A Guy Thing
Rate Movie[Total: 3 Average: 1.7]
- Directed By: Chris Koch
- Written By: Greg Glienna, Pete Schwaba, Matt Tarses, Bill Wrubel
- Release Date: January 17, 2003
- Domestic Distributor: MGM
- Cast: Jason Lee, Julia Stiles, Selma Blair
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $20 million | Financed by: MGM |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $15,545,431 | Overseas Box Office: $1,886,732 |
MGM purchased the A Guy Thing spec script in November 1999 for mid six-figures and after the lion suffered through a string of expensive disasters like Rollerball, Hart’s War and Windtalkers, MGM financed a slate of lower risk titles like this throwaway rom-com — which still lost money for the struggling studio. The picture was backed by MGM for a modest $20 million. MGM originally dated A Guy Thing for August 23, 2002 and then pushed it back to September 20 and moved it back again to January 17, 2003.
A Guy Thing opened over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday frame, where there was a glut of similar rom-com fare already in the market — Just Married, Two Weeks Notice and Maid in Manhattan. The sitcom quality hijinks of Jason Lee covering up his tracks after waking up next to a woman he slept with after his bachelor party, received awful reviews. The studios offered moviegoers nothing but garbage that weekend, where A Guy Thing bowed against Kangaroo Jack and National Security.
It pulled in a terrible $6,988,749 — placing #7 for the weekend led by Kangaroo Jack. A Guy Thing had terrible legs, declining 51.9% the following frame to $3,363,857 and fell a steep 61.6% in its third session to $1,291,326. The domestic run closed with just $15,545,431. MGM would see back about $8.5 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which would not even cover 1/3 of their P&A costs and none of the budget.
FOX released A Guy Thing in the UK in 196 theaters to an awful $485,835. FOX also released the film in Germany to $1,105,488 which posted most of its minuscule $1,886,732 overseas total. A Guy Thing went straight to video in most markets.
Jason Lee was back on the big screen two months later in the fiasco Dreamcatcher.