The Wicker Man
| Budget: $40 million | Financed by: Millennium Films; Equity Pictures; Emmett/Furla |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $23,649,127 | Domestic Distributor: Alcon Entertainment (through Warner Bros) |
| Overseas Gross: $15,105,946 | Directed by: Neil LaBute |
Starring: Nicolas Cage | Produced by: Randall Emmett |
The Wicker Man remake was originally being developed at Universal in 2002, but the project eventually moved over to Millennium Films (and they purchased the remake rights from Canal Plus). Millennium was making the transition from low budget direct to video action and genre schlock to bigger budget projects with A-list casts. Their first slate of mid to large budget fare were all money losers and with the exception of 16 Blocks, were all serious critical failures — The Black Dahlia, 88 Minutes, The Wicker Man, Edison and The Contract.
Millennium would also become Nicolas Cage’s best employer for years, as they handed him many starring vehicles, all of which were money losers. Their working relationship began with The Wicker Man, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Drive Angry (2011) and Trespass (2011) and Stolen (2012).
The Wicker Man would sport a $40 million budget, with funding from Millennium, Equity Pictures and Emmett/Furla. Offsetting the financiers exposure to the budget was selling off global distribution to dozens of distributors. Alcon Entertainment acquired US distribution rights and covered the P&A expenses through their long standing deal at Warner Bros and WB would receive a distribution fee. The Wicker Man was dated for the usually sleepy Labor Day frame and bowed against Crank and Crossover. Tracking was pointing to a mid to high teens opening over its 4-day holiday run. The Wicker Man was not screened for critics and grossed a soft $9,610,204 ($11,740,235 4-day cume) — placing #3 for the weekend led by holdover Invincible. The Wicker Man became one of a handful of movies to receive a rare F cinemascore from audiences. The film sank 57.7% in its second frame to $4,062,271 and declined 47.3% to $2,141,978 in its third session. The domestic run closed with $23,649,127. Alcon would see back about $12.9 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which would fall far short of their P&A spend and unreported acquisition costs.
Overseas, The Wicker Man pulled in a terrible $15.1 million across numerous distributors and Lionsgate saw the best results with a weak UK gross of $3,155,534. Sony dumped the film straight to video in Australia and Universal dumped it in France as well. After the film flopped in every market, little to no cash overages would flow back to the financiers. This Nic Cage vehicle has become something of a camp classic after its poor worldwide run.