muster $100 million in domestic receipts, as Universal had projected.
The poor results also could damp hopes at GE that its film division could help offset the continued hard times this year at the NBC broadcast network, which has suffered from a prolonged ratings slump.
Universal is expected to eke out a slight profit this year, thanks to box-office winners such as "The Break-Up" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," which grossed $189 million and $147 million worldwide, respectively. But the studio has fallen behind most of its rivals in domestic market share this year after ranking third last year, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., a box-office tracking firm.
"The studio underestimated the inherent challenges of translating 'Miami Vice' to the big screen," said Universal Pictures Chairman Marc Shmuger.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Ping
$235 million for Miami Vice!!??
Just curious....guess I didn't follow this enough...why is this good or bad news?
Don Johnson was likely happiest of all. He expected to be part of the big screen version in some capacity. Getting snubbed didn't please him. Oh, well....
Hmmmm.....I didn't even know it was out yet.
Wow, I didn't know that GE was in the movie business. I think it's time for them to stick to their knitting.
Anything, anything that causes difficulty or loss of money or layoffs or misery to the Dinosaur Media is good news. The Dinosaur Media (aka DriveBy Media) includes, but is not limited to: ABCNBCCBSCNN, Hollywood, NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, The Inky, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, etc...
I haven't heard many good things about the movie, which is too bad. I usually like Mann's pictures.
One of my favorite TV shows, going back to when I lived in Miami, but no way would I pay to see the big-screen nonsense.
I'm a big Michael Mann Fan, so I am dissapointed by this.
You don't have to remind me. I had the DJ ensemble, sans Bren 10mm. My school had some silly rules about that type of accessory.
And THAT is the reason for the movies failure. They should have brought back Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas. There are all kinds of plots and ways to do that.
Those guys cannot be replaced.
That amazed me as well, it doesn't seem it should have been an expensive movie to make.
Celebrating the failure of the American Arts community is not good news. Would you prefer a country with no movies at all?
I don't get it.
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