10 Hugely Successful Movies You Didn't Realise LOST Money
5. Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix
The Harry Potter film series, based on the books by JK Rowling, was extremely successful. The final entry, Deathly Hallows Part 2, made over $1 billion worldwide and the films in total made over $7 billion at the box office.
The fifth entry, Order of the Phoenix, made over $940 million worldwide on a budget of $150 million. Surely this means the studio turned a massive profit? Not even close.
An income statement from Warner Bros. that was leaked online displayed just how many hidden costs there were in the making of the film. It also showed that the film apparently lost $167 million, despite the massive profits.
Hidden fees included a distribution charge from Warner Bros. of $212 million, along with marketing costs of $130 million. Because of these massive hidden costs the film ended up loosing money.
You might have noticed that Warner Bros. effectively charged themselves $212 million with the distribution fee. Why might they do this? To make sure the film losses money and that percentages of the gross don't have to be handed out.
The studio can keep all the money made out of the film, even if it is counted as a loss.