Perfect Stranger

  • Perfect Stranger box office
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  • Directed By: James Foley
  • Written By: Todd Komarnicki, Jon Bokenkamp
  • Release Date: April 13, 2007
  • Domestic Distributor: Sony
  • Cast: Halle Berry, Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi

Box Office Info:
Budget: $60 million Financed by: Revolution Studios; Sony
Domestic Gross: $23,984,949 Overseas Gross: $49,105,662

perfect stranger 2007
Perfect Stranger was financed for an estimated $60 million by Revolution Studios and Revolution’s financing slate agreement with Sony had Sony contribute 42.5% of the budget and 100% of the marketing costs.  Sony received a 12.5% fee for distributing in most countries.  Perfect Stranger would mark the second Bruce Willis and Revolution collaboration after the box office disaster Tears Of The Sun.  This was also the seventh Bruce Willis flop in a row after Bandits (2001), Hart’s War (2002), Tears of the Sun (2003), The Whole Ten Yards (2004),  Hostage (2005) and 16 Blocks (2006) before finally scoring a hit with Live Free or Die Hard (2007).

The talented director James Foley saw his big screen offers dry up for a decade after Perfect Stranger bombed, until he landed a payday to helm the erotic trash pics Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.

Revolution hired Jon Bokenkamp to write Perfect Stranger back in 2000 as a vehicle for Julia Roberts, but that never materialized and this turkey began to move forward in development with the casting of Halle Berry in 2004.  Perfect Stranger was originally dated for May 11 and presumably moved to April 13 to keep it away from Sony’s Spiderman 3 which was opening May 4.  Sony positioned Perfect Stranger as a day and date release in 75% of the world markets, which is unusual for a non-event type film.  If a movie sputters in one market early in release, the marketing campaign can be tweaked as the worldwide release rolls out, but Sony took a gamble on Perfect Stranger and it did not pay off.

Perfect Stranger bowed against Disturbia and also opening were the duds Pathfinder, Redline, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters and Slow Burn.  Perfect Stranger was tracking for the #1 spot with a high teens opening, but received very poor reviews and came in below expectations with $11,206,163 — placing #4 for the weekend, which Disturbia won.  It pulled in a soft $8.6 million from 39 countries in its first overseas frame.  US audiences gave the film a toxic C+ cinemascore and Perfect Stranger sank 63.4% in its second session to $4,104,808 and was pulled out of release after just 6 weeks with $23,984,949.

The overseas cume was $49.1 million bringing the worldwide gross to $73 million.  Sony would see back about $40.1 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, far less than the worldwide P&A spend and leaving the budget in the red for Revolution and Sony.

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