Speed Racer
| Budget: $125 million (estimated) | Financed by: Warner Bros; Village Roadshow; Federal Film Fund |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $43,945,766 | Domestic Distributor: Warner Bros |
| Overseas Gross: $49,448,696 | Directed by: Andy & Lana Wachowski |
Starring: Emile Hirsch | Produced by: Joel Silver |
Germany’s Federal Film Fund contributed $13 million of the estimated $125 million budget (some sources are as high as $185 million) that was financed by Warner Bros and Village Roadshow and WB launched one of their most expensive ad campaigns leaving WB and Village Roadshow’s investment well over $200 million. In addition to the Warner Bros marketing campaign, $80 million more was spent from global tie-ins with companies like General Mills, McDonald’s, Hot Wheels, Lego and more. With a marketing blitz impossible to ignore, audiences ignored the film when it opened to a soft $18,561,337 — coming in far below the $30+ million the studio expected Speed Racer to open with. The pic placed #3 for the weekend led by Iron Man in its second weekend and What Happens In Vegas. After bad buzz, bad reviews and a 135 minute running time, the family skewing movie was crushed the following weekend when The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian opened and it sank 56.3% to $8,117,459. After large weekly declines, Speed Racer closed with a disastrous $43,945,766 at the US box office. Warner Bros released the film overseas in most territories and Village Roadshow released in a handful. Australian based Roadshow saw the film tank in their home country with only $2.2 million. Speed Racer flopped in the UK with $3.2 million and the highest gross was $6.1 million from Mexico. The overseas total was a terrible $49.4 million. It has been estimated that Speed Racer lost Warner Bros and Village Roadshow $114.5 million and is one of the costliest flops on record.