By Summer movie train wreck World War Z is looking to cause a world of hurt for Paramount when it releases if a recent Vanity Fair article is correct. Doing some quick math the article concludes that the film will have to be a mega hit and pull in $400 million dollars if it wants to turn a profit. Considering almost no one is excited for the movie and all it’s gotten is bad press that number would be quite an impressive feat.
According to Indiewire, who took Vanity Fair’s article and basically smooshed it down for their own story, the math goes something like this: Between $210 million to $250 million in production costs (though Paramount claims less) + $50 million in marketing + $8-15 million for 3D conversion + plus other costs = $400 million just to break even. That is a hard pill to swallow and may rival the Disney flop John Carter if it doesn’t perform. You’d almost feel sorry for them if they hadn’t done it to themselves by destroying the story, mismanaging the shooting and delivering horrible trailers.
[Vanity Fair, via Indiewire]