HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 was financed by MGM for a modest $13.2 million (after rebates) and distributed by Paramount in the US and most overseas territories, with select territories going out through MGM.  The sequel was originally scheduled for a christmas 2014 release, but Paramount pushed it back so it would not compete with the Sony comedy The Interview (which ended up being pulled from wide release for reasons you already know).  It was rescheduled for February 20, 2015 and would open against McFarland, USA and The DUFF.  Domestic marketing costs were around $30 million, with about $19 million coming from national TV spots and the sequel had high awareness and was tracking for a mid teens opening.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 was dead on arrival with a poor $5,963,324 coming in #7 for the weekend — led by holdovers Fifty Shades of Grey and Kingsman: The Secret Service.  Audiences gave the film a terrible C- cinemascore and it fell 59% in its second frame to $2,443,538 and sank 77.9% in its third weekend to $540,072.  Hot Tub Time Machine 2 closed its US run after five weeks with $12,314,651.  Paramount would see back about $6.7 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, leaving most of the ad spend and the budget in the red.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 opened moderately wide in the UK in 198 theaters to an awful $132,158 with a $667 per screen average and Paramount and never reported numbers after the first weekend.  Paramount dumped the film in 20 theaters in Australia with a $5,090 cume.  The reported overseas gross is an anemic $767,000.  The first installment was a huge seller on home video, which was MGM’s reasoning behind sending the sequel into production and part 2 has pulled in just $2 million in sales (less after resellers take their cut and manufacturing costs) before falling off the charts and its numbers no longer reported.  The VOD gross has not been disclosed, but was reported as moderately successful.