Hot Pursuit
Rate Movie[Total: 12 Average: 3.3]
- Directed By: Anne Fletcher
- Written By: David Feeney, John Quaintance
- Release Date: May 8, 2015
- Domestic Distributor: Warner Bros
- Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del Negro
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $35 million | Financed by: MGM; Warner Bros (New Line); Rat-Pac |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $34,580,201 | Overseas Gross: $17,100,000 |
The Hot Pursuit spec script was acquired by Universal in June 2013 and the project was already packaged with Reese Witherspoon and Sofía Vergara in the lead roles, but the studio eventually put it into turnaround. MGM then scooped up the movie to fully finance.
The budget for Hot Pursuit was $35 million. Warner Bros’ New Line division then came on board to co-finance 37.5% of the costs, with MGM covering 50% and Rat-Pac 12.5% and Warner Bros would distribute.
To keep costs down, the production was moved to Louisiana for large tax rebates, while retaining the Texas setting.
Hot Pursuit was dated for May 8, 2015 as counter programming to the second weekend of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Warner Bros heavily marketed the picture, with $31.8 million just in television ads (as per iSpotTV) and millions more in print, poster, online, etc — with a domestic P&A spend north of $45M. Tracking was pointing to an opening between $15 million – $20 million.
Hot Pursuit received awful reviews and came in below expectations with $13,942,258 in 3,003 theaters — placing a distant #2 for the weekend led by the Avengers sequel. Audiences gave the buddy comedy a toxic C+ cinemascore and the movie sank 59% the following weekend to $5,722,488. The domestic run closed with $34,580,201.
Overseas numbers were terrible and stalled at $17.1 million, with Mexico posting the highest gross at only $2.5 million. Hot Pursuit did not receive a theatrical run in France. The worldwide total was $51.6M. WB would see returned about $28.3M after theaters take their percentage of the gross — leaving much of the global P&A expenses in the red and the budget at a loss. Hot Pursuit and Entourage dented the fiscal quarter at Time Warner. This was director Anne Fletcher’s second flop in a row after her lousy comedy The Guilt Trip (2012).