The Merchant Of Venice
Rate Movie[Total: 5 Average: 2.6]
- Directed By: Michael Radford
- Written By: Michael Radford
- Release Date: December 29, 2004
- Domestic Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
- Cast: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $30 million | Financed by: Movision; Studios DeLux; Istituto Luce; Spice Factory; UK Film Council |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $3,765,585 | Overseas Box Office: $17,652,140 |
“Unfortunately [in the US] they distributed it like just another Shakespeare movie, so only people who like Shakespeare went to see it. But actually I’m very proud of it.”
–Director Michael Radford
The Merchant Of Venice was budgeted at $30 million and was financed by the British tax fund Movision, Luxembourg’s Studios DeLux, Italy’s Istituto Luce, Australia based Spice Factory and the UK Film Council invested £609,000 ($970,000). Most of the production’s coin was obtained from the now illegal UK section 48 tax break, where tax relief is claimed twice on the same film — once from a production fund, and then from a sale-and-leaseback deal. Arclight Films sold the picture to international distributors.
Sony Pictures Classics acquired US rights and opened The Merchant Of Venice in 4 theaters for an Oscar qualifying run on Dec 29. Reviews were lukewarm and the film pulled in $69,868 with a $17,467 per screen average. The Merchant Of Venice remained in limited release for 21 weeks and never expanded beyond 107 theaters and pulled in $3,765,585.
For the offshore release, Sony also took German rights and the numbers were a weak $1.7 million. Italy posted the highest gross at $4.8M and the overseas cume was $17,652,140 across numerous distributors. The Merchant Of Venice went straight to video in 2006 in France.