COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Collateral Damage

The Schwarzenegger vehicle Collateral Damage was co-financed by Warner Bros and Bel-Air Entertainment for $85 million. Bel-Air was formed in March 1998 as a 5-year equity partnership between Warner Bros and the French conglomerate Canal Plus and WB retained worldwide rights for the films, except for France, Spain and Germany, which went to Canal. After a string of box office disappointments from Bel-Air: “Pay It Forward,” “Sweet November,” “Proof of Life,” “Rock Star” and the shelved Chain Of Fools, Canal Plus pulled out of the arrangement in 2002 and Collateral Damage was Bel-Air’s final theatrical release.

The original October 5, 2001 release date was pushed back after the September 11th attacks due to the premise of the film. $3 million in marketing costs were already spent and had to be scrapped after the pic was pulled. While the film’s release date was in limbo Warner Bros President Alan Horn reported that if it were to be delayed a year, the interest costs would be $5 million. That was partially avoided and Collateral Damage was rescheduled for February 8, 2002 where it would compete for audiences looking for action fare with the equally expensive MGM fiasco Rollerball. With Schwarzenegger’s star power declining after each of his recent releases, 1999’s End Of Days and the 2000 flop The 6th Day, Collateral Damage won the very slow weekend at the box office with $15,058,432 in 2,824 theaters. The film declined 44.1% in its second frame to $8,413,022 holding off the Bruce Willis flop Hart’s War which entered the market and then it dropped 54.2% to $3,855,353 in its third weekend. Collateral Damage closed its domestic run with a disappointing $40,077,257.

Warner Bros distributed the pic in most overseas territories and it pulled in poor numbers. Collateral Damage opened in the UK with an awful $622,086 and closed with $1,176,632. Japan posted the highest gross with $7.3 million and overseas total was just $38.3 million. With a $78.3 million worldwide total, Warner Bros would see back about $43 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which is less than what WB spent just on P&A costs.