'Slumdog' Now a $100 Millionaire

It's hard to conceptualize it now, but there was a time, some eight or nine months ago, that Slumdog Millionaire could have become a direct-to-DVD release. Because it was partially funded by U.S. distributor Warner Independent Pictures, the release of the film was up in the air after TimeWarner closed down the boutique studio. Bringing the film back into its own fold wouldn't have worked for Warner Bros.; there was simply no place to put it. So about a week before it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, Fox Searchlight stepped up to handle marketing and distribution of the film. What happened next, we all know: A great run through awards season capped by eight Oscars. And now, Slumdog is a millionaire 100 times over. And you know, with all the talk about how the Oscars award Best Pictures that nobody ever sees, only five Oscar winners in the past 20 years have failed to make $100 million - No Country for Old Men, Crash, The English Patient, Braveheart, and Schindler's List. Internationally, of course, Slumdog will enjoy a great run, and it's already made $75 million overseas. More major territories like Japan, South Korea, Israel, and Taiwan will get the film within the next six weeks, meaning that in all likelihood, this is a quarter-billion dollar Oscar winner. Not too shabby for a $15 million movie that almost didn't make it to theaters in the first place.

Comments

[Frank]

You got your facts wrong! Unforgiven made $101,157,447 in America alone. Braveheart is one of the four films in the last 20 years that did not gain over a $100 million and Schindler's List did not make a $100 million either.

[Get The Big Picture]

You sir, are absolutely correct. What was I looking at? So...replace Unforgiven with Schindler's List and add Braveheart, which I can't believe only made $75 million.

[Orinn]

Who has the time to check these facts?

[Asana]

I trust there shall be no more with the slip-ups Mr. Boyd. We have people watching you, laying in wait and ever at the ready to pounce!

[Get The Big Picture]

Oh, I'm prone to slip up from time to time. Especially when I've been drinking.