Draft Day
| Budget: $25 million | Financed by: OddLot; Summit/Lionsgate |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $28,842,237 | Domestic Distributor: Lionsgate |
| Overseas Gross: $981,962 | Directed by: Ivan Reitman |
Starring: Kevin Costner Jennifer Garner | Produced by: Ali Bell |
Draft Day was originally set up at Paramount, but its option ran out in late 2012 and Lionsgate picked up the project. The movie was co-financed by OddLot and Summit/Lionsgate for an estimated $25 million and received the full support of the very image conscious NFL. The NFL even vetoed a scene, in which an effigy of Costner’s character is hung and the picture conformed to propagandist standards of the league. The pic was dated for a release about a month prior to the actual NFL draft day and the Kevin Costner vehicle was tracking for a $12 million opening. It opened against Rio 2 and Oculus and came in soft with $9,783,603 — placing #4 for the weekend led by holdover Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Draft Day saw a 41.6% second weekend decline to $5,713,076 and then fell 51.3% to $2,783,208 in its third frame, which ended its chances at breaking out. Draft Day closed its US run with $28,842,237. Lionsgate would see returned about $15.8 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which would not cover the P&A costs or any of their exposure to the budget.
American Football themed movies have little appeal outside of the US and Draft Day was theatrically released in just a handful of territories and cumed a mere $981,962.