[Darkwolf377]

It's on a sliding scale. The rule of thumb is that the gate is split 80/20 the first two weeks with the studio getting the 80; then it gradually drops until it's about 50/50 within a few weeks.

But there are all kinds of variables--budget; prints; ads; tie-in income; advanced selling to DVD; foreign sales--that make it tough to figure out what is a profitable movie and what is not.

The way it's estimated: Double your budget and you are hitting profit.

[kenth]

Thanks for the info. I've been wondering.

[wtc911]

No, fifty cents of every dollar goes to the exhibitor, from dollar one. Then the rest is divided between the distributor and the producer (studio). But, all P&A costs must be repaid (usually to the distributor) along with a guaranteed profit (usually 15%) before the production sees any return at all.

A $20 million dollar film with $10 million P&A that does only $20 million in BO will get the studio absolutely nothing. The film would have to do @ $50 million for the studio to break even.