The phrase box office bomb refers to a
film for which the
production and
marketing costs greatly exceeded the
revenue retained by the
movie studio. This should not be confused with instances when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success; see
Hollywood accounting.A film's financial success is often measured by its
gross revenue. Studios expect that a film's "domestic" (which the American
film industry defines as the
United States and
Canada) box office gross
revenue will exceed production costs. This does not make the film profitable: typically, the exhibiting theater keeps 45% of the gross, with the remainder paid to the studio as the rental fee. However, if a film has a higher domestic gross than its production and marketing costs, it will almost certainly turn a profit once the overseas gross is included.
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