Crossing Over
Rate Movie[Total: 4 Average: 3.5]
- Directed By: Wayne Kramer
- Written By: Wayne Kramer
- Release Date: February 27, 2009
- Domestic Distributor: The Weinstein Company
- Cast: Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $20 million | Financed by: The Weinstein Company |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $455,654 | Overseas Box Office: $3,074,215 |
Crossing Over was financed by the Weinstein Company for $20 million and the mini-major pre-sold the project well at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Director Wayne Kramer has said that the filming of Crossing Over was hassle free and he had no problems or interference, but the post production on this movie was a nightmare. After Kramer delivered his cut, Harvey Weinstein would declare war on it, re-editing the film and giving into Sean Penn’s demands to be removed from the film because of his political differences with a scene in the film. The scene involved an Iranian character who murders his sister in a “honour killing.” The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) asked Kramer if he would excise or change the scene during filming, as it was unrealistic and inflammatory and he agreed and changed it. So whatever Sean Penn became incensed about and demanded his removal from the picture, makes even less sense after the controversy was dealt with.
Crossing Over was originally dated for August 22, 2008 and then moved to October 24, 2008 and TWC still envisioned this as an ‘important’ movie and a potential awards contender. As Crossing Over continued to be butchered, it was pushed back to February 27, 2009. The film then became a usual Weinstein throwaway — a movie that Harvey obsessed over, tried to improve, but basically gutted and then tossed the broken picture into the market with barely any signs of marketing or awareness.
Crossing Over received poor reviews and was booked into 9 theaters, where it pulled in $77,370 and a weak $8,597 per screen average that didn’t bode well for a large expansion. Crossing Over didn’t make a blip on the box office radar and never expanded beyond 42 theaters, grossing a total of $455,654.
The movie received a small release overseas to $3 million across numerous distributors and premiered on television in Australia. Wayne Kramer talks more in detail about his experience on Crossing Over during an interview at Film School Rejects.