Two For The Money
Rate Movie[Total: 6 Average: 2.7]
- Directed By: D.J. Caruso
- Written By: Dan Gilroy
- Release Date: October 7, 2005
- Domestic Distributor: Morgan Creek (through Universal)
- Cast: Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Jeremy Piven
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $35 million | Financed by: Morgan Creek |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $22,991,379 | Overseas Box Office: $7,535,130 |
The budget for Two For The Money was $35 million and Morgan Creek fully financed. This was the first film released through their domestic output deal with Universal after they left their long standing home at Warner Bros. Morgan Creek paid for the P&A costs and Universal received a fee for use of its distribution resources.
Morgan Creek had been struggling with a poorly performing slate of movies for years and their downfall began in 2004. The company lost a fortune from abandoning Paul Schrader’s unfinished Exorcist movie ($32 million was spent), which they eventually gave a fleeting release to in 2005 and titled it Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. Morgan Creek then spent an additional $52 million to redo the movie and ended up with the bomb Exorcist: The Beginning (2004). Two For The Money was a complete flop that drained more capital and then Morgan Creek lost a bundle on the $90 million The Good Shepherd (2006). They had two inexpensive non-performers in 2007 — Georgia Rule and Sydney White. Morgan Creek then suspended operations after 2007 and resurfaced in 2011 with the box office disaster Dream House and they also had a major stake in the remake/prequel of The Thing in 2011, which also fizzled. 2011 looked like the end of Morgan Creek. Nothing was in their pipeline except a gestating Tupac biopic (which would eventually become All Eyez On Me) — and in order to fund that picture, the international rights to the entire Morgan Creek library were sold for $36.75 million, which then went directly into their production fund.
Two For The Money received weak reviews and was tracking soft for an opening under $10 million. It was dated for October 7, 2005 and bowed against Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, In Her Shoes, The Gospel and Waiting.
Matthew McConaughey was last on screens back in April in the box office fiasco Sahara and Al Pacino’s previous studio vehicle was the modest success The Recruit. After the poor performance of this picture, Pacino would topline only two bigger budget productions — the gutter trash pic 88 Minutes and the slightly less embarrassing Righteous Kill.
Two For The Money pulled in $8,703,240 in 2,391 theaters — placing #4 over the slow frame led by Wallace and Gromit. The film declined 46.2% the following weekend to $4,686,110 and the domestic run closed with $22,991,379. Morgan Creek would see returned about $12.6 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which was far short of their P&A spend and the budget, plus a fee to Universal.
Two For The Money pulled in dismal numbers overseas, with Italy posting the highest numbers at $1.1 million. The overseas total was only $7,535,130 and it went straight to video in Germany.