Steve Jobs
| Budget: $30 million | Financed by: Universal; Legendary |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $17,766,658 | Domestic Distributor: Universal |
| Overseas Gross: $17,752,817 | Directed by: Danny Boyle |
Starring: Michael Fassbender Kate Winslet | Produced by: Scott Rudin |
After Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale passed on the title role, Sony sent Steve Jobs into turnaround and less than a week later Universal took on the high profile project with Legendary co-financing. The budget was estimated at $30 million and Universal backed the prestige pic with an expensive marketing blitz in the US that is reported to be $40 million. Universal dated Steve Jobs for October 9 and originally planned on a wide bow, but in early September the studio decided on a NY/LA release on the 9th and a nation wide expansion on the 23rd. Universal carefully platformed Steve Jobs and opened it in 4 theaters to $521,522 and it posted the year’s best per screen average at $130,381. It expanded to 60 locations the following weekend and continued to pull in strong numbers with $1,512,693 and a $25,212 per screen average. Steve Jobs grossed $2.7 million by the end of its second week in limited release and would move into wide release in its third frame in 2,493 theaters.
Steve Jobs was tracking around $11 - $12 million for its first wide frame and opened against four releases, all of which were tracking softly — The Last Witch Hunter, Jem And The Holograms (also Universal), Rock The Kasbah and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. Steve Jobs came in way below expectations with $7,105,735 — placing #7 for the weekend led by holdover The Martian. Despite rave reviews and a solid A- cinemascore from audiences, the film surprisingly took a 62.1% nosedive in its second wide weekend to $2,691,360. Steve Jobs promptly lost most of its theaters count and it was completely out of release before the award season even began. The domestic cume was a terrible $17,766,658.
Universal did not see any better results overseas and it flopped with a $17.7 million total, with the UK posting the highest gross at $3.3 million. The worldwide cume was $35.4 million and Universal would see back about $19.4 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which leaves much of the worldwide P&A as a loss and the budget in the red. In January 2016, the Chinese company Wanda acquired Legendary for $3.5 billion and in their financial statements, which were attained by the hollywoodreporter, Legendary lost $555.6 million in 2015. Steve Jobs, Crimson Peak, Blackhat and Seventh Son contributed to the loss.