Extraordinary Measures

  • Extraordinary Measures box office
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  • Directed By: Tom Vaughan
  • Written By: Robert Nelson Jacobs
  • Release Date: January 22, 2010
  • Domestic Distributor: CBS Films
  • Cast: Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell

Box Office Info:
Budget: $31 million Financed by: CBS Films
Domestic Box Office: $12,068,313 Overseas Box Office: $3,065,980


In 2007, CBS formed their own film production and distribution arm and their inaugural project was the $31 million budgeted Extraordinary Measures.  A deal was brokered with Sony to handle overseas distribution.  Despite CBS being bullish on the marketing for their first picture, Extraordinary Measures had the feel of a made for TV movie, the release date on January 22 was a dumping ground, both Harrison Ford & Brendan Fraser couldn’t draw flies outside of their known franchise movies and reviews leaned mostly negative.  Making matters worse for the movie was a marketing campaign that was completely unfocused and never made it clear if the film was a medical drama, a medical thriller or an inspirational family oriented film.

Extraordinary Measures bowed against Legion and Tooth Fairy and even after plenty of free promotion and exposure on the CBS network, it flopped with $6,012,594 — placing #8 for the weekend led by Avatar in its sixth weekend.   Extraordinary Measures sank 56.4% to $2,619,257 in its second frame and the movie was yanked out of theaters after just three weeks with $12,068,313.  CBS would likely see returned less than $6 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which barely dents their P&A expenses and leaves the budget entirely in the red.

Sony released the film theatrically in only a few markets to a small $3 million and it went straight to video in most countries.  After a terrible start for the new division, CBS Films COO Bruce Tobey was replaced a week after the action flop Faster opened to poor numbers later in the year.  2010 was a rough year for star Brendan Fraser, who also saw his film Furry Vengeance flop three months later and his Broadway debut Elling had one of the worst runs ever and closed after 9 performances.  Harrison Ford was back on screens later in the year in the bomb Morning Glory.

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