88 MINUTES

88 Minutes

This Al Pacino staring turkey was filmed in 2005 and 88 Minutes rotted on the shelf for three years before critics eviscerated it and audiences ignored it. Financed for $30 million by Nu Image/Millennium and Emmett/Furla, Sony paid $6 million for US distribution rights and a few overseas territories. 88 Minutes was dumped straight to video in 2007 in most overseas markets and pulled in a small $15.3 million across numerous distributors, with Spain posting the highest gross at $3.9 million. Sony opened 88 Minutes in the US in 2,168 theaters, where it was expected to pull in a modest $10 million, but was dead on arrival with $6,957,216 — placing #4 for the weekend led by openers The Forbidden Kingdom, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Sony’s holdover, the remake of Prom Night. The pic saw a 48.3% second frame decline to $3,593,890 and a steep 57% drop in weekend three to $1,545,084. 88 Minutes closed after just five weeks with $17,213,467. Sony would see back about $9.5 million after theaters take their cut of the gross, which would cover the acquisition cost, but only a fraction of the P&A spend. Domestic home video sales cumed $13.8 million (less after resellers take their cut and manufacturing costs). Five months later director Jon Avnet, Al Pacino and Nu Image/Millennium; Emmett/Furla would see Righteous Kill flop.