Edison
Rate Movie[Total: 5 Average: 1.2]
- Directed By: David J. Burke
- Written By: David J. Burke
- Release Date: July 18, 2006 (video premiere)
- Domestic Distributor: Sony
- Cast: Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Justin Timberlake, LL Cool J
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $37 million | Financed by: Millennium Films; VIP 3 Medienfonds |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $0 | Overseas Gross: $4,143,414 |
Edison was financed for $37 million by Millennium Films and they also tapped the German tax shelter VIP 3 Medienfonds for additional coin. Millennium also handled sales to international distributors. Millennium was making the transition from direct to video action and genre schlock to bigger budget projects and Edison was the first production to be populated with an A-list cast. Their first slate of mid to large budget fare were all money losers and with the exception of 16 Blocks, were all serious critical failures — The Black Dahlia, 88 Minutes, The Wicker Man and The Contract.
For reasons that make absolutely no sense in hindsight, Edison was chosen as the film to close the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. The critical response after the premiere was scathing, with most calling it unintentionally hilarious and very poorly made. The film turned out to be your run of the mill awful Millennium movie, but with a cast toplined by Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Justin Timberlake and LL Cool J. A theatrical release was planned for Edison, but along with miserable reviews, the film scored very poorly at test screenings. Sony took US rights, retitled it Edison Force and dumped it straight to video. Millennium, which is a subsidiary of Family Room Entertainment Corporation, posted in a quarter investor report that Edison needed to gross over $40 million at the box office, for the company to receive any backend profit participation — and they expected to never see any revenue from the picture.
Despite being partially funded from German sources, the movie went without a theatrical release in Germany and also premiered on home video in most countries. It received a small theatrical release in a handful of markets and cumed $4,143,414 across numerous distributors. Morgan Freeman collected easy paychecks for two more straight to video Millennium turkeys The Contract (2007) and The Code (2009). This humiliating turkey was Justin Timberlake’s debut film.