‘Horse Whisperer’ Profit May Be Nothing to Shout About

The Robert Redford western romance “The Horse Whisperer,” which opened to $13.7 million over the weekend on more than 2,000 screens, is expected to follow a pattern of business comparable to such films as “The Bridges of Madison County” and “Legends of the Fall” that especially appealed to adult women.

Audience satisfaction on the movie is strong, says Walt Disney Co. distribution President Phil Barlow, and the film should gross about $35 million by the end of the Memorial Day weekend, even with Sony Pictures’ “Godzilla” taking up about 25% of the movie screens.

But “Horse Whisperer’s” running time of close to three hours limits the number of evening showings it can have, which could limit its upside gross potential. Another problem, according to one distributor, will be keeping it in the theaters when the wave of summer films hits.

The film’s actual profit return to Disney may be minimal. The bottom line on “Horse Whisperer” is substantial for a film with little in the way of special effects. The official budget is about $65 million, though sources say it’s closer to $70 million. When marketing costs are factored in, the tab comes to about $100 million.

“Horse Whisperer” should do comparably well overseas, maybe as much as $100 million. And there is still network TV (Disney owns ABC), cable and video.

The income from “Horse Whisperer” will be tempered by its costs, however. According to Disney sources, Redford, the film’s producer, director and star, took a substantial fee upfront, perhaps as much as $20 million. His profit participation comes when the studio breaks even.

Quest for Audience: Warner Bros.’ “Quest for Camelot” animated feature finally debuted over the weekend to a soft $6 million, meaning it will be almost impossible for the film to recoup is costs.

Though start-up costs for Warner’s animation operation have been factored into its budget (north of $125 million, according to some sources), some of that can be amortized over future films.