ALEX RIDER: OPERATION STORMBREAKER

Entertainment Film Distributors, Capitol Films and The Weinstein Company co-financed the $40 million film with Isle of Man Film, VIP Medienfonds and the UK Film Council contributed $4.3 million, which is one of its largest commitments to one film.  Capital films pre-sold the film very well to distributors who overpaid for the potential franchise.  The British film was distributed in the UK by Entertainment and pulled in a disappointing $2,313,496 opening weekend, which was expected to gross blockbuster numbers.  Alex Rider saw modest declines each week and closed its run with a soft $12,872,046.  A few months after the UK release, The Weinstein Company dumped Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker in 221 US theaters to $215,177 with a terrible $973 per screen average and it closed with just $677,646.  The would-be franchise pulled in terrible numbers in every market, with its overseas total at $23.2 million and more than half of that coming from its UK gross and it was sent straight to video in Germany.  Novelist and screenwriter for Alex Rider Anthony Horowitz, told Reuters “Harvey Weinstein decided not to distribute it (in the United States).  It is one of the most bizarre and annoying things that the film didn’t get given its shot in America. To this day I don’t know why.”  The Weinstein Company also took multiple territories on another scripted film by Anthony Horowitz back in 2001 called The Gathering and had it collect dust until being dumped straight to video in 2007.