Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament took a hiatus during the pandemic as movie theatres closed for the majority of 2020-2021 and theatrical day-and-date titles on both the big screen and studio’s respective streaming platforms became more prevalent. Coming back from that pandemical brink, the motion picture studies have largely returned to their theatrical release models and the downstream monies they can bring. Not to mention their power in launching IPs around the world with big global marketing campaigns. When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn’t about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that mysterious end of the equation, Deadline is repeating our Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament for 2022, using data culled by seasoned and trusted sources.
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THE FILM
Smile
Paramount Pictures
Despite many studios prioritizing film slates for their streaming services, or even propping them with simultaneous day-and-date big-screen releases (like Universal with Halloween Kills and the Halloween Ends theatrical and Peacock release), here was a groundbreaking case of a studio reverse-engineering a title intended for streaming to theatrical. Smile was conceived by Temple Hill and greenlit by Paramount Players for Paramount+. Temple Hill’s Isaac Klausner and Adam Fishbach found a short by Parker Finn that they then developed as a feature. They sold it to then-execs Jeremy Kramer and Nathan Samdahl at Paramount Players (the latter now at Walter Hamada’s 18hz on-the-lot horror label). Paramount Pictures president/CEO Brian Robbins was at home when he saw the film, under the working title Something Is Wrong With Rose. He was so rattled, he phoned up the studio’s marketing and global distribution boss Marc Weinstock to encourage a theatrical release. The movie tested incredibly well and only created more momentum for the film’s ultimate big-screen debut. What was needed, as testing also strongly indicated, was a title change. Smile was born, and everyone, from the studio execs to producers, are smiling now. An ideal release date of September 30 was set, when the fall marketplace lacked big tentpoles due to the post-production pipeline becoming clogged due to the pandemic. Under Weinstock’s team, a thrifty $50 million global marketing campaign with a few innovations: one freaky guerrilla facet being grinning bystanders caught on camera at sporting events.
The result? A $22.6 million domestic opening, $105.9M U.S. final and $217.4M worldwide box office result off a $17M production cost. A new franchise dubbed the ‘Mean’ universe was born, with Finn landing a multi-year first-look deal.
THE BOX SCORE
THE BOTTOM LINE
The pic’s streaming and TV revenues of $80M include the money Paramount pays itself to distribute the movie on Paramount+. That’s a new post-pandemic financial practice whereby studios must pay themselves to send their titles to their own streaming services, which in some cases is a Pay One TV window for some. Smile hit Paramount+ and digital on November 15, 47 days after it amassed over $103M in theaters. The movie also had a pay-TV window on MGM+ (formerly Epix), which is where Paramount has its deal. Participations here thanks to a theatrical debut yielded $15M to Finn, Temple Hill and the pic’s stars. The upside to going theatrical here instead of streaming? A $101M net profit after all ancillaries.
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