This has not been a good week for Paramount and Dreamworks, the studios behind the live-action Ghost in the Shell. Heading into its second weekend the controversial film has only earned $73M worldwide, a surprising number only if you factor in Scarlett Johansson's previous solo success with Lucy. Whether you believe the white-washing controversy is legit or not, there's no question it affected viewer turnout domestically, and even Paramount had to cop to that. How much did it affect the overall numbers? Well, we're starting to find out.
Deadline is reporting Paramount and Dreamworks could lose north of $60M, off a reported production budget and advertising cost of $250M. If it actually turns out to be more than that, with some estimates reporting the production budget as high as $180M rather than the reported $110M, it could turn into a loss of more than $100M. Oof. The projected worldwide earnings are $200M, which isn't good at all for a project of this size and scope.
How it actually turns out will depend a lot on this weekend when Ghost in the Shell hits Japan and China, the two markets it is likely to perform the best. It could possibly do Warcraft numbers and zoom past that projected $200M total, or they could see the film as an insult and ignore it altogether. We'll find out soon, but don't expect a lot of anime/manga adaptations to come out of this. I imagine Warner Bros. is putting Akira right back on the shelf now.
