The Big Picture
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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
has a star-studded cast and a budget of $60 million, making it a high-profile film. - To break even and turn a profit, the movie would need to gross around $240 million at the box office.
- The film is being released internationally on Prime Video, which could impact its box office performance, but streaming rights may help offset costs.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is Guy Ritchie‘s latest film, and it’s shaping up to be a memorable one. The movie, based on a scarcely believable true story, follows a secret organisation which was formed in 1940 after a request from Prime Minister Winston Churchill and was used to arrange covert operations designed to take down the Nazis. “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” refers to a nickname used for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret British organization established during World War II.
The film boasts a star-studded cast, including Alan Ritchson, Henry Cavill, Henry Golding, Eiza González, Alex Pettyfer and Hero Fiennes Tiffin.According to a report by Variety, the film was budgeted at $60 million, which is a pretty good number for a movie from a big-name director featuring a number of A-listers in its cast. But will it be profitable? Unlike purely theatrical films, that question is a bit more interesting to answer.
How Much Would ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ Need to Make to Break Even?
In Hollywood, the financial side of making movies is complex and not always clear. It’s generally believed that a movie needs to make about twice its production budget at the box office to start making a profit. This rule covers not just the cost of making the film but also similar amounts for marketing, distribution, and other costs. For a movie with a $60 million production budget, the costs break down like this: The production budget is $60 million, and marketing and distribution usually cost about the same, adding another $60 million. So, the total cost might be around $120 million.
Considering that movie theaters take about half of what a film earns at the box office, the movie would need to make around twice its total cost to break even or be profitable. That means a film like this would need to gross about $240 million. Keep in mind that these numbers are just a rough guide. Actual earnings can be affected by many things, like the details of the film’s distribution deal, how well it does in different markets, and money made from things like home video sales and streaming rights.
Regardless, it just shows the risks studios take when green-lighting a film with a large budget, but for streamers, the costs can often be offset by “new subscribers” or other metrics which often go undisclosed. The movie is being released internationally via Prime Video, which is almost certain to hurt its box office, but it’s fairly likely that Lionsgate, releasing the film in the US, will have made their money back via streaming rights in advance, making it a no-brainer for Lionsgate to release theatrically with middling expectations and the chance to spring a surprise if the film shows good legs at the box office.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare opens in theatres tomorrow. Check out our review of the film, by Maggie Lovitt, here.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
The British military recruits a small group of highly-skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II.
- Release Date
- April 19, 2024
- Writers
- Guy Ritchie , Paul Tamasy , Eric Johnson , Arash Amel
