Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix lost over $100 million!

[Batman1980]

The Twilight gang has it right: if you’re going to be earning a percentage of a film’s profits, make sure it’s from the theatrical gross, and not the net profits.

Certain members of the cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix haven’t been so lucky though, as a leaked accounting statement from Warner Bros. clearly demonstrates. The film made over $938 million worldwide—almost a billion dollars—but if you were to believe the below numbers, the film hasn’t made any profit at all.


Deadline got a hold of the report, which provides evidence of how deliberately calculated the costs and expenses of a studio film can be.

Source - http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/07/06/...f-the-phoenix/

[koontz1973]

You have got to love Hollywood accounting.

Alas, this is how Hollywood operates. It ain’t too pretty.

[kernel_thai]

Kudos the Warners then! Seeing what a financial disaster Harry Potter films are it's incredibly generous of them to break Deathly Hallows into two parts, doubling their potential financial loss. Thank god theyve run out of Potter books while the company is still afloat.

[Zero_Cool]

they just now found this.

[Ferris]

This cracks me up... This is the issue you'll have with these long series if you want to keep the same actors...

[Banjo]

It's just another case of creative accounting.

[AintNoSin]

Originally Posted by Banjo

It's just another case of creative accounting.

The only creative people left in Hollywood are the accountants.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by AintNoSin

The only creative people left in Hollywood are the accountants.

Zing! This has been true for about say...the last 50 years.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

Zing! This has been true for about say...the last 50 years.

...And yet your avatar is from a film made in the last decade.

Shady accounting practices should be prosecuted in court.

[Blu-Benny]

i say big f'ing deal. it's not affecting me in any way. i didn't even pay to see this in the theater.

[Blu-Benny]

here's another article on it:

Actors, writers, directors and producers usually get a cut of the profits in addition to their salaries. But if you doing business with a major studio, don't expect to see a penny, cause no movie can ever make money.

Deadline got its hands on profit statement for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the 2007 Warner Bros movie which grossed $938 million in worldwide ticket sales on a $150 million budget. But if you take a look at the statement below, the studio claims that the film actually lost $167 million.

A common practice is to take a very successful film and transition some of the profits to cover loses of other films that turned out to be flops, then turn around and tell everyone that the successful film didn't make any money. This way, there is no need to split the profits among other parties.

In the statement you can see that there is $57 million in interest charges, but Warner Bros used its own money for the film. So who is it paying interest to? It's definitely not to the cast and crew.

Source

and the statement:

[Ferris]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

here's another article on it:



Source

and the statement:

Am I the only one who noticed the "VIDEO CASSETTE" Line item???

[seeweda]

Originally Posted by Ferris

Am I the only one who noticed the "VIDEO CASSETTE" Line item???

I'm pretty sure that it is all inclusive to DVD, Blu-Ray and such. I know this was a sticking point in the last writers strike as their deal at he time only gave them royalties for VHS as that was all there was when the deal was made. The writers were upset they weren't getting any royalty payments when things were put on DVD, Blu-Ray or the internet.

I also wonder who they are paying Distribution Fees to? Warner Brothers is the one distributing it so they are basically charging themselves to distribute their own film. Looking at the numbers I would the film probably actually made about 200-300 million.

[Ferris]

Originally Posted by seeweda

I'm pretty sure that it is all inclusive to DVD, Blu-Ray and such. I know this was a sticking point in the last writers strike as their deal at he time only gave them royalties for VHS as that was all there was when the deal was made. The writers were upset they weren't getting any royalty payments when things were put on DVD, Blu-Ray or the internet.

I also wonder who they are paying Distribution Fees to? Warner Brothers is the one distributing it so they are basically charging themselves to distribute their own film. Looking at the numbers I would the film probably actually made about 200-300 million.

I figured as much... and your response with respect to royalties makes sense. I would just think that by now they would change it to something more indicative of what it is, such as "Portable Video Media" or "Physical Video Media" or something...

[tommyboy81]

just by taking a look at that all I can say is WOW!