Original Sin
| Budget: $26 million | Financed by: MGM; Hyde Park Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $16,534,221 | Domestic Distributor: MGM |
| Overseas Gross: $18,868,099 |
Directed by: Michael Cristofer
|
|
Starring:
Angelina Jolie
Antonio Banderas
|
Produced by: Denise Di Novi
|
Original Sin was in active development at the Warner Bros and Canal Plus owned Bel Air Entertainment, but the projected moved over to MGM with Hyde Park Entertainment co-financing. MGM invested $8 million into the $26 million production and distributed in the picture. International rights were to be split between the lion and German based Intermedia, but the deal fell apart. Original Sin was going to be set for a late 2000 release, but was pushed back to February 23, 2001 and then delayed until August 3rd. The melodrama received awful reviews and opened in 2,194 theaters as summer counter-programming for adults against Rush Hour 2 and The Princess Diaries.
Original Sin tanked with $6,402,741 — placing #6 for the weekend led by the Rush Hour sequel. Audiences gave the pic a poor C+ cinemascore and it declined 52% the following weekend to $3,075,072 and dropped a steep 63.8% to $1,112,692 in its third frame and promptly lost most of its theater count. Original Sin closed its domestic run with only $16,534,221. MGM would see back about $9 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross which would not cover their P&A expenses or any of their exposure to the budget.
Original Sin was mostly a dud overseas as well, grossing $18.8 million across numerous distributors. Co-financier Hyde Park’s first slate of films were all MGM releases and all flops, with Antitrust being their first picture, followed by What’s the Worst That Could Happen?, Original Sin and then Bandits capped off their awful 2001.