- Jumping the Broom box office: Distributed by TriStar/Sony Pictures, Salim Akil’s romantic dramedy starring Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, and Oscar nominee Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do with It, 1993) had a passable domestic debut. Thanks to its very modest budget, “passable” should be enough for the movie to turn in a profit.
Jumping the Broom box office: Featuring Paula Patton and Angela Bassett, TriStar’s low-budget romantic comedy-drama likely to be profitable
May 6–8 weekend box office (cont.): Far behind both Kenneth Branagh’s Thor ($65.7 million) and Justin Lin’s Fast Five ($32.4 million; down 62 percent on its second weekend), TriStar/Sony Pictures’ tepidly received romantic comedy-drama Jumping the Broom debuted at no. 3 with $15.2 million from 2,035 North American (U.S. and Canada only) locations according to final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com. Per-theater average: A just okay $7,476.
Looking on the bright side: The official final take was around $1.2 million above the studio’s Sunday estimates and $2 million above pundits’ Friday estimates. As a plus, Jumping the Broom reportedly cost only $6.5 million (as always, not including marketing and distribution expenses – which, considering its distributor, should be [far?] higher than usual for such a low-budget release).
For comparison’s sake: Directed by Tyler Perry and featuring an all-black (or part-black) cast – including Perry, Janet Jackson, and Sharon Leal – Lionsgate’s Why Did I Get Married Too opened with $29.3 million from 2,155 locations in April 2010, ending its run with $60.1 million domestically, in addition to (as usual) a measly $578,000 internationally. Worldwide total: $60.7 million. Budget: $20 million.
With luck, Jumping the Broom will reach 60 percent of Why Did I Get Married Too’s domestic cume. That should be more than enough to make it profitable – even if modestly so (depending on its marketing costs).
Red Carpet vows
As mentioned above, it’s unclear how much TriStar/Sony is spending on the Jumping the Broom publicity campaign. One thing, however, is certain: Some of their methods have been a tad unorthodox.
According to Deadline.com, as part of the film’s promotion Sony Pictures “worked with TLC on special wedding programming with one bride and groom winning a trip to the premiere where they were to be married on the Red Carpet by [the Christian pastor known as] Bishop [T.D.] Jakes” – who also happens to be one of the film’s producers.
And that should serve as a reminder to all of the sanctity of (heterosexual) marriage.
Jumping the Broom cast
Featuring key plot elements not all that different from those of Old Hollywood films like You Can’t Take It with You and The Mating Season, Jumping the Broom stars Paula Patton as a successful corporate lawyer who, after a whirlwind courtship, accepts a marriage proposal from Wall Street businessman Laz Alonso.
Issues, however, arise when the lawyer’s old-money parents (a youthful Angela Bassett, Brian Stokes Mitchell) look down on the groom’s relatives, including his postal-worker mother (Loretta Devine).
Also in the Jumping the Broom cast: Valarie Pettiford, Mike Epps, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, and DeRay Davis.
Lastly, the title refers to a supposed custom among black American brides and grooms to jump over a ceremonial broom after they are married.
Mid-level domestic performer, but internationally nonexistent
Update: Salim Akil’s romantic dramedy Jumping the Broom ultimately collected an unimpressive $37.3 million domestically – that’s even less than the cume of this past weekend’s critically lambasted romantic comedy Something Borrowed.
As expected, Jumping the Broom’s international gross was insignificant: $863,000 (likely incomplete). Its top international market was South Africa ($381,700). Worldwide total: $38.2 million.
Whether or not Jumping the Broom was highly or modestly profitable depends on how much was spent on its marketing and distribution.
notes
Also this past weekend, the psychological drama The Beaver turned out to be a box office dud. Jodie Foster directed and costars opposite Mel Gibson.
Unless otherwise noted, “Jumping the Broom Box Office: Profitable Paula Patton Romantic Dramedy?” 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 Jumping the Broom 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 go to the distributing/producing companies).
Note: Data regarding rebates, domestic and 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: 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.
Paula Patton and Angela Bassett Jumping the Broom image: TriStar Pictures | Sony Pictures.
“Jumping the Broom Box Office: Profitable Paula Patton Romantic Dramedy?” last modified in October 2023.