I Dreamed Of Africa
Rate Movie[Total: 7 Average: 1.6]
- Directed By: Hugh Hudson
- Written By: Paula Milne, Susan Shilliday
- Release Date: May 5, 2000
- Domestic Distributor: Sony
- Cast: Kim Basinger, Vincent Perez, Daniel Craig
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $34 million | Financed by: Sony |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $6,651,522 | Overseas Gross: $7,748,805 |
The budget for I Dreamed Of Africa was $34 million, which was financed by Sony and it was the first of two doomed projects Kim Basinger chose to be her follow up to her Oscar winning turn in L.A. Confidential.
The atrocious Bless The Child was the second 2000 release top-lining Basinger. I Dreamed Of Africa was dated for May 5 as counter-programming to Gladiator, hoping to bring in femme auds not interested in the violent pic, but Gladiator ended up attracting more women than expected.
Critics savaged the movie and Sony booked I Dreamed Of Africa into 2,112 theaters and at the time of release it posted the 3rd worst opening in over 2,000 theaters — after Major League: Back To The Minors (1998) and All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (1996). The weekend gross was $2,411,445 — placing #9 for the frame led by Gladiator. Audiences gave the film a terrible C+ cinemascore and it declined 38.3% the following weekend to $1,487,467 and then sank 69.4% to $455,198 in its third session. The domestic run closed with just $6,651,522.
I Dreamed Of Africa had its European premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May and was also poorly received. It was a dud overseas and cumed $7.7 million and was dumped straight to video in the UK. The worldwide total was $14.4 million and Sony would see returned about $7.9 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross — leaving most of the P&A expenses in the red and the budget at a loss. In Sony’s quarter financial report, the film division posted a $53 million loss: “Motion picture operating results were adversely affected by the film losses of the first quarter, including I Dreamed of Africa and Running Free.“