BEOWULF

Beowulf was budgeted at an estimated $150 million and two thirds of the financing was paid by Steve Bing’s Shangri-La Entertainment and $50 million from Paramount.  Warner Bros released the film internationally.  Paramount distributed in the US and the motion capture film had a solid start with $27,515,871 — with only 20% of theaters showing Beowulf equipped to project in 3D and 40% of the opening gross from the format.  The pic dropped a modest 39.9% second weekend to $16,538,666, but fell 50.4% in its third frame to $8,208,565 and closed its run with $82,280,579.  Paramount would see back about $45.2 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross — which would cover the domestic P&A spend, but have to rely on strong international numbers to cover Warner Bros marketing expenses, before the financiers see the cash overages flow back to them.  Beowulf did gross $114.1 million overseas, but did not pull in the blockbuster numbers the expensive film needed to push it out of the red.  It has been estimated that Steve Bing lost over $50 million on the film and his investments in movies after Beowulf were inexpensive indies and documentaries.