Home
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Homesickness, a modern luxury we can all afford
CEIBS forum highlights environmental, social concerns in volatile global markets
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
'Slumdog' becomes millionaire 200 times over
Source: Agencies |
March 6, 2009, Friday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
THE milestones just keep coming for "Slumdog Millionaire": After winning eight Academy Awards, including best picture, the feel-good indie has now crossed the US$200 million mark in worldwide box office.
As of yesterday afternoon, "Slumdog" had grossed nearly US$217 million from theaters around the globe. It made US$12 million the weekend after it dominated the Feb. 22 Academy Awards, a healthy 43 percent improvement over the previous weekend, and came in at No. 3 behind two movies with strong built-in audiences, "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" and "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience."
By contrast, previous best-picture winner "No Country for Old Men" had a worldwide gross of just more than US$162 million, while Martin Scorsese's star-studded "The Departed" from 2006 made nearly US$290 million worldwide.
"Slumdog Millionaire" tells the story of an 18-year-old orphan who rises from the streets of Mumbai to become the biggest winner ever on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Director Danny Boyle's film had a budget of about US$15 million, featured no well-known stars and is partly in subtitled Hindi, but it's wowed audiences and critics alike.
Steve Gilula, co-chief operating officer for Fox Searchlight, which released "Slumdog," said he expects the movie will go past US$250 million globally.
"It's extraordinary," Gilula said. "Very, very few films get past US$200 million worldwide."
Comparatively, another small Searchlight movie that made it big, 2007's "Juno," made US$230 million worldwide.
Gilula attributes the global success of "Slumdog Millionaire" to a couple of factors. One is the international nature of the setting, the cast and the Oscar-winning filmmakers - Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy are British, for example, and composer A.R. Rahman is from India. The other is the attention it got from winning top honors at the Golden Globe Awards, given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and Britain's BAFTAs.
"All of that comes together to create a phenomenon," he said.
As of yesterday afternoon, "Slumdog" had grossed nearly US$217 million from theaters around the globe. It made US$12 million the weekend after it dominated the Feb. 22 Academy Awards, a healthy 43 percent improvement over the previous weekend, and came in at No. 3 behind two movies with strong built-in audiences, "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" and "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience."
By contrast, previous best-picture winner "No Country for Old Men" had a worldwide gross of just more than US$162 million, while Martin Scorsese's star-studded "The Departed" from 2006 made nearly US$290 million worldwide.
"Slumdog Millionaire" tells the story of an 18-year-old orphan who rises from the streets of Mumbai to become the biggest winner ever on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Director Danny Boyle's film had a budget of about US$15 million, featured no well-known stars and is partly in subtitled Hindi, but it's wowed audiences and critics alike.
Steve Gilula, co-chief operating officer for Fox Searchlight, which released "Slumdog," said he expects the movie will go past US$250 million globally.
"It's extraordinary," Gilula said. "Very, very few films get past US$200 million worldwide."
Comparatively, another small Searchlight movie that made it big, 2007's "Juno," made US$230 million worldwide.
Gilula attributes the global success of "Slumdog Millionaire" to a couple of factors. One is the international nature of the setting, the cast and the Oscar-winning filmmakers - Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy are British, for example, and composer A.R. Rahman is from India. The other is the attention it got from winning top honors at the Golden Globe Awards, given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and Britain's BAFTAs.
"All of that comes together to create a phenomenon," he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
