The Call of the Wild (2020) (1 Viewer)

[SamT]

Harrison Ford’s ‘Call of the Wild’ to Lose $50 Million at Box Office

Harrison Ford’s canine adventure “The Call of the Wild” is shaping up to be the latest box office dud for the Disney-owned 20th Century.

The film, based on Jack London’s best-selling novel, has made $45 million in the U.S. and $79 million globally after two weeks in theaters. That wouldn’t be a bad result, had “The Call of the Wild” cost a moderate amount to make and market. However, it carries a price tag above $125 million, meaning the film needs to make between $250 million and $275 million to break even, according to sources close to the production and rival studio executives. Given the unlikeliness that it’ll reach those ticket sales, “The Call of the Wild” is expected to lose around $50 million. TSG co-financed the film, which will help mitigate damages for Disney.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

And here we again have the problem this industry desperately needs to solve: it is ludicrous that something that costs $125 million requires a $275 million return to break even.

 

[Jake Lipson]

It's ludicrous that The Call of the Wild needed to cost $125 million in the first place.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

On one hand yes, on the other hand, if a blockbuster now costs $200-$400 million to make, it stands to reason that the goal posts would move for what constitutes a midrange movie and midrange budget.

It also demonstrates, I think, why Disney sees the D+ service as the way of the future, a more direct to consumer business. It just costs way too much money to try to get $125 million worth of ticket buyers to show up in a short window, when it may turn out to be cheaper to keep $125 million worth of subscribers happy.

I really enjoyed the movie and I had a great time seeing it on the big screen and with Atmos. I was also the only person in my theater’s premium RPX auditorium for that showing. Great experience for me, not so great return on investment for anyone else.

I’m not even a dog person and I thought it was going to be a movie about Harrison Ford being grumpy in the wilderness (as opposed to being about Clark Gable being drunk and horny in the 1935 version) but even being completely different from what I expected, I was moved. I hope the film finds a second chance when it streams.