I Love You Phillip Morris with Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor: Box office disappointment in limited release.- I Love You Phillip Morris box office: A troubled release directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, this gay-centered crime comedy-drama had a modest domestic debut at six theaters.
I Love You Phillip Morris box office: Starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s gay crime comedy-drama mighta been a contender
Dec. 3–5 weekend box office (cont.): Universes away from the big bucks earned by Disney’s mega-budget animated romantic musical Tangled and Warner Bros.’ mega-budget fantasy adventure Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – as in, way down at no. 27 on the North American (U.S. and Canada only) box office chart – Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s gay crime comedy-drama I Love You Phillip Morris brought in $112,500 from six theaters according to final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com.
Budgeted at a reported $13 million (as always, not including marketing and distribution expenses), the Roadside Attractions release starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor averaged a barely acceptable $18,753 per venue.
Infighting and litigations
Why such an underwhelming figure?
One key reason was likely the gap of nearly two years – a result of infighting and litigations – between I Love You Phillip Morris’ buzzy Sundance 2009 screening and its domestic release. In addition, mostly lukewarm reviews were surely no great help.
Besides Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as gay jailbirds/lovers, the I Love You Phillip Morris cast features Rodrigo Santoro and Leslie Mann.
Bigger appeal abroad
Update: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s I Love You Phillip Morris ultimately collected a mere $2 million domestically and a far better – though still modest – $18.7 million internationally. (In a number of countries, the gay crime comedy-drama opened in the first half of 2010.) Worldwide total: $20.7 million, hardly enough for it to break even at the box office.
Its top international markets were the United Kingdom/Ireland ($3.5 million), France ($3 million), Italy ($2.7 million), and Brazil ($1.1 million).
”I Love You Phillip Morris Box Office” endnotes
Unless otherwise noted, “I Love You Phillip Morris Box Office: Jim Carrey Gay Crime Dramedy Fails to Lure Moviegoers” box office information via Box Office Mojo. Budget info – which should be taken with a grain of salt – via BOM and/or other sources (e.g., the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Screen Daily, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline.com, etc.).
Comments about I Love You Phillip Morris and other titles being hits/profitable or flops/money-losers at the box office (see paragraph below) are based on the available data about their production budget, additional marketing and distribution expenses (as a general rule of thumb, around 50 percent of the production cost), and worldwide gross (as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the Hollywood studios, around 50–55 percent of the domestic gross and 40 percent of the international gross goes to the distributing/producing companies).
Bear in mind that data regarding rebates, domestic/international sales/pre-sales, and other credits and/or contractual details that help to alleviate/split production costs and apportion revenues are oftentimes unavailable, and that reported international grosses may be incomplete (i.e., not every territory is fully – or even partially – accounted for).
Also bear in mind that ancillary revenues (domestic/global television rights, home video sales, streaming, merchandising, etc.) can represent anywhere between 40–70 percent of a movie’s total take. However, these revenues and their apportionment are only infrequently made public.
Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor I Love You Phillip Morris movie image: Roadside Attractions.
“I Love You Phillip Morris Box Office: Jim Carrey Gay Crime Dramedy Fails to Lure Moviegoers” last updated in December 2022.