Poor Little Rich Film

Ever wonder what it takes to realize profits from a bona fide box office blockbuster? We came by UA’s first profit statement for “Rain Man”--with current grosses nearing $170 million in North America--which offers a glimpse into studio accounting procedures.

The document covers the period ending last February, when “Rain Man” had grossed about $120 million in North America. Even at that point, UA figured, the $28 million film was still almost $40 million in the red.

While UA listed its share of the $120 million gross as $52 million (the rest went to theater owners), it had collected only $24.9 million of that amount. From the $24.9 million, $7 million was deducted for the company’s distribution fee, in addition to its distribution expenses of $23.8 million--such as $18 million for advertising and $2.8 million for 1,500 prints. Additionally, $912,000 had been paid to gross profit participants, including Dustin Hoffman and director Barry Levinson. All told, $31.7 million was deducted as expenses.

After subtracting that amount from the actual revenue of $24.9 million in hand, a deficit of roughly $6.8 million remained.

Now, add in the $28 million production cost, plus 15% of the film’s budget for studio overhead, and you’re left with red ink amounting to roughly $39.1 million. Mentioned but not calculated in the report were interest fees that UA will assess against the production.

A company spokesman noted that, with the outstanding collections, additional domestic theatrical rentals, plus foreign theatrical and video coin, UA expects to see a healthy “Rain Man” profit down the line.