The two part movie "Che" has turned out to be one of the worst box office bombs in film history. How bad was it? Well, since opening last December, this movie has earned a grand total of just $1,432,057 as of the weekend of April 10-12. Posted on 04/18/2009 6:39:52 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
The two part movie "Che" has turned out to be one of the worst box office bombs in film history. How bad was it? Well, since opening last December, this movie has earned a grand total of just $1,432,057 as of the weekend of April 10-12.
Since the budget for this film was $40 million and at least half of those revenues went to the theaters screening this bomb, that means the total loss for 'Che' was approximately the entire budget cost. Compare this to the gold standard of movie bombs, "Heaven's Gate." When it was released it 1980 it also had a $40 million budget but it earned about 3 times the revenue of the "Che" movie at $3,484,331. As a result, "Heaven's Gate," became known as the mother of all box office bombs and rare was the review that did not mention its financial disaster.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
PING!
I didn’t even know the “Che” movie was out. Ha!
“Che” was almost as much of a bust as “W”. Perhaps the general public understands Hollywood propaganda better than I thought?
My hope is that everyone associated with this wretched movie becomes box office poison and never works in Hollywood again. Money talks.
A BO bomb? Must really have stunk.
The term ‘commercially brave’ in one of those reviews refers to the 4 hour plus running length and a historical figure that most people under 35 don’t know (sad but true).
I hate it when people give away the endings but.....
Che dies at the end.
Excuited like a common criminal. No ceramony no firing squad. Bang you are DEAD!
Ditto!! LOL.
Maybe next they'll film The Glorious Rise of Josef Stalin
>>> “Heaven’s Gate.” When it was released it 1980 it also had a $40 million budget
Fair point about Che’s box office failure, but this isn’t an apples to apples comparison. Adjusting for inflation the two movies do not have the same baseline. $40 million in 1980 would now be in the neighborhood of $100 million.
LOL!
But that would make the current revenues even less.
My guess is that Barack Hussein Obama has seen it three times and owns the DVD.
The conservative humor site The People’s Cube sells anti-Che shirts...”Che-Mart: We Smell For Less”
“Are you sick of seeing the face of a communist murderer everywhere? Does the sight of trust fund kids clad in “cool Che” t-shirts make your blood boil? Do you find it ironic that a dedicated communist has contributed to massive retail profiteering by capitalists t-shirt manufacturers? Then you’ve come to the right place. Here at Che-Mart we sell our t-shirts solely for capitalist pig profits. Please help us laugh all the way to the bank!”
I wish we had a real cut of Che standing before Jesus.
Hey “Che lives!”
ROFL
Just as how most people today are completely unaware of what a horrible excuse for a human being the "real" Che was... Especially those who wear him on their shirts, or display him on posters.
Knowing that a lot of people lost a lot of money on that movie makes me happy, though it sort of sucks that some people will be able to use it as a tax deduction...
Mar
Yayyyyyyyy! I’d watch the ending.
Che dies at the end.
I love a happy ending!
Mark
Are you talking about "Gettysburg?"
This is not the only movie about Che. Two were made back in the late 60s or early 70s. In one Jack Palance played the role of Castro.
Never heard of them either have you.
But would not the earnings also be adjusted to around $9 million? So, Che still loses.
>>>But would not the earnings also be adjusted to around $9 million? So, Che still loses.
Of course it loses, but which hurts you more. Losing 40 million, or losing 100 million ? The studio takes a bath on Che, but it’s not on the same level as with Heavens Gate or Ishtar. The comparison doesn’t hold. And either way, the studio writes it off the taxes as a business loss offsetting more profitable films.
btw, from memory, I think the movie that holds the record for highest rate of return is the Blair Witch Project.
They should make a movie about William Ayers. That movie would be a real bomb.
Most people are horribly unaware of who Che was. I would bet most of the morons parading around in Che tee shirts have no clue about his past. And there is a sizable percentage of people who just don't know who he was period.
It’s not really that big a bomb. The scale and expense of film is so much bigger today. 40 million is the budget for most cheapy teen sex comedies with c-list tv casts and january release dates.
Heaven’s Gate is notorious because it was one of the most expensive films ever made at the time and it’s failure brought down an entire movie studio. The shutter came down and United Artists was dead.
There was no secondary markets, no real home video market to speak of yet. What the flick earned at the boxoffice was it’s total earnings. Studios were ‘all-in’ at the time, privately owned and spending their own money on projects.
The equivalent bomb today would be a film that cost 250-300 million to make, 100 million to market, and had a 3 million opening weekend on its way to a 10 million total gross, with a small indie studio being the sole funder of the project.
Check the credits, this film had a million ‘producers’ which means it got made modern-day hedge style; a few hundred private investors tossing a few hundred grand into the the pot, pre-sold theatrical and distribution rights to 2 seperate studios to defray a few million in budget, but the studios are only on the hook for a few million themselves .. risk is spread so far and wide that no one gets hurt badly.
I dont understand why conservatives cant get films made. The formula is not risky.
It was only released to 39 theaters. The current number one movie is in 3,255. It sickens me that this movie exists, but you can’t say it bombed by measuring the box office haul. It just was never intended to be a wide release.
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