WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS

We Are Your Friends

StudioCanal closed a $2 million domestic distribution deal with Warner Bros for We Are Your Friends before the film entered production and once domestic distribution was set, the film sold out every market for distribution during pre-sales. StudioCanal would distribute themselves in the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. The estimated and inexpensive $6 million budget, along with the strong pre-sales leave StudioCanal with very limited exposure to the budget, or they are even in the black — though marketing expenses in their territories will be far greater than the film’s production costs. Warner Bros, who continues to outspend every studio on expensive marketing blitzes, did not invest much into a sizable ad campaign, with about 1,600 tv ads going into release (about $5+ million) — though millions more would be spent on print, radio, poster, virtual prints fees, etc.

Positioned at the end of the summer dumping ground on August 28, the Zac Efron vehicle was booked into 2,333 theaters, against War Room and No Escape. We Are Your Friends began its box office run with a miserable Friday, pulling in $722,323, posting a $310 per screen average — roughly amounting to 6 people per showing and the film continued to decline in attendance Saturday and Sunday, ending the weekend with a dismal $1,767,308 and a $758 per screen average. At the time of release, We Are Your Friends posted the third worst opening for a first run feature in over 2,000 theaters. Its box office record was pushed down two notches about two months later when Jem And The Holograms and Rock The Kasbah opened to even lower numbers. The few people that showed up also gave We Are Your Friends a toxic C+ cinemascore. In its second weekend of release, the film still played in 2,333 empty theaters to $632,682 with a dismal $271 per screen average and was promptly pulled from all but 274 theaters going into its third weekend, which posted just $37,951. The film was out of release after four weeks with $3,591,417.

StudioCanal opened We Are Your Friends wide in the UK in 370 theaters and the film tanked with $401,378 with a $1,085 per screen average and it closed with $819,537. StudioCanal saw its highest numbers from Germany with just $1,061,802. The overseas cume stalled at $5.8 million.