Goya's Ghosts
Rate Movie[Total: 5 Average: 2.6]
- Directed By: Milos Forman
- Written By: Milos Forman, Jean-Claude Carrière
- Release Date: July 20, 2007
- Domestic Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Co.
- Cast: Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $51 million | Financed by: Xuxa |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $1,000,626 | Overseas Gross: $8,447,456 |
Goya’s Ghosts was one of the most expensive productions to come out of Spain, sporting a $51 million budget and designed as a major export for the international market. Spain based Xuxa fully financed the picture and tapped HanWay Films to handle global pre-sales, which kicked off at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Goya’s Ghosts landed distribution in most international markets, but domestic distributors did not bite during pre-sales.
Goya’s Ghosts was Milos Forman first feature since Man On The Moon (1999) and it began its rollout in Spain in November 2006. Warner Bros handled the release in Spain and it pulled in only $2,198,929 — which ended up being the the strongest gross in its worldwide release. Goya’s Ghosts was a commercial disaster in almost every market and the offshore cume was a mere $8.4 million across numerous distributors.
After mixed reviews and dreadful box office numbers overseas, all of the major domestic distributors passed on the picture and Samuel Goldwyn Co. acquired US rights. Goldwyn dated the movie for July 20, 2007 and gave Goya’s Ghosts a very small marketing spend and to save on ad costs, they set up screenings at art museums across the country to build word of mouth. Goldwyn planned a platform release and opened the picture in 49 theaters and it was dead on arrival with $159,671 with a poor $3,258 per screen average for the weekend. The movie never expanded beyond the 49 locations and closed its run with just $1,000,626. Goya’s Ghosts marked the final feature film from Milos Forman.