Illustration 'A'
RANSOM |
Walt Disney Pictures
Participation Statement Period Ended March 31, 1998 |
| Film Rental | ||
| Domestic Theatrical | $71,309,701 | |
| Foreign Theatrical | 76,275,568 | |
| Free Television | 0 | |
| Pay Television | 19,294,767 | |
| Home Video | 24,255,190 | |
| Non-Theatrical | 2,115,767 | |
| Other Sources | 25,574 | |
| Total Film Rental | 193,277,567 | |
| Less Accounts Receivable | 4,690,542 | |
| Total Gross Receipts | 188,587,025 | |
| Less Distribution Fees | 64,461,741 [34%] ** | |
| Net After Distribution Fees | 124,125,284 | |
| Less Distribution Costs | ||
| Advertising and Publicity | 68,690,709 | |
| Prints | 13,005,277 | |
| Other Itemized Costs | 14,061,392 | |
| Total Distribution Costs | 95,757,378 [The total cost to market the film] | |
| Net Receipts After Distribution | ||
| Fees and Costs | 28,367,906 [At this point the film is profitable] | |
| Less: Negative Cost | ||
| Direct Costs | 75,439,225 [Film Production Costs] | |
| Overhead@15% | 11,315,884 [Studio Lot Overhead …6% of Gross Receipts] ** | |
| Interest | 19,863,536 [Studio charges filmmaker for using their money] | |
| Gross Participations | 24,910,342 [Payments to celebrities-- up front] | |
| Total Negative Costs | 131,528,987 [Net-point players are out of luck] | |
| Net Profits (Loss) | (103,161,061) | |
| ** 40% Fees of the Gross Receipts go to the Studio | ||
Source:
On the Internet http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,278254,00.html
POWER 101
'Ransom' Notes
In terms of cooking the books, studio accountants could give Emeril Lagasse a run for his bammed-up money. Here's how one film grossed $308.9 million worldwide, but still lost money. The 1996 thriller Ransom arrived with a high-power pedigree: star Mel Gibson, director Ron Howard, and producer Brian Grazer. But it was no match for Hollywood accounting. According to a final participation statement obtained by EW*, Disney claims to be more than $100 million in debt on a film that grossed $308.9 million worldwide. Heavy hitters like Gibson, Howard, and Grazer negotiated gross percentages of any money the studio took in from the opening weekend, but less powerful players only got net profits -- dispensed after the studio breaks even. A Disney accountant wrote to one Ransom net participant in June 1998, ''We are not projecting that you will be paid any profit participations for this picture.'' (A Disney spokeswoman says, ''The participants were accounted to exactly and appropriately according to the deal they negotiated.'')
Here's who really got held for Ransom:
WALT DISNEY PICTURES PARTICIPATION STATEMENT PERIOD ENDED MARCH 31, 1998