Is Kevin Smith serious about Clerks III?

But look closer at the numbers. Clerks 2 cost $5 million to make, and it made $27 million worldwide. And that doesn't count DVD or merchandise sales. Even if you take out another $5 million for marketing, it made more than $20 million. For a $5 million investment, that's a helluva return. Add the $26 million in DVD sales (number found here), and it was a success by any measure.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which stunk, made back its budget plus some, even if you take out for marketing. And it also made $21 million in DVD sales.

He's making movies that make money. Most movies barely break even. His almost always end up ahead, esp. when you add in DVD sales and merchandise.

 

It's all about ROI. If we're making 200 percent to 400 percent on our investment, that's fantastic. Who wouldn't want that?
You confusing box office popularity with business success.

Nobody cares who smokes pot.

 

On one hand, this is true. But on the other, why deal with Smith's baggage with the return lately is seemingly around $20 million? That's kind of like chump change for a movie studio.

 

Cop Out was a little different... I think it was the only time he was directing something he didn't write and probably his only attempt at making a big budget film... Yeah, that's probably not happening again...

His movies almost always make money. It's not like he's Michael Bay or James Cameron, but it's low risk, especially when it's Clerks.

 

What's the cutoff for big-budget film? Jersey Girl cost $35 million. Cop Out cost $37 million.

 

It's chump change, but you're only putting $5 million in.
'Oz' opened with an $80 million weekend, but they spent $215 million making it and an undetermined amount marketing it.

A studio needs blockbusters for marketing and promotional purposes, but a studio also needs a steady stream of easy, guaranteed moneymakers.

Blockbusters are risky. 'Clerks 3,' even though I would hate to see Smith do it, is like taking $5 million, which represents no risk, and watching it turn into $20 million 24 months later.

 

Exactly... When you see something like Jack the Giant Slayer turn into a $195 million pile of shit, it makes you appreciate a situation like what Buck described where if you keep the budget low, which Smith can do, that there is no way it loses money...

 

According to Weinstein, the marketing budget for 'Zack and Miri' was $30 million. Plus a $24 million production budget. So $54 million sunk.

Makes $42 million at the box office. So, $12 million in the red.

The DVD sales are where it gets slippery. The studios report those, not the retailers.

Are they reporting sales at full retail list price? Or at the usual sharp discounts? 'Zack and Miri' shipped for $29.95. Did anyone anywhere ever pay that much for it?

For a discussion like this I'd be more interested in knowing the number of units sold than the inflated dollar amounts.

If Kevin Smith were reliably and routinely making money for the studios, I don;t think this would even be a thread.

 

Those are his two bombs... Probably not a coincidence... I seriously doubt he'll ever see a budget like that again, but if you're talking about a Clerks sequel, you're pretty much guaranteed to make a profit.

 

I'd be interested to see: If you took total investment for every movie Kevin Smith has made, all production and marketing costs, and compared it to total revenue for all the movies he has made, how would his career ROI stack up?
My guess is he'd be extremely successful by that standard.

 

Cop Out made $55 million Worldwide. Not good by any stretch, but hardly a train wreck. Box Office Mojo lists the budget at $30 million.

Jersey Girl made $36 million Worldwide on a $35 million budget. If that's his worst performance as a director, that's not too bad...

Zack and Miri is $42 million on a $24 million budget.

These don't show post-production costs, but they also don't show DVD revenue.

 

If you did it by percentage, I think he would be...