Birth
Rate Movie[Total: 26 Average: 3.5]
- Directed By: Jonathan Glazer
- Written By: Jean-Claude Carrière, Milo Addica, Jonathan Glazer
- Release Date: October 29, 2004
- Domestic Distributor: New Line
- Cast: Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, Danny Huston
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $23 million | Financed by: Fine Line (New Line) |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $5,095,038 | Overseas Box Office: $18,830,454 |
Originally in development at Regency, Birth found its way to a green light at Fine Line, which financed the picture for $23 million. Fine Line was set to distribute in the US, but Birth went out through New Line’s bigger distribution platform. Much to the frustration of the studio, director Jonathan Glazer spent 45 weeks in the editing room and then shortly before the premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September 2004, he wanted to film additional scenes. Nicole Kidman asked New Line for the money, since the film came in under its original $25 million budget and New Line agreed. Birth had a polarizing response from critics and the film proved a difficult sell to both art house auds and the multiplex crowd.
New Line dated Birth for October 29 and booked it into 550 locations and it pulled in a soft $1,705,577 with a $3,101 per screen average — which were troubling numbers for the film to expand. Remaining in 550 theaters, Birth declined 23% in its second weekend to $1,312,896 and then sank 75.4% in its third frame to $322,762 and promptly lost most of its theater count. About two months after it tanked at the box office, New Line put the film back into 453 theaters for an Oscar hopeful run — but it was widely ignored again and pulled in just $242,185 with a $534 per screen average and it left theaters at the end of the week. Birth closed its domestic run with only $5,095,038.
Overseas, the film pulled in mostly small numbers. Entertainment distributed in the UK and saw $2.1 million and Roadshow dumped the film in Australia, where it pulled in just $242,541. Italy posted the strongest gross with $5.1 million and the overseas total was $18,830,454 across many distributors.