Where’d ya go, Burn-a-debt?
Annapurna Films took in just $1.4 million this weekend on Richard Linklater’s ill-fated “Where’d Ya Go, Bernadette?” The company also settled $200 million in debt from a string of disastrous releases. They were bailed out by Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle software, the billionaire father of Annapurna’s creator, Meghan Ellison.
“Bernadette” is Annapurna’s fifth release in 2019. The five films have made a total $110 million domestically.
In 2018, they released 8 films through the whole year, with a domestic total of $105 million. Half of that came from “Vice,” the movie about Dick Cheney. Four of the films earned less than $3.2 million including a very good one, “Destroyer,” starring Nicole Kidman. Before that, Annapurna just made films and other distributors released and marketed them. But now Annapurna does everything, and it’s not working.
What’s next? Other than a deal to work on the new James Bond movie for MGM, hard to say. And even MGM should be having second thoughts about that deal.
