With The Right Accountants, Even Harry Potter Can Flop

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 10:00am
  • 4 Comments
 
With The Right Accountants, Even <i>Harry Potter</i> Can Flop  

Think that Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix was a hit? Guess again; despite grossing almost a billion dollars, Warner Bros. would like you to believe that the movie still ended up in the red.

Deadline Hollywood has the stunning example of accounting that argues that Order of the Phoenix is still $167 million in debt. More depressing is the attitude from one unnamed Hollywood executive, explaining why Potter‘s accounting isn’t a surprise:

If this is the fair definition of net profits, why do we continue to pretend and go through this charade? Judging by this, no movie is ever, ever going to go to pay off on net participants. It’s an illusion to make writers, and lower-level actors and filmmakers feel they have a stake in the game.

This just in: Hollywood sucks. Film at 11.

Tags: ,
  • Mupdyke2

    Mel Brooks figured that out back in 1968.

  • Man-El

    Well, if this were true, and if theatre, DVD and TV were the only sources of income for studios, then Hollywood would have disappeared of the face of the planet a long time ago. People keep forgetting (and apparently studios want people to think this way) that a great deal of profit is made through merchandizing. The most obvious example of this is, of course, the Star Wars franchise. I'm guessing that the Potter franchise is not a lightweight in this area as well. Just a guess…

  • RichVince

    This isn't even news. There have even been some famous lawsuits by profit participants in the past 20 years over accounting practices like this. What the distributors tend to do is charge their studio overhead (such as executive salaries!!!) to their biggest pictures. This reduces the amount they have to pay to producers, actors, writers, etc that get a percentage of the profit. This is why some talent negotiates for a percentage of the gross instead.

  • Alex

    I always wondered how Movies made their money back. A studio might release 10 films in a year. 1 might be successful and make a profit. A couple might make it's money back. But the other 7 don't make their money back. This was before $13.00 tickets.

    Now I wonder how can so many people go to these things. They cost too much to see and most of them are remakes it seems.

    I actually saw Order of the Pheonix having never seen any Harry Potter film before or reading any of the books. It's weird hearing people laugh at inside stuff.

    On the X-Men movie I could 'Why would Mystique tie up her adopted daughter so she can die later?' Hmmm. :)

 

Recent Articles

CW Pairs <i>Arrow</i> With <i>Supernatural</i> <br />on Wednesdays, Debuts First Still  
  •  

CW Pairs Arrow With Supernatural
on Wednesdays, Debuts First Still

Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Comics, Television
Two Conan O’Brien Comedies <br />Lead TBS Development Slate  
  •  

Two Conan O’Brien Comedies
Lead TBS Development Slate

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Television
<i>Community</i> Boots Up 8-Bit <br />Adventure For Season Finale  
  •  

Community Boots Up 8-Bit
Adventure For Season Finale

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Television, Videogames
<i>Contagion</i> Writer Boards Sequel <br />to <i>Rise of the Planet of the Apes</i>  
  •  

Contagion Writer Boards Sequel
to Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Movies
First Look at <i>Elementary</i>, CBS’s Modern Take on Sherlock Holmes  
  •  

First Look at Elementary, CBS’s Modern Take on Sherlock Holmes

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Television

Contributors

Kevin Melrose

TJ Dietsch

Katie Calautti

Keri Luna

Graeme McMillan

Kiel Phegley

Recent Comments