Hands Of Stone
| Budget: $24 million | Financed by: Epicentral Studios; Panama Film Commission |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $4,712,792 | Domestic Distributor: The Weinstein Company |
| Overseas Gross: $265,561 | Directed by: Jonathan Jakubowicz |
Starring: Edgar Ramírez Robert De Niro | Produced by: Claudine Jakubowicz |
Hands Of Stone was originally in development with Al Pacino and Gael García Bernal but financing was never secured, so writer/director/producer Jonathan Jakubowicz went to Panama to raise the financing himself. He raised $24 million through his production company Epicentral Studios, which he owns with his wife Claudine Jakubowicz. In order to keep the production about the Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán in Panama, the Panamanian government gave a $2.8 million advance through the Panama Film Commission. Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramírez top lined the cast and the film completed production in early 2014. Lotus Entertainment handled international sales and The Weinstein Company picked up international rights in 2015 and a few months later TWC took domestic rights at the Cannes Film Festival. TWC was committed to a strong P&A spend and a 2,000 screen release set for 2016.
TWC dated Hands Of Stone for an end of summer August 26 release and it received some of the highest test screening scores of any movie from the studio, but it was not tracking well in the weeks approaching its release. In a last minute decision, TWC decided to open the film moderately wide in 810 theaters, in hopes to spread strong word of mouth and they would expand the picture wide the following weekend, over the Labor Day frame. Hands Of Stone pulled in an underwhelming $1,751,388 in 810 locations, with a $2,162 per screen average. Despite the muted opening, TWC still pumped millions into national TV ads going into its wide release, bringing the TV spend to $13.45 million (as per iSpotTV), plus millions more in print, radio, online, poster, etc. Hands Of Stone expanded to 2,011 theaters over the slow Labor Day holiday against The Light Between Oceans and Morgan. It posted a disastrous weekend cume of just $1,263,660 — the third worst bow in over 2,000 theaters on record. It placed #20 for the weekend led by the holdover Don’t Breathe. Hands Of Stone is The Weinstein Company’s second wide release in 2016, as they acted as a rent-a-distributor for Jane Got A Gun, which opened with an awful $835,572 in January. Hands Of Stone tumbled a massive 86.1% to $175,163 in its third frame (second wide frame) and promptly lost most of its theater count. The domestic run closed with only $4,712,792.
A few overseas distributors gave Hands Of Stone a blink and you miss it theatrical release, where it has cumed all of $265,561.